Iceland - Wedding, Landscape and Street Photography!

Well… This weekend was a little different! On Saturday I flew out to Iceland with Andy Hirst Photography to shoot a wedding in a cave!!

It was a super early start with my alarm set for 3am so that we could be at the airport for just after 5. Totally forgetting that the schools have just broken up, the airport was packed and we had to dash to our gate rather than get breakfast leaving us with just the delicious plane menu to choose from… A few hours later and we’d touched down in the stunning country, covered in snow, with temperatures around -2c.

We jumped into the hire car and hit the road for 2 hours, stopping for much needed coffee and pastries at a lay-by, before we reached our hotel where the reception was to take place and for us to setup camp for the night. The day we arrived it was pretty overcast, so we knew our chances of seeing the northern lights the first night were pretty slim, and knowing we had a long, cold day ahead of us on the Sunday, we called it a night after food and made sure that we were all set for Sunday.

We woke to a stunning sunrise over the mountain, and as a country with very few buildings, it’s simply stunning with little obstacles getting in the way. We knew we had to grab some photos so we headed out into the cold and snapped some landscape photography before getting ready for the wedding. The wedding ceremony was taking place 30 minutes away from the hotel in a cave that dated back hundreds of years and was probably once used for worship going off the markings carved into the walls. The temperature outside wasn’t very forgiving so it was nice to get inside, though the cave was so dark that your eyes needed at least 5 minutes to see again… this was going to be a challenge for photos! The ceremony was simply stunning and had just their closest friends and family there to witness it. I’ve never seen anything like it and it was such a pleasure to capture.

After the ceremony the guests had some food, cake and drinks before heading back to the hotel to continue the reception. There wasn’t any traditional formalities during this wedding. No family formals, no speeches, no entrance to the wedding breakfast, no first dance and literally 30 seconds of portraits so they could get some fresh air and have a minute (half) together! That meant nothing but real moments to capture, some drinking on the job and just having a great time with everyone! The only thing that could put the icing on the cake was to see the northern lights at the end of the day, and during the party we were told to head outside to see them as they passed! What a special way to end the wedding day.

The day after we headed into Reykjavik before our flight home to check out the city, drink more coffee and shoot some more photos. The country has a population smaller than Manchester so it is a little weird but also peaceful, clean and really friendly. I’d highly recommend it for anyone looking to get away from the madness and to soak in some natural beauty! Here are some of the travel shots from this amazing weekend away!