Black Sand & Magic For An Icelandic Elopement Shoot

Iceland's beauty never fails to astound me and I can completely understand why it's such an attractive place for couples to elope to. The dramatic scenery, the atmospheric weather and that sense of being the only people on the planet is incredibly romantic. Today's Icelandic elopement inspiration showcases a side of Iceland I've never seen before, the mysterious black sand beaches of Vik. They make such a dramatic backdrop to couple portrait shots and I love how the Matthew Oliver Weddings team have embraced the wild beauty of their surroundings with a wild spirited couple. The authenticity of this shoot just shines through each image. As well as being authentic, for me the sign of an excellent styled shoot is that it tells a story - it's all very well styling something to perfection, but what people want is to really see, really feel, what it would be like to get married there. Photographers Daniel Colvin and Meredith Bacon have most definitely done this, we're instantly transported to Iceland's magical shores...and what a place it is!

We all spent 4 days shooting in Iceland last year, as we wanted to show how incredible the volcanic island really is, it was so dramatic, yet peaceful when adventuring in our convoy along the south-west/east coast of the island. As it's such a popular island for elopements we went to some of the most iconic places, as well as staying at the world-renowned Hotel Ranja, a favourite for not only the likes of Kim Kardashian and Mr Bieber, but for beautiful couples looking for that natural distinctive wedding, plus they have outdoor hot tubs :-) Over the 4 days, we hired 4 models, for each of our different shoots, we started at Hotel Ranja on the first day where we took photos around the hotel, and then ventured out to the Black Beach, and a hidden waterfall in Vik. This was more of an engagement shoot style focusing more on the couple/location, where the second day was your bridal shoot featuring all elements of a wedding. The second day took us even further up the coast, to the famous glacier lagoon, where we shot there, and then the mossy fields on the way back to Vik.

We used only Charlie Brear dresses throughout the shoots, and all the equipment was given to us from Blue Ribbon, a designer registry company based in London. What we wanted to achieve with the shoot was show the raw and dramatic landscapes of Iceland and how capable it is for creating outstanding weddings, not just elopements, but all types of weddings big and small. For the design, we drew in from the landscape to create something very natural and in keeping with the Island. The palette we choose was blues, greens and whites, with the accent and hint of gold to give it that classy touch.