things to see in Iceland

An Autumn Road Trip Around Iceland // Matt and Sayde's Personal Adventure

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Matt and Sayde's great big, landscape loving, road trip having, honeymoon - babymoon adventure in Iceland // Victoria Wedding Photographers

Way back when Matt and I first started talking and getting to know each other as friends, we talked mostly about photography, and camera stuff in general.  As time went on we chatted more about our hobbies, our childhoods, and things we had hoped to accomplish and do in the future - bucket lists, if you will.  One of the things that embodied all of those things was the experience of past travels, and dream of future travel. We made lists of all the places we wanted to visit, and shared photos of interesting landscapes from places we wanted to see.  Norway, Croatia, Australia, and beyond. One place that came up in almost every conversation and photo share session was Iceland, which crept quickly to the top of both of our lists of must-see places. Fast forward four years to 2016; we were getting married and we were planning a honeymoon to Iceland.  For those who don't know, 2016 was an eventful year for us as we moved to Vancouver Island, worked hard to establish our wedding photography in Victoria, and then got married ourselves.  We decided to wait a year and take our dream honeymoon in a less busy times!

With this postponement of our honeymoon came the most wonderful opportunity: photographing a series of destination elopements in Iceland.  Perfect! Not only would be be travelling, meeting interesting people, and photographing a place we'd been dying to see for years, but we'd also get the opportunity to get to know, and photograph, adventurous couples who were as filled with Iceland wanderlust as we are. You can find each of their elopements in our blog.

This post however is about our personal trip around Iceland in the days leading up to the elopements we photographed. We started our road trip in  Reykjavik and travelled counterclockwise around the ring road, stopping everywhere that made our jaws dropped.  Our jaws dropped almost every ten minutes down the road.  We were awestruck not only by the striking, and often times surreal, landscapes, but also by the way we often felt like we were the only people there, the way the sun hung so low along the horizon on autumn days that it seemed like sunset all the time, and the way the northern lights danced like rivers through the sky at night. So many times we found ourselves staring, or gasping, and asking out loud, "Could this possibly be real?!", as we tried to pinch ourselves awake from what felt like dreams.  

Without further adieu (and because I promised Matt I wouldn't write a paragraph for each photo about the geology of each location, and the saga histories that revolve around them), here's a few highlights from our trip!   Make sure to check out the drone video at the bottom as well! 

 

We also made a video featuring footage from our drone throughout Iceland!  Check that out below:

Snaefellnes Peninsula Iceland Elopement // Meagann & Neil

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Meagann and Neil elope amongst basalt columns, waterfalls and lava fields in Iceland // Victoria Wedding Photographers

 

In our experience photographing three destination elopements in Iceland, on back to back days, we took away so many highlights to reminisce about.  We loved getting to know our couples' different personalities, how they met, and what their lives were like back home, away from this dreamland.  One thing we weren't (but should should have been) expecting was the way all three of our couples would plan and execute their elopement in their own special way.  It only magnified the romance factor of an already romantic way to marry, and we felt it gave us an even more intimate look into the couple's relationship dynamic.

If you read Jessika and Mack's elopement blog from the day before, you know that they had legally married in their home state of Colorado a few days before they left for Iceland.  They had exchanged their wedding rings, but saved their vows for their big day Iceland.  As well, Jessika's wedding dress made it all the way to Iceland without Mack seeing it, so they could get ready the traditional way; without the groom seeing the bride, even though they were going to be in the same apartment at the time!   

The following day we met with Meagann and Neil at their hotel to start the day at their Reykjavik hotel, where they'd get ready together to share the anticipation and excitement of the day.  We found it so romantic that Neil would be the person to help Meagann into her wedding gown (insert 100 heart-eyes emojis), before they looked each other up and down with huge smiles, and headed out the door.  Meagann and Neil also legally signed their marriage papers in their hometown in Ontario, where they had exchanged vows and wedding bands.  The unique twist that we love, is that while the two had their wedding bands, Meagann had not yet seen the beautiful custom sapphire engagement ring that Neil had made just for her.  What a treat for us to get to see her face as Neil opened the little wooden box for her during their ring exchange ceremony. And what better place than an isolated area of the Snaefellsnes Peninsula; at the foot of a waterfall, and overlooking an endless field of bright green, moss-blanketed lava, veined by a river speckled with swans.  The warm light shining through overhead clouds, and the misty wind that danced through Meagann's hair and gown only added more drama to an already dreamlike day.  After their ring exchange, we explored more of the Snaefellsnes peninsula area, that Meagann and Neil had fallen in love with their first few days in Iceland.  They showed us areas that we hadn't had the opportunity to explore on our first trip to the area, and it felt like casual day out adventuring with friends as Neil pointed out all the quaint homesteads he was for sure planning to retire to when it came time.  We took in the impressive basalt column cliffs, took a drive through the incredible Berserkjahraun (mad-man's lava field), and they finished the day with some beachside cuddles at Djupalonssandur (the black lava pearl beach).

