Who should we first book for our Iceland elopement

April 18, 2023 Lisa McWhirter

Elopements have become an increasingly popular option for couples who want to get married in an intimate and meaningful way. With the rise of elopements, many couples wonder who they should book first for their big day.

In this blog post, we will discuss the most important vendors that you should book first for your Iceland elopement.

Iceland elopement photographer

The first vendor that you should book for your elopement is a photographer. Your elopement day will be one of the most important days of your life, and you'll want to have beautiful photos to look back on and share with your loved ones. When booking a photographer for your elopement, it's important to find someone whose style you love and who you feel comfortable with. You'll be spending a lot of time with your photographer on your big day, so it's important to choose someone who you can trust and who will make you feel at ease.

Multiple elopement photographers in Iceland also provide elopement planning assistance for eloping couples. It’s up to you do you want to have just a photographer without any planning assistance or if would you have someone who does all the booking for you.

As Iceland is one of the most popular destinations to elope, I would highly suggest booking a local photographer or a photographer that has been to Iceland multiple times. It might seem tempting to get a photographer and only pay for travelling, but these photographers aren’t used to working in Iceland’s all the time changing weather conditions, they have been taking couples to private lands where they don’t have permission to photograph, hurting nature and putting couples into dangerous situations. For example, putting the couples standing next to the ocean at Reynisfraja beach and the sneaker waves almost taking them out.

The local photographers in Iceland or a photographer that has years of experience in photographing in Iceland, do know all the ways to keep you safe, knows the places to take the couples with permission, and would never risk a couple’s lives just for a photo.

What to ask from your Iceland elopement photographer before booking:

How well do you know the area we would be eloping to?
What is included in the elopement package and what isn’t? What are possible extra fees you would have to pay.
Is it possible to meet you online?
What is your communication and planning style before our elopement day?
How long have you been photographing in Iceland?

Bonus tip: check for real client testimonials from the photographer’s Google business profile. You can check Lisa’s Google reviews here.

Officiant or a priest for Iceland's elopement

The second vendor that you should book for your elopement is an officiant or a priest Your officiant or priest will play a crucial role in your elopement, as they will be the one who marries you and makes your union official. When choosing an officiant for your elopement, it's important to find someone who you connect with on a personal level and who can create a ceremony that reflects your values and beliefs. Whether you choose to have a religious or secular ceremony, your officiant should be someone who can help you create a meaningful and memorable experience.

Your local Iceland elopement photographer will know and can suggest for your officiants, celebrants, priests, you name it! To make your most important part of the day remember.

What to ask from your officiant or a priest:

We want to have our ceremony in a special place outdoors. Would you be comfortable with hiking or walking a difficult path to perform our ceremony?
How far are you willing to travel and how much would it cost?
What are the cancellation and refund policies?
What types of ceremonies have you officiated?
What happens if you are sick or late?

Ask them to have an online meeting with you so you see how well the officiant matches for you. Have them go over the ceremony procedure so you know what to expect.

Let the potential officiant know what kind of ceremony you would like to have. This is where you will see their professionalism in answering your questions about the ceremony and walking you through the things you need to keep in mind to have the ceremony you wish to have.

Flight tickets, region, and accommodation for Iceland elopement

There are so many ways to go with who should you be booking first for your Iceland elopement day. Here are a couple of steps and decisions couples have made at the early stage of Iceland's elopement planning:

Booking flights to Iceland. Once the couple has booked a photographer and officiant for their desired date, they have booked their flights.
In the early stage of planning it’s good to decide which part of Iceland would you be eloping at. Especially if you eloping during summertime, it’s good to decide the region so you can book the accommodation. Why is that? Summer is the most visited time of the year to visit Iceland and many places can be heavily overbooked. Better be safe than sorry and have your region picked and accommodation booked.

Since Iceland is one of the most expensive countries in the world, booking accommodation can take a lot out of your budget. Prices for accommodations during summer months do rise a lot and the more you wait on booking your accommodation, the prices do go higher and the availability is lower. During Iceland’s off-season from October-April, the prices are much lower and you have a better chance to book accommodation with less time of contacting the hotel or Airbnb.

