Fairytale Micro Wedding in West Iceland

This is the story of Alex and Andy’s fairytale micro wedding in West Iceland – on the stunning Snæfellsnes peninsula.

The couple met through mutual friends and Andy surprised Alex with the most romantic Christmas proposal.

Why they decided to elope in Iceland

Both Alex and Andy love travelling and they also love ‘Lord of the Rings’ books and movies. Iceland has some really otherworldly landscapes many of which remind of the movies and the couple wanted to experience them after seeing so many photos. In addition, their vision was to keep the wedding very small and intimate with only their immediate families present while still going on an adventure, which made a destination micro wedding a great option for them.

How I co-crafted their big day

During our first free consultation I asked the couple about the types of landscapes they liked and showed them several of my favorite areas in Iceland. The one that resonated with them right away was Snæfellsnes Peninsula in West Iceland, which is one of my favorite areas in Iceland as well. The peninsula is packed with gorgeous locations and it’s not as busy as the famous South – it still has more of a wild feel and some cozy traditional Icelandic villages.

On a clear day you will see the whole Snæfelljökull volcano (that the peninsula is named after), which is immense and absolutely beautiful. The volcano has a small glacier at the top and is still active, however, the last eruption happened there around 1800 years ago.

The couple booked my 8-hour package and I created a timeline for them that included the locations they liked the most from my photos. The couple also really wanted to get some getting-ready photos as well as a first look at their lovely hotel by the ocean. So our plan was to have the ceremony with the couple’s families after getting-ready and first look and then shoot at 3 other locations afterwards with just the couple.

The weather didn’t quite agree with our plans though and we had to split the coverage into two days to avoid a storm. So in order to optimise our timeline for light we agreed to do the getting-ready, first look and ceremony at sunset on the first day and then shoot at three other locations the day after in the morning. This timeline would enable us to avoid the storm and any rain.

How the elopement day went

Both days went perfectly and exactly as we planned and hoped for.

On the first day I arrived to Fosshotel Hellnar where the couple and their families were staying to capture some emotional getting-ready moments and first look. I checked the weather forecast meticulously and decided on a meeting time when the storm would be almost over (for photos at the hotel) as that would still give us enough time for the ceremony. We did the first look outside of the hotel by the ocean and it was truly beautiful to see the couple’s excitement when they saw each other in their wedding attire for the first time!

After that we all headed to our ceremony spot by the ocean and then something magical happened. The low clouds started clearing and absolutely beautiful warm light was present during the whole ceremony.

After the ceremony I took lots of family photos and then some photos of just the bride and the groom. And then everyone went back to the hotel for a celebration dinner.

The next day we met at the beach in the morning and had beautiful weather and light again! We took photos with different compositions and had an amazing time! After that we headed to a beautiful big waterfall with basalt columns and we finished at the famous Kirkjufell mountain.

I’m really happy with how this micro wedding went and how we managed to avoid the bad weather! I wish the beautiful couple all the happiness in the world!

Click on one of the buttons below for more information: