An American’s Guide to Eloping in Iceland
We skipped the traditional American wedding and opted to elope in Iceland. Are you considering elopement? Let us tell you how we planned it, how much we spent, and how much time it took to pull together.
Anna and James at Skogafoss under two rainbows
In May 2021 we eloped in Iceland!
Why did we choose Iceland?
We had decided that our next trip would be to Iceland because:
1) It is incredibly beautiful, and,
2) Well, it was open for tourism. It was before the world learned about COVID-19 variants.
We decided in two months before, in March, that we were going to elope, so we needed to figure out the process quickly.
As we started going through this process we discovered that there were not a lot of resources about how to navigate doing this, so we’d like to share what we learned — including gathering the correct legal documents and the actual cost of eloping abroad.
Since we’re not from Iceland, we knew that marriage abroad would take a bit of extra coordinating in order to make sure it is fully legit in Iceland and in the US.
Here’s what that process looked like:
Paperwork
Please note: We're sharing what worked for us as residents of South Carolina, so you'll want to consult your state and country for your specific requirements. Generally, if you are US-based, this is applicable information.
First -
We visited the website for the Icelandic District Commissioners. The website outlined the paperwork we needed so we jumped right in.
We picked up fresh copies of our birth certificates from the Department of Vital Statistics.
Next, we had to provide a certificate of Non-marriage. It declares that you are not currently married and thus are legally available to enter this marriage. This was a tricky step, since it’s not technically a form or procedure that exists in the United States.
We reached out to the Icelandic office in charge of evaluating marriage documentation, who advised us that a signed letter from our state's Vital Statistics office stating that they had searched their database and found no evidence that either of us were currently married would be sufficient.
So we went back to the Vital Statistics office where we ran into an interesting snag. Turns out, in South Carolina the state Vital Records offices don't maintain an up-to-the-minute database of marriage certificates, but rather it is batch updated only once a year at best.
At the time we were applying in 2021, our state's vital records database only had records up to 2019, meaning that there would be a gap in the search of about 16 months. Still, they fulfilled our request and wrote us a letter. I remember the staff assisting us laughing about this process because it was so weird for them. And we got it – it was weird for us too!
We emailed copies of all of the paperwork to the Icelandic District Commissioner's office so they could review everything before we mailed them the original copies. They said everything was acceptable thus far, except for the letter. As expected we would need to find an up-to-date record search for our state. We needed to fill in the gap left by the Vital Stats database.
We decided to try going to the Probate court in the county where we live, since they're the entity that issues marriage certificates and their database should be more current. They were happy to oblige and issued us a letter that stated they had done the search in the gap left by vital records and that they found no record in their database either.
Once we included this with the rest of our documentation, the Icelandic government told us everything was good and we were free to proceed with the rest of the paperwork.
We had to complete the Marriage Notification found on the government's website. This is a lot like a marriage license in the U.S.. Two trustworthy persons had to sign the form, and we chose close friends. Since they are not from Iceland and did not have Icelandic ID numbers, they were able to list their dates of birth instead. The very last section of the form had to be finished by the celebrant in Iceland after the wedding,
The last step stateside was to get the Secretary of State apostille, which required a bit more time off of work. Fortunately that was completed the same day.
Next, we sent everything via DHL and waited for approval.
Paperwork and postage cost us $156
Wedding
We flew to Iceland a few days prior to the wedding to get settled and see Reykjavik.
Round trip flights from South Carolina were $900 each, which we were fine with since we'd be in the country about two weeks. More affordable flights can definitely be had, but we're not particularly close to a hub and demand had suddenly increased for flights to Iceland following the country’s reopening. In the name of love, this was a worthy investment.
And on the way from the airport we stopped outside of the city to pick up the approved marriage paperwork.
The accommodation for this part of the trip was in a popular part of Reykavik, and we decided to utilize credit card points and ultimately spent zero dollars. However, the cash value was $910 total for 3 nights and we want to include that figure.
Here are a few of our personal wedding details we’re including as well:
I ordered a flower crown from a local florist (Reykjavíkurblóm) ($60), and a local makeup artist came by for hair and makeup ($275).
We bought our rings on Etsy ($346)
I bought a dress on Amazon ($175) and some Merrell hiking boots for $85, which I still wear and love.
James wore a Icelandic Lopapeysa sweater bought locally by the Handknitting Association of Iceland. ($337)
We decided to bring some hand painted cake toppers around on our journey with us, and they were $43.
That brings us to $1046.
We found an Asatru celebrant. We are not religious and weren’t seeking out a specific type of ceremony. However, Asatru seemed like the appropriate choice for our outside elopement with its connection to nature. Within Asatru, each geographic area of Iceland has someone called a Goði, so we contacted the one for the area we're eloping. For his time and resources, including pre-wedding correspondence and finalizing our paperwork, we paid him $660.
We found our photographer online. His name is Leszek Nowakowski. Check him out at https://www.icelandphotographer.is/. 10/10 would recommend and work with again. He provided us with hundreds of great photos, including all of the photos you see on this post (Thank you, Leszek!).
His time was $650 plus tip. This was very appropriate for 2021 in the COVID industry recovery era, and prices for all photography services in Iceland have increased since then to keep up with demand. I assure you, he’s worth it. As a couple of people who are fairly awkward around a camera, Leszek’s kindness and humor made him a gem to work with.
We rented a car for $92 and drove east to our wedding destination. It was cold and stunning. It was about 32 degrees F. We hopped a fence and hiked about 20 minutes to a secluded waterfall (hence the hiking boots) and got started.
Then just like that! We were married. If you’d like to listen to a walkthrough of the ceremony, check out our video.
After the ceremony, our photographer worked with us for a couple of hours and produced some amazing shots.
Anna & James eloping at Kvernufoss, trying not to slip on the rocks
Cost Summary
This is the total amount we spent on the wedding.
We chose to include the cost of flight here for the context of this breakdown, but we also planned to spent two weeks in Iceland with our wedding being one feature of a larger trip.
Airfare: $1800*
Celebrant: $660
Photographer: $650 + Tip
Clothing & Rings: $1050
Rental Car: $92
Airbnb: $910*
Paperwork & Postage: $156
Hair, Makeup, Flowers: $335
Total Cost: $5653 ($2943)
As mentioned earlier we also utilized Chase credit card points for our accommodation which lowered our total cost a fair amount. We thought it would be important to include the actual cost to give an accurate picture of what it can cost for those of you who are thinking about doing something like this. There are cheaper accommodations to be had if you’re operating on a budget.
Those customizable details like dresses and rings and photographer can obviously depend on personal vision and budget. We personally chose to balance the budget with experience. What we wore was not as important as being there and capturing this adventure.
We hope that you were able to learn more about eloping in Iceland!
Be sure to look out for future posts! Next up is our honeymoon. We spent over a week driving around the country in a campervan. Starting with our day trip to the Golden Circle and snorkeling in an arctic fissure.
Thanks for getting away with the Mays!
Anna and James at Reynisfjara
