Michelle and Alex didn't get one of those perfectly calm Iceland days. They got rain. Cold. A waterfall throwing even more water into the equation. And somewhere along the way, we added a glacier to the plan. By the end of it, that last-minute addition became their favourite place of the day.
Which is a pretty good example of why I don't want an Iceland elopement timeline to become so rigid that we can't respond to what is actually happening around us.
Their Ceremony at Seljalandsfoss
Michelle and Alex chose Seljalandsfoss for their ceremony.
It's one of South Iceland's best-known waterfalls, which means planning a ceremony here comes with realities we need to work around rather than pretend don't exist. There can be visitors. There is spray from the waterfall. And on Michelle and Alex's day, Iceland contributed plenty of rain of its own.
But the goal wasn't to manufacture a dry, perfectly controlled version of Iceland for them. It was to make sensible decisions around the conditions and still give them space to get married.
So they did. Beside a waterfall. In the rain.
Very much in Iceland.
When the Weather Doesn't Follow the Plan
Iceland weather can change what an elopement day looks like. That doesn't automatically mean it changes what the day feels like. There is a difference.
Sometimes weather means we move a ceremony. Sometimes we wait. Sometimes we change the order of locations. And sometimes nothing needs changing at all. We put on another layer, accept that everyone's hair is going to do whatever it wants and continue.
For Michelle and Alex, the rain became part of the experience rather than something we spent the entire day fighting.
They got wet. They laughed. And we kept going.
Then We Added Somewhere That Wasn't Originally in the Plan
One of my favourite details from Michelle and Alex's elopement happened because we still had room to adapt. The glacier wasn't originally part of their day.
As we moved through South Iceland, I suggested adding a stop there. They said yes. That last-minute decision ended up giving them their favourite photo location of the entire elopement.
Michelle and Alex later wrote:
“Our favorite photo location was the glaciers which were actually a last minute addition to the day!” McWhirter elopements
That's exactly why I don't want every minute of an Iceland elopement committed months in advance. Planning matters enormously.
But good planning should also leave enough room to recognise when the better decision is standing right in front of us.
A Plan Should Help You Experience the Day, Not Trap You Inside It
There's a strange balance involved in planning an Iceland elopement.
I want to know where we're going. I want to understand access, driving, weather and what matters most to you. I want backup thinking already done before your wedding morning. But I don't want the plan to become so precious that we're afraid to change it.
Michelle and Alex's glacier stop is a tiny example of that.
We could have said: It's not on the timeline. Instead, we went.
Their own account of the day says they wouldn't have known about the location if I hadn't suggested it and taken them there. McWhirter elopements
That's the kind of flexibility I want planning to create. Not chaos. Room.
Rain Didn't Need to Become the Story of Their Wedding
It's easy to look at an Iceland forecast before your elopement and think: Please don't rain. Completely understandable.
But after enough wedding days here, I've learned that rain itself usually isn't the thing that determines whether a day feels good. How much pressure we've put on one exact version of the plan matters much more.
Michelle and Alex weren't spending their day waiting for Iceland to become something else. They were getting married. The rain happened alongside it.
And once their ceremony was finished, there was still more South Iceland waiting for them.
Including one glacier that wasn't even supposed to be there.
What Michelle & Alex's Day Actually Shows
Their elopement isn't proof that weather doesn't matter. It does.
There are Iceland conditions where changing the plan is the safe decision, and I'll always choose that over getting a particular photograph.
But their day is a good example of something slightly different. Not every change is a problem. Sometimes we adapt because we need to. Sometimes we adapt because an opportunity appears. And sometimes the thing we decide on that morning becomes one of your favourite memories from the entire experience.
Michelle and Alex described their day afterwards as an “amazing, cold, and rainy adventure.” McWhirter elopements
I think that's considerably more useful than pretending Iceland gave us perfect weather. It gave them their weather. And we designed the day around what was actually there.
Planning Your Own South Iceland Elopement
If you're planning an elopement in South Iceland, you don't need to arrive with every location already decided.
I'd much rather know what matters to you.
What part of the day do we protect if the weather changes? How comfortable are you with rain?
Do you want a day that stays relatively close together, or would travelling farther be part of the experience?
Are there things you'd happily change and one thing you absolutely don't want to lose?
Those answers give us something much more useful than trying to predict Iceland months in advance.
We make a strong plan. We know what matters inside that plan. And then, if Iceland gives us a better idea along the way, we have enough space to take it.