Thank you Meagann and Neil for letting us be the ones to peer in and capture such an intimate and personal milestone in your life.  We had so much fun driving around an area of Iceland that meant so much to you, and hope these photos hold a life time of treasure for you! 

 

 

  

South Iceland Elopement with Jessika and Mack // Victoria Destination Wedding Photographer

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Jessika and Mack adventure from Reykjavik to share personal vows and a glorious sunset in Vik during their South Iceland elopement  // Iceland Elopement Photographers

We had already been in Iceland for ten days prior to Jessika and Mack's elopement date. We had circled Iceland's Ring Road to enjoy a lot of the sites, and were treated to amazing autumn sunlight, which hung low along the horizon that it seemed all day everyday was golden hour.  A photographer's dream!  However, the three days leading up to their wedding were the three most treacherous weather days we experienced so far.  Three entire days of racing wind, up to 115 km/h at times.  Three entire days of pelting,  cold and stinging rain. It left me and Matt passing worried glances back and forth to each other as the elopement dates drew closer. We knew Iceland's weather could be intense and unpredictable, and we were bracing ourselves for that.  It was hard to deny ourselves a bit of worry since all our couples had travelled so far to come her to elope with us, and it was beginning to look like we may not even have weather that would be safe enough to photograph them outside!  Jessika and Mack came all the way from Colorado in the US for their wedding, and we really wanted to send them back with images that reflected the experience of their whole trip!

We woke up on the morning of Jessika and Mack's elopement to clear skies and zero wind.  The excitement was immediate and overwhelming, which is evidently magnified 100x when dealing with pregnancy hormones. Enter a relieved and impossible-to-contain happy weepy Sayde.  We planned to meet Jessika and Mack at their airBnB apartment where they would both get ready for the day, without seeing each other, before their first look in Reykjavik!  

From there we travelled a popular-for-good-reason route along the south of Iceland, stopping to visit some Icelandic horses, heritage sites, and a few of Iceland's most famous waterfalls.  We seemed to have some curiously coincidental luck the whole day. Not just with the weather turning out great, but with the areas we stopped to photograph in.  When travelling a popular route, it's expected that we were going to have to share the area with tourists and other visitors.  that day however, it seemed we were either arriving to locations as most people were leaving, or leaving locations as most people were arriving.  At Skogafoss this was made very evident as we photographed Jessika and Mack, with very few people around, right in front of the waterfall.  For a few minutes, any existence of the outside world was e blotted out by the sounds of crashing water made by this colossal falls.  It was just the two of them and us in the whole world, it seemed. As we wrapped up and turned 180 degrees to head back to the car, our eyes widened to the sight of 4 coach sized tour busses unloading simultaneously, and their 200 passengers all stampeding slow motion in our direction.  It was like waking up from the most surreal and beautiful dream to realize a zombie apocalypse had started, and the hoard had found you.  The four of us raced back to the car, dodging other bodies as we went, and breaking into fits of laughter as Jessika and Mack got tangled in a cluster of people who were desperate to take a cell phone photo of the two of them in their wedding attire. Once we were all safe in our car we all broke into a fit of laughter over what had just happened, then we travelled all the way to Vik where we wrapped up our day with Jessika and Mack's personal vows isolated amongst black sandstone formations, and watched a glorious sunset from the top of Dyrholey's jaw dropping cliffs. 

While we loved photographing Jessika and Mack in such a unique and interesting environment, it was even better watching their excitement, the ease of their connection together , and their sweet and personal way they interact together.  Riding around in our little hatchback all day with them was such a great way to get to know them better and really take in the magnitude of what this elopement, and their relationship together means to them.

Thank you Jessika and Mack, for travelling all the way from Colorado to elope in Iceland with us! It was such an unforgettable experience!