ICELAND: The Wedding Day

I've been sort of putting off posting all of the photos from our wedding day. It's not that I haven't wanted to share them with you-- I haven't had a moment to really pore over all of them myself. I just wanted some time to soak it all in and enjoy them before putting them up here. Some time to reflect, some time to cry, some time to repeat over and over "I JUST WANT TO GO BACK!"

*All images by Violet Short

The morning of the wedding was an odd mix of excitement and overwhelm. Everybody was moving so quickly, like flashes of light. I didn't even have time to drink a cup of coffee. Brenden and I did hold onto each other tightly that morning and say "this is the day!" ... after hitting the snooze button one time. (What? It's not like they could have started the wedding without us.) I remember taking a few mental snapshots-- some advice from The Office. I remember being thankful that one of the bathrooms was about four times the size of a normal bathroom, since it obviously took the girls at least four times longer to get ready than the guys.

I didn't even have a "traditional" wedding yet the old adage remained true: time flew by. It went by so much quicker than the average day. This picture of me putting on lip balm? I don't even remember putting on lip balm. Glad there's photographic evidence of it. (This is one of the few attractive photos of me getting ready. Sorry for not sharing more.)

One thing I remember is being upset that I couldn't go see Brenden. "But he'll need help tying his tie! He's so cute when he struggles!" But no, we had to keep a few things traditional... and there was work to be done. My hair wasn't going to curl itself. (Although after going out into the wind and the rain, it didn't matter much.)

I wish I would have been more intentional about enjoying this time with my mom. It was so rushed. I don't know why, but it was. Of course it reminded me of being a little kid playing dress up. She'd help me get dressed and say "you look so pretty!" This was basically the same thing, right? Oh, and that headpiece? GORGEOUS-- but what you can't see if that it took about three or four people to put it on correctly. All that work paid off though, since it only flew off my head once. (Which is a big deal because it was SO windy on the beach!)

This picture was an unexpected favorite. I love how excited my mom looks. Also, she's crazy for going sleeveless in the Icelandic tundra. In a strange way, I came to love that tiny little Ford so I'm glad it made it into at least one photo.

I love my dad. He knows I'm such a crybaby and used this time to talk, joke around, and make commentary about the scenery so I wouldn't sob like a child and ruin my makeup. Still cried, just not as much as I would have otherwise.

The drive to Reynisfjara was the only thing that seemed to take a long time. I was excited albeit a little nervous. I just wanted to get there. When we finally did arrive, we were welcomed with 40mph gusts of wind and rain that was coming down sideways, somehow. (Ah, the wind.) I kinda freaked out because I thought we'd have to have the ceremony-- GASP-- indoors. My brother and dad volunteered to walk down onto the beach to assess the situation. In the meantime, Brenden took this photo to calm my nerves a bit. Boy knows I love a good selfie. After a few minutes, my dad and brother were excitedly running back to the cars. They found a cave! We were getting married in a cave. How cool is that?

We had my dad officiate and wrote our own vows. It was so special. The ceremony was perfect. Well, almost perfect. Right around the time we were exchanging rings, some lameass bro decided to propose to his girlfriend... standing right by us. She screamed. ON MY DAY. He could have waited another 5 minutes, or, you know, gone anywhere else on the humongous beach. I was pretty annoyed in the moment but it's funny now. It became a part of our special day.

I wouldn't change anything about that day. Not even the wind, or the rain. Or the cold. It was worth it. Entirely worth it. (Okay... maybe I would have worn a more supportive undergarment.)

I mean... come on. I don't regret not having a big wedding and fancy party. I loved having an intimate, low-key ceremony. And the pictures are DOPE. Yes, definitely worth it.

After we got done on the beach, we decided to take some more photos in front Instagram-infamous Sólheimasandur plane wreck. (Don't worry. Nobody died in the crash.) Coming from a family of aviators, we thought taking some pictures in front of it would be neat. (Some people have been wasting their time talkin' smack about us on the internet for this decision. Whatever. I don't care. The pictures are dope.) We nearly destroyed the bottom of our rental car getting there (you have to drive slowly through about 2 miles of rocks to get to it) but once again... worth it.

I love all these photos. I couldn't have asked for a better family and a better bunch of people to go away to a foreign land with. Not a bad looking bunch, eh? I especially love this adorable photo of my parents... complete with my sister Jenna lurking in the background. Even Violet and Grant became like family. I miss them. I think I need to start a petition for them to move to the East Coast. Who's with me? 

We stayed and took photos for as long as we could handle it. It was somewhere around this point that I remembered I hadn't eaten anything all day, had to pee, and was SO COLD. 

After one last cute and somewhat predictable picture, we were off again-- this time in search of some grub. It wasn't a difficult decision, since Vík has a population of about 600 and only two restaurants. (One of which was closed.)

Lunch was, of course, fantastic despite the confused restaurant patrons who probably weren't expecting to see a wet and windblown bride walk through the door. Some guy was even taking subtle pictures from his table. Danielle said it's probably because he thought I was some kind of snow queen with my big 'ole flower crown. No matter. Best veggie burger and hot cocoa of my life. 

After it was all done, we went back to the house to play cards, share stories, and laugh. There was quite a bit of laughter. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. Now... I can't wait to go back! And don't worry, I still have one more day of photos to share.

xo,

e.m.

See our video, first look, and photos from Reykjavik.

Check out Violet Short's blog and Instagram.

*Since we used so many small businesses for our wedding, I wanted to share them with you because they were ALL SO WONDERFUL:

Skirt: 2live2love (The top is by Asilio.)

Flower Crown: By Taylor Cordova

Rings: Brightsmith

Jewelry: Powder Blue Bijoux

Frigga oil: Haute Alchemy 

Frigga is the Norse goddess of beauty, love and marriage. We wanted to have something Icelandic on our wedding day. We also learned that Friday is the traditional day for Icelandic weddings-- which we did kinda accidentally!