Iceland Elopement Photographer – Susan Stripling Photography

Why Iceland Is Unlike Anywhere Else I’ve Ever Shot

I’ve photographed weddings on Caribbean seashores, in French châteaux, in New York City at each hour of the day and evening. Iceland broke all of it. Nothing ready me for what October gentle does on a glacier, or what it seems like to look at somebody climb one in a marriage gown.

That’s how today ended. It didn’t begin there.

Skógafoss: Where the Day Began

We began at Skógafoss, one among Iceland’s most iconic waterfalls, and for those who’ve seen images of it you already know why. It drops 60 meters straight down and throws mist in each route. The sound is bodily. The scale makes folks look small in the absolute best manner — small and alive and fully current.

We shot portraits there first, earlier than the ceremony, and the climate was doing what October in Iceland does: all the pieces. Cold and clear one second, shifting gentle the subsequent, clouds shifting quick throughout the sky. As a photographer I used to be in a relentless negotiation with the circumstances, and the circumstances stored profitable in essentially the most stunning methods.

The Wedding Ceremony on the Cemetery in Vík

The ceremony was on the cemetery beside the black church on the hill in Vík — Víkurkirkja, one of many southernmost villages in Iceland. If you understand this church, you understand it: stark white with a pink roof, sitting on a basalt hill above the city with the North Atlantic stretching out behind it. The cemetery wraps round it, quiet and previous and fully wild within the wind.

It shouldn’t be a typical wedding ceremony venue. It is so a lot better than a typical wedding ceremony venue.

Two folks, one witness, an officiant, and that view. The authorized paperwork was dealt with by means of Lux Weddings, which manages all of the Icelandic documentation necessities for {couples} coming from overseas — for those who’re planning an Iceland elopement, that paperwork shouldn’t be one thing to determine by yourself, and Lux makes it seamless.

The gentle throughout the ceremony was doing one thing I nonetheless take into consideration. Cold and clear, with fast-moving clouds casting shadows throughout the basalt hills. Every body regarded prefer it was lit for a movie.

The Black Sand Beach at Reynisfjara

After the ceremony we drove to Reynisfjara, the black sand seaside simply outdoors Vík. The basalt columns, the black sand, the waves coming in arduous off the North Atlantic. It images in a manner that feels virtually unreal, just like the world forgot so as to add shade and determined that was effective.

A marriage gown in opposition to black sand and gray ocean is without doubt one of the extra hanging visible mixtures I’ve encountered in twenty-five years of doing this. The wind helped. The wind all the time helps.

Climbing the Glacier with Melrakki

Then we drove to satisfy the guides from Melrakki for a non-public glacier tour, and the bride climbed a glacier in her wedding ceremony gown.

This shouldn’t be a mild stroll on ice. This is crampons, ice axes, actual elevation, actual effort. The guides from Melrakki had been extraordinary — skilled, cautious, and fully unfazed by the truth that their consumer was in formal put on. The couple was sport for something. And the sunshine on high of that glacier in October, with the sky doing all the pieces it had been doing all day, was the sort of gentle that makes you perceive why photographers come to Iceland and don’t wish to depart.

The blue of glacial ice is a shade that doesn’t exist wherever else. It’s not the blue of water or sky. It’s deeper and stranger and it images prefer it’s producing its personal gentle. Against a white gown, on a transparent October afternoon, with Iceland spreading out in each route under — I’ve no body of reference for it. It was in contrast to something I’ve shot earlier than or since.

What to Know If You’re Planning an Iceland Elopement

Iceland is without doubt one of the most photogenic locations on earth, and it rewards {couples} who’re prepared to maneuver — to drive between areas, to climb issues, to face within the wind for a couple of minutes and belief that the sunshine is price it. A single-location elopement right here could be stunning. A full-day elopement masking the south coast is one thing else solely.

Just a few sensible issues price understanding:

The authorized necessities for getting married in Iceland as a international nationwide are particular and require advance planning. Lux Weddings, run by Vigdis, handles all of it and is the useful resource I’d level anybody towards first.

October is chilly — pack layers below the gown, have a coat for between photographs, and settle for that the climate will do no matter it needs. That unpredictability is a part of what makes the pictures.

The south coast — Skógafoss, Vík, Reynisfjara, the glaciers — is essentially the most accessible and most visually concentrated stretch of Iceland for a one-day elopement. You can cowl extraordinary floor with out dropping hours to driving.

And rent guides for the glacier. Melrakki is aware of what they’re doing.

If you’re contemplating an intimate celebration, my information to NYC elopement pictures covers what that course of appears like nearer to dwelling — however Iceland is the vacation spot model of all the pieces I really like about elopement work.

Frequently Asked Questions: Iceland Elopement Photography

Do you journey to Iceland for elopements?

Yes. Iceland is one among my favourite locations I’ve ever labored, and the south coast specifically presents a focus of areas — waterfalls, black sand seashores, volcanic landscapes, glaciers — that’s genuinely unmatched wherever else. You can see extra of my vacation spot work in my wedding ceremony galleries.

What time of 12 months is greatest for an Iceland elopement?

October gave us chilly, clear skies with quick dramatic gentle and virtually no vacationer crowds on the areas we shot. Summer offers you the midnight solar and really lengthy capturing days. Both are extraordinary for various causes. Winter provides the potential for the Northern Lights. There’s no dangerous reply — simply completely different moods.

How do you deal with the authorized necessities for getting married in Iceland?

I’m a photographer, not a marriage planner, however I can let you know from expertise that Lux Weddings handles the Icelandic documentation course of for worldwide {couples} and made the authorized facet fully seamless for this elopement.

Can we truly climb a glacier in wedding ceremony apparel?

Apparently sure. I’ve the pictures to show it.

How far upfront ought to we guide for an Iceland elopement?

As early as potential — particularly for fall and summer time dates, which guide properly forward. If you’ve got a particular location or date in thoughts, attain out sooner relatively than later.

What’s the church in Vík?

It’s Víkurkirkja, a Lutheran church sitting on the basalt hill above the village of Vík í Mýrdal. The cemetery round it is without doubt one of the most dramatic and sudden ceremony areas I’ve ever photographed. The views over the black sand and the North Atlantic are extraordinary.

Do you shoot different vacation spot elopements in addition to Iceland?

Yes — I’ve shot vacation spot weddings throughout the US and internationally, from the Florida Keys to the French Riviera to the Colorado Rockies. If you’ve got a location in thoughts, ask me. The reply might be sure.

If you’re planning an Iceland elopement and need a photographer who has truly been there, climbed that glacier, and is aware of how the sunshine strikes on the south coast in October — I’d love to listen to about it.