Iceland Elopement

At the foot of the glacier

Celine is German. Ben is a Kiwi. Between them, they had covered most of the planet. But neither had been to Iceland, and that was exactly why they picked it. They wanted somewhere neither of them owned. Somewhere with no history, no associations, no expectations beyond the weather.

They chose Snaefellsnes because it looked wild in the photographs. They stayed in Hellnar, a village at the foot of the glacier, where the population is in the dozens and the nearest anything is a drive away. One friend came, and that was the whole guest list. The rest was landscape.

The ceremony location was not planned. The morning of the wedding, Celine and Ben walked out from where they were staying, found a spot they had not seen before, and decided that was the place. No scouting, no backup plan, just a walk that ended with a yes.

Celine made her flower crown in the hotel room that morning with the one friend who was there. They worked with what they had. The whole day ran like that: practical, calm, unscripted. And then the sun came out, which on Snaefellsnes is never guaranteed, and stayed for the rest of it.