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Southern Australian couple, Petra and Jan, decided that their bucket list included a two-day Iceland volcano wedding with their three sons joining them as guests. They wanted to be the first to marry somewhere unforgettable in Iceland, inside a VOLCANO. They were married 700 feet down into the Earth.
They and their photographers/planners, Your Adventure Wedding, met on an early summer morning in July for their Iceland wedding ceremony. The team at the Inside the Volcano experience had only proposals so far, never a wedding ceremony down inside of the volcano. After they met up, it was time for a journey to the center of the Earth…
Let's hear from their planners on how it all went down:
The hike from the meeting point to base camp was about 30-40 minutes. Along the way, you are walking beside some of the oldest lava in Iceland. You see small caves and caverns the lava created 100s of years ago. Arriving to base camp, the energy and excitement was high. The staff gave us the safety run down, geared us up helmets and headlamps, and a synopsis of what will happen as we head down 700 feet. Our group of seven made our final ascent to the top of Thrihnukagigur Volcano to then jump into the professional repelling system that would take us down inside of the volcano for the private Iceland wedding ceremony.
It was about a six-minute descent and you could feel the excitement. Once at the bottom, it was unbelievable how large of an area we had to choose from (Inside the Volcano website quotes: 160 x 220 feet). In an effort to preserve the lava, the Inside the Volcano team has set a rope barrier around, so holding an Iceland wedding ceremony in here for more than 6-10 people will be difficult (and definitely no seating). The Iceland elopement ceremony was short, sweet, nature-based (fire and ice focused), and officiated by my favorite Icelandic Pastor, Egill. The next group was on their way down so we needed to wrap it up with a couple of quick wedding portraits and head back up to the surface to warm up.
When we arrived back to base camp, the Inside the Volcano team had Prosecco, hot Icelandic meat soup, and even red velvet cake at the ready. Since we had begun so early with this portion of their adventure wedding, we had the rest of the day to explore together, so we began our trek back to our meeting spot. The wedding day continued with a stop at a waterfall, Geysir Geothermal area, and then we headed further north to another set of waterfalls that Petra loved.
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Wedding Planner: Iceland Wedding Planner • Photographer: Your Adventure Wedding • Venue: Inside the Volcano • Pastor: Egill Hallgrimsson
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About the Author: Catherine Clark
Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.
