Idyllic Iceland Wedding: Brandy + Justin

 Today’s wedding takes place in one of the most romantic settings I’ve seen in a while (atop lava rocks in Iceland!), with an equally romantic story to match. I’m madly in love with the idyllic simplicity Brandy + Justin infused into their day + Brandy’s grey J.Crew dress is so perfect for the relaxed + rustic surroundings. Here’s a little backstory about the lovely couple:

Thirteen years ago I went to Paris with a friend, and when we got back his friend, Justin, saw a picture of me from the trip.  According to him, he fell in love with me from that photograph and declared he would marry me someday.  A year later Justin and I met, I (quite unexpectedly) fell in love with him at first sight, a few months later we got engaged and a few months after that, young and overwhelmed by the most intense love, we fell apart.  Time went by, we tried to move on, we both met, married and divorced other people, and twelve years later here we are back to where we should have always been.

I mean, how romantic of a story is that, right?! Huge thanks to Pat Furey for the absolutely gorgeous images and congratulations to Brandy + Justin!

 I wanted the day to be ours completely without getting caught up in details that would distract from what our wedding was truly about: a celebration of finally getting to marry the love of my life. We had initially planned to get married at city hall, but it just didn’t feel right to me. Many years ago Justin took me to Narragansett, Rhode Island, and since then I always imagined us getting married alone on the rocks by the sea. All these years later we finally did…on the other side of the Atlantic on lava rocks in Budir, Iceland, with only a few souls around for miles.

 OUR FAVORITE MEMORY FROM THE WEDDING

Picking a favorite memory is tough because I remember every moment from the time I woke up (which was VERY early...sorry Pat and Claire!) to the time I went to sleep. The most memorable would have to be the feeling of calm after the ceremony was over, realizing we were finally married. A few other highlights include the look on my daughter's face when she saw me for the first time, the song that was playing when I went back into the empty dining room after dinner to just sit and marvel at how wonderful the day was and sitting by the fire at the end of the night drying my hiking shoes which were soaking wet from my late night hike to the beach after the wedding. I never wanted the day to end. Luckily the days are long during summer in Iceland so we were able to enjoy it for as long as possible!

OUR ADVICE TO THOSE PLANNING NOW

Planning a destination wedding/elopement forced me to not obsess over the details, which I'm prone to do. Almost nothing worked out as planned and because of that the day ended up being absolutely perfect. It was full of beautiful, unexpected moments and lots of laughter.

My only advice: it's your wedding so don't feel pressured to make it anything less than what you want. Most people don't get a do-over so if you give in to expectations you will most likely regret it.

Source: greenweddingshoes