Magical Twilight Reynisfjara Elopement in Iceland (with Handfasting & Fantastic Sunset)
When someone thinks about elopements in Iceland, they often think of the romantic adventures in the Icelandic natural landscapes. Josh and Ciara’s Reynsifjara black sand beach elopement was so much more than just that! We planned their day to be packed with intentional moments and unique and private locations, featuring a Norse-inspired traditional ceremony with private vows and handfasting. Outside of visiting secret locations for the elopement portraits, we also watched puffins and witnessed the most unique twilight at Reynisfjara Beach.
The couple and their Plan of a Reynisfjara and Secret Canyon Elopement in Iceland
Josh and Ciara are creative souls from Ireland. They are both amazing artists, which made us even more excited to work with them. In the initial inquiry, they shared with us that they’d love to elope somewhere outside of their home country, but still with a similar type of nature and weather. After brainstorming for a while together, they chose Iceland because they knew above all else that they wanted to get married outside, in the rugged nature that is similar to where they live in Ireland, but goes above and beyond it. “Iceland has all of this and much more,” – Josh and Ciara shared, and we just cannot agree more!
After we all decided it would be an Icelandic elopement, we started planning the day. As a destination elopement photographer and videographer, we (Tony and Jane) have been to every corner of Iceland many times (and Iceland is definitely in our top 3 elopement locations in Europe), so it was pretty easy for us to create the itinerary of the upcoming elopement day.
Josh and Ciara wanted something personal, intimate, and intentional. In addition to that, they wanted their day to be about them and the experience of getting married in the incredible Icelandic landscapes, but without enduring hikes (although we’re huge fans of hiking elopements, this experience is surely not for everyone). So we planned their Icelandic elopement exactly this way – meaningful, private, and of course, incredibly beautiful.
From Secret Canyons to hearfelt Handfasting vow ceremony at THE edge of the cliff, This is how Josh and Ciara planned their Reynisfjara Elopement in Iceland
When we are asked about what’s the most important while planning the day, we always tell is the elopement timeline. Timeline is the thing that’s making the day much less stressful for everyone, including the photographer and videographer.
There are no 2 absolutely identical elopements, so it’s always a big and important chunk of our planning work, and for Josh and Ciara’s elopement day, we had to do even more work. This is because the forecast on their day was predicting a super bright and sunny weather, which is not very typical for Iceland, and surprisingly, this type of weather has its own downsides: more active flocks of tourists at every iconic natural location, making it harder to find a private spot for the handfasting vow ceremony. The second is the light – we had to plan the day around the sunset of the day and the golden hour, which makes planning even more tricky.
We started the day at the tiny, cute cabin in the south of Iceland by the couple was rewriting their meaningful vows, getting ready, and having their first looks over the Hekla Volcano right outside their lodge.
As we’ve mentioned, we designed their elopement day around the sunset ceremony at the top of the secret canyon with no one around – only seagulls and puffins being Josh and Ciara’s witnesses. They had an incredible, heartfelt vow ceremony with handfasting and some other Viking traditions.
One of the most special and unique moments of their ceremony was when they made a pattern of the volcanic rock on a silver plate from the place they eloped at. I mean, what a fantastic wedding souvenir to bring back home from your elopement day, right?!
Cinematic and Moody Twilight at Reynisfjara Black Sand BEach
Although we had a detailed itinerary, we were a bit worried about the light once we started approaching Reynisfjara beach, which was the last location of the day to visit. Once got there, we noticed that it was getting dark much faster than expected because of the natural phenomenon called dalalæða in Icelandic, meaning a waterfall of fog (dalalæða, comes from dalur, meaning “valley” and læða, which is translated as “sneak up”). It covered the whole area of Vik and Reynisfjara beach up until the Hekla volcano that day.
There are so many moments, that we’re completley in anw from Josh and Ciara’s elopement day in Iceland:
…The genuine emotions of Josh and Ciara during the vow rehearsal in the morning.
…The moment when they saw each other for the first time.
…An absolutely mindblowing sunset at the top of the cliff during the vow ceremony.
…Cutest little puffins flocking at the basalt columns of the Reynisfjara Beach.
…And of course, how we all felt inside the thick fog coming from the Atlantic Ocean, making the whole scene so moody, cinematic, and unique.
We can’t get enough of Iceland! Check out other destination elopements, weddings from all over the world
Ready to plan your adventure in Iceland? Don’t miss our Elopement Guide, which has everything you need to plan your perfect elopement experience!
Kind words from the Couple
From the moment we got in touch we were in excellent hands.
We are just back from our wonderful trip to Iceland where we were married on a dramatic cliffside overlooking waterfalls, valleys, canyons and bays. Sitting in a cafe in Ireland we googled ‘how to elope in Iceland’ and after browsing for a few minutes settled on Jane and Tony’s website. This was one of the best decisions we have ever made as a couple. We got in touch and heard back from them the same day. We talked about our plans and they gave excellent advice and some location suggestions and that was it. We had started our journey. Within a few weeks we had got a dress, a suit, a celebrant (our best friend) and all of the other bits you need. Jane and Tony were there to help the entire time and they were super responsive and excited. It was hard to keep the secret from our families just because of how exciting it all was.
When we finally met the day of the wedding, we knew that we were in excellent company. The guys had planned out two separate itineraries for the day for us to choose from, they had even scouted brand new additional locations that they thought we would like, and they were right.
We chose a very ambitious plan thinking if we even achieved 1/3 of it our journey would be worthwhile. We actually managed to do every single item on the itinerary and saw some truly magical locations. On the day the guys were excellent at giving instructions, kind and lots of fun. We had never posed for so much as a school photo before this so needed lots of help but they were just so natural with us and each other that the day flew past and the preview photos they sent us are just perfect. Their work was so professional and well rehearsed that we didn’t need to worry about them at all and could just enjoy the day.If you are thinking about eloping make sure to get in touch with this pair, if I could give more stars I would. They are excellent people and are even better at what they do.
Thanks again from J+C
the couple and their Moody Reynisfjara Elopement in Iceland
Iceland Elopement Video from this Day by ISKRA photography
MEET THE BEST ICELAND ELOPEMENT VENDORS
Elopement Photographers | Jane & Tony ISKRA of ISKRA Photography
Elopement Videography by ISKRA
Elopement Venue | Askot Cottages
Wedding Dress | Wolf & Badger
Wedding Suit | Best Menswear
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Together with Tony Iskra, they are ISKRA Photography - a husband & wife duo shooting in Iceland and beyond.
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