Same thing with flight tickets. If you will be eloping in Iceland during summertime, the flight ticket prices will be going up. Iceland’s very own airline Icelandair does operate from many US cities and has a direct flight from the cities to Keflavik international airport in Iceland.

The time of the year does affect a lot in which part of Iceland you can elope at. For example, the Highlands are only open during the summer months, and during winter time all the F-roads (mountain roads) are closed because of the winter.

If you want to avoid big crowds at your Iceland wedding, think carefully about what you’re looking for in an elopement location.

Since July is a typical holiday month you can expect that July will be super packed with many people visiting Iceland. August is also very popular for visiting Iceland and because of that, there can be sometimes a bit of a problem to find rental cars and places to stay overnight. Especially South Iceland, Blue Lagoon, Golden Circle, Reynisfraja, and Jökulsarlon are heavily overrun.

Hair and makeup artist

After having your photographer, officiant, flight tickets, accommodation and booked and you have decided which part of Iceland you will be eloping into, it’s time to think about other vendors for your day.

One of the most booked vendors for eloping couples is a hair and makeup artist. Many hair and makeup artists do make sure your makeup will stay good in Iceland’s strong winds. Usually, you can book a hair and makeup artist as early as 8-9 months before your elopement day.

What to ask from your hair and makeup artist:

If you are considering having a sunrise elopement, you need to check if the artist is willing to start doing your hair and makeup during nighttime.
How far is the artist willing to travel and what do they charge for the travels
Will they provide touch-up materials and advice in case you need to adjust your makeup?
What is the cancellation and refund policy?
Bonus tip: let the hair and makeup artist know what locations you will be visiting or if you hiking for your day. This way your hair and makeup artist can make sure your makeup and hair will stay looking good even during your hiking or if you're going to visit a waterfall close by.

Florist

Even though eloping is all about breaking traditional wedding rules, having flowers for an elopement is one of the traditions kept for an elopement day. When it comes to having flowers on your day, is up to you. I have had couples that have had flowers for their day and also couples that haven’t had flowers on their day. The florists in Iceland know all the ways to make your bouquet last all day and look fresh.

What to ask from your florist:

How can we keep the bouquet last all day?
What is the best way to carry the bouquet on our elopement day?
How can we keep the bouquet safe until our elopement day?
What are the cancellation and refund policies?
We are getting married at location x. Can you incorporate the colours and flowers to match the landscape and also the wedding dress I’m having?

Private tour

When eloping in Iceland, why not have a fun activity for your day? Have a helicopter tour, visit Natural Ice Caves, or maybe ride with a super jeep to locations that are not visited by other people and have Iceland just to yourself. It’s not a must thing to have on your Iceland elopement day and since it’s your day, you will call the shots.

When you choose to have an activity for your Iceland elopement, having a private tour is more than recommended. By having a private tour for example to the ice caves, you won’t be sharing the spot with large tourist groups and can have your ceremony in privacy. If you would go on a public tour, it would be the two of you and even 15 people more in the ice caves who you don’t even know. Not perhaps the most ideal way of getting married?

What to ask from a tour operator to have a private tour, here are example questions for an ice cave tour:

What is included in the ice cave tour and what are the possible extra costs?
How much time can we spend at the ice caves and the surrounding areas?
What is the price? (Many tour companies do give only a starting price on their website)
What is the pickup and drop-off place for the ice caves?
Is there any food provided?
What are the cancellation and refund policies?

Videographer

Should you have a videographer? Absolutely yes. While having a videographer who captures your day into video, you will get to re-live your ceremony and hear the vows and promises you made for each other. Having a video of your day is fun to share with your family and friends.

Here is an example video from Kaco Films with an elopement they worked on together with Lisa.

Another example video from M videography with an elopement they worked together with Lisa.

Questions to ask from a videographer:

What is included in the package? Will we be getting more of a trailer of our day or a longer video with many highlights?
Will you be the only one filming our day or will there be a second shooter with you?
Do you use drones?
What are your cancellations and refund policies?
How will you choose the music for our video?

In conclusion, when planning your elopement, it's important to book your vendors in the right order. Booking your photographer first will ensure that you have beautiful photos to cherish for years to come. Booking your officiant second will ensure that you have a meaningful and personal ceremony that reflects your values and beliefs.