Hótel Búðir Wedding // Bree & Mike

Bree and Mike flew from Australia to get married at Hótel Búðir on Iceland’s Snæfellsnes Peninsula. A small black church on a lava field, mountains on three sides, the Atlantic on the fourth. Not many wedding venues make you pull over on the drive in. This one does.

We started the morning at Songhellir, a cave cut into the hillside above the coast. Snæfellsjökull glacier sat behind us, half hidden in cloud. We could not see the whole thing, but that was part of it. Iceland gives you pieces, not panoramas, and you learn to work with what it offers.

The Ceremony at Hótel Búðir

Hótel Búðir is one of Iceland’s most iconic wedding venues, and it is easy to see why. The small black church sits alone on a lava field at the edge of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the glacier on the other. There is no village around it, no other buildings in sight. Just the church, the moss, and the sky. Bree and Mike exchanged their vows inside the church, which seats around 30 guests and has a warmth to it that belies its remote setting. The wooden interior is simple and honest, with light filtering through small windows. After the ceremony, we stepped outside into the wind and the open landscape, and Bree and Mike had their first moments as a married couple with nothing but Iceland stretching out in every direction.

Exploring Snæfellsnes

The Snæfellsnes Peninsula is often called “Iceland in miniature” because it contains nearly every type of Icelandic landscape in a single stretch of coastline: glaciers, lava fields, black sand beaches, sea cliffs, fishing villages, and volcanic craters. After the ceremony, we drove the peninsula with Bree and Mike, stopping at Hellnar and Arnarstapi, two coastal villages connected by a walking path that hugs the cliff edge above basalt sea stacks and crashing surf. The afternoon light was low and golden, and it picked out the textures of the lava rock in a way that only happens in the autumn months. We also visited Skarðsvík, a small beach on the northern side of the peninsula where the sand is pale and the water runs turquoise on clear days.

Why Hótel Búðir for Your Iceland Wedding

Hótel Búðir weddings work because of the contrast between the intimate ceremony space and the vast landscape outside. The church is small enough to feel personal, but its setting is grand enough to feel significant. Couples often combine the church ceremony with a half-day or full-day portrait session around the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, as Bree and Mike did here. The hotel itself sits a few hundred metres from the church and offers accommodation, dinner, and a level of service that feels considered without being fussy. For couples flying in from abroad, it is also well-positioned: about two hours from Reykjavík, or a short drive from the Stykkishólmur ferry if you are coming from the Westfjords.

We have photographed several weddings at Hótel Búðir and on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, and each one has been shaped by the weather, the season, and the couple. Winter weddings here bring snow on the lava fields and the chance of northern lights after the reception. Summer weddings bring midnight sun and wildflowers. There is no wrong time, only different versions of the same extraordinary place. If Hótel Búðir is on your radar, we would love to talk through the possibilities. See more Iceland weddings from our portfolio: another Hótel Búðir celebration, a South Iceland elopement, Alicja and Arnþór’s Icelandic wedding, and an Akureyri wedding.