Sharing ‘Adventure Vows’ an Iceland Elopement

Eloping was a compromise, Mel (she/her) wanted the big wedding in her hometown, Alli (she/her) wanted an intimate elopement in Iceland – so they kind’ve did both. They married in a private ceremony on a rooftop in Cleveland, and had a party downstairs to celebrate with their favorite people. Then, they shared ‘adventure vows’ in Iceland. And, despite doing the weather being windy and dramatic, it was a perfect way to top off such an incredible marriage experience.

Why did you decide to elope?

Deciding to elope wasn’t easy, and we didn’t fully elope either. Our entire wedding was a big compromise. Mel wanted to have the traditional big wedding ceremony and reception in her hometown, and Alli wanted to elope in Iceland, a place where she’s felt at home since the first time she went there in 2017.

We wouldn’t let something as small as not agreeing on how we got married stop us, so we devised the most complicated plan: have a private ceremony with just us and our officiant for our official, legal marriage on a rooftop in Cleveland. Then, we’d head downstairs to celebrate with our friends and family. The next day, we’d pack up our wedding attire and head to Iceland to exchange another set of vows – this time to promise one another that we would always support the other’s sense of adventure and embrace all the incredible things the world has to offer (affectionately dubbed our Adventure Vows).

Once we got going, we followed one rule: if either of us were sad or upset about making a decision about our wedding, we had to go back to the drawing board.

Close-up of a couple in wedding attire sharing a tender moment, holding hands with their fingers intertwined. One person's hand prominently features a tattoo of tall trees.

A couple in wedding attire looking thoughtfully into the distance. The person on the left is wearing a lace wedding dress, while the person on the right is wearing a white suit and holding a pair of white shoes. The lighting is soft and warm.

How did you tell your loved ones that you’d elope?

Overall, our unique wedding structure was really well received. A few people did express disappointment that we weren’t having a traditional wedding ceremony, but ultimately, everyone understood and appreciated our desire to have a private moment to exchange our vows and fully supported sending us off to Iceland to exchange another set, this time really just the two of us.

Tell us about your Iceland elopement – where you shared your ‘Adventure Vows.’

In Iceland, we originally planned to take our photos and exchange our ‘Adventure Vows’ the day we landed. After landing in the morning, Mel had her makeup done in Selfoss before we headed to where we were spending the night, the Panorama Glass Lodge in South Iceland.

Unfortunately, as often happens in Iceland, the weather did NOT cooperate, with heavy rain and wind for most of the day. We made the tough decision to postpone our Adventure Vows (and yes, that meant Mel had to sleep in her hair and makeup). Still, our photographer, Daria, was happy to come to where we were staying for the evening to take advantage of the beautiful lodge.

This turned out to be absolutely incredible.

The next morning, with the wind still strong and temperatures dropping below freezing, we headed into the Icelandic highlands to Haifoss to exchange our ‘Adventure Vows.

Once we got there, we knew we’d only make it a few minutes, given the cold and wind, but we made the most of it. After Daria guided us to the best spot to exchange our vows, we took a moment to appreciate the beauty and our love while promising always to seek out these moments.

How did you find inclusive wedding vendors for your elopement in Iceland?

Research, reading reviews, and interviews. It’s so important to be able to fully trust your vendors to not only do what’s needed on paper but also to click and feel comfortable being authentically yourself around them.

This can be really hard when you’re planning things long distance. None of our vendors were local to where we lived, so we really had to find people we trusted to bring our vision to life (and we were so lucky we found them).

When we were looking to arrange our ‘Adventure Vows’ in Iceland, it became clear early on that the first piece was finding the right photographer for us. After looking through a lot of people’s work on Instagram and reaching out to a few people, we found Iceland elopement photographer, Daria, and immediately knew that’s who we wanted to work with.

After that, we were fortunate enough to snag an open night at Panorama Glass Lodge, one of Iceland’s most beautiful glass-topped cabins. Daria recommended Mel’s Iceland makeup artist, Sabrina.

Everything falls into place if you ask the right questions.