Iceland Elopement Escaping A Blizzard

Vanna & Kevin’s elopement day didn’t go exactly as planned. Their elopement photographer and local expert Steph had helped them to plan an itinerary travelling east along the south coast of Iceland. However, on the morning of their elopement, the weather forecast changed dramatically. A blizzard coming from the east was on the way, which meant road closures were almost certain. Quickly they came up with a plan B for the day, and instead drove west towards Reykjavik. But like something from a Hollywood blockbuster movie, the storm was close on their tails as they drove to a potential new ceremony location. But Steph knew they wouldn’t make it, so they pulled over their cars and literally had their elopement ceremony at the side of the road. Although in Iceland, even the roadsides are stunning 😉

Iceland Elopement Escaping A Blizzard

Tell Us About How You Met

Kevin and I first met when we were 16 years old in school. Six years after graduating high-school, I moved back to South Florida to take care of my father who suffered from diabetes and end stage renal disease. On Christmas Eve of 2010, I logged into Facebook and saw that Kevin was online, we hadn’t spoken in years so I was hesitant to say hello. Once he logged off , I decided to send him a note wishing him a happy holiday and thought nothing more of it. Kevin wrote me back on January 18, 2011 which was the day after my father passed away. After that we began writing to each other and I talked to him about losing my father, Kevin had recently lost a friend so we leaned on each other for support. We finally decided to meet up a month or two later for a bite to eat and since that day, we have been together, our 8 year anniversary is on May 4th!

Tell Us About The Proposal

Family is everything to me and luckily my family LOVES Kevin. My siblings and I promised we would always get together on Christmas Eve after my father passed and it has since been our tradition, especially now that my two older sisters have children of their own it’s definitely evolved. I honestly had a feeling he was going to propose, mainly because my sister told me to make sure I looked nice for photos (lol I guess my usual leggings and messy bun weren’t going to cut it this year) and also because it KILLS Kevin to keep a secret or a surprise, he just gets too excited. He had googly, lovey eyes all day which made me nervous but excited at the thought. Kevin did propose to me that night with all of the most important people in our world present and it was perfect. He’s a dream and I’m so thankful to have him as my partner in life.

How Did You Choose Your Wedding Location?

Kevin and I knew right away we wanted something intimate and non traditional but had no idea where to begin and were torn between what we imagined for ourselves and what our family wanted. Stephanie Zakas is a friend of mine who I worked with at Hard Rock Orlando for years and I saw that she was now KILLING it with her unique adventure style wedding photography. I reached out to her and told her my original idea which was to get married at this tree house just the two of us with maybe 10 guests. Stephanie was super excited and on board but at the end of the day, Kevin and I agreed that it just didn’t feel right. We ended up pulling the plug on it and I told her I’d let her know when we figured something out. Almost a year later, Stephanie told me she was going to be hosting a Workshop in Iceland for photographers and filmmakers who wanted to learn from the best and that they were going to hire a couple for them to shoot but instead thought it would be better to shoot an actual elopement! Just like that, the stars all aligned and Kevin and I were ALL IN and dreaming about the land of fire & ice.

How Did You Find Your Main Vendors?

Vendors were through the elopement workshop organized by Stephanie Zakas

What Was Your Favourite Moment From The Day?

The whole day was incredible! I loved that Kevin and I got ready together. It was comforting and familiar on such an important day of our lives, we both needed that.

If You Could Do It All Again, Would You Do Anything Differently?

I would have worn 2 pairs of wool pants under my dress instead of one.

Any Advice For Other Couples?

Stay true to yourself and go with what feels right. I struggle with doing what I want because I’ve always put everyone else’s feelings first, it’s YOUR wedding day, dig deep and think about what you and your partner really want.