While Matt and I planned our own wedding, an idea kept creeping back into my head, slowly taking over everything. The pressure to have the wedding everyone expects, to serve the extravagant 7 course meal and shell out the equivalent of a sizeable portion of our mortgage on a wedding that was for everyone else but ourselves. As we slowly narrowed down our options, we knew we wanted to include our family and friends, but eloping was still something we both wanted in a way. Getting the best of both worlds, we decided to pre-honeymoon in Iceland and elope on a mountaintop, exchanging vows in the West Fjords. As this crazy life would have it, Cindy & Pok had the same idea. Just 1 month before we were to land in Iceland, Cindy contacted me about documenting their love. They are both teachers from Hong Kong and flew to Copenhagen, kayaked in glacier lagoons in Greenland and finally met us in Isafjordur, Iceland.
We picked them up from the little airport in Isafjordur and set off in search of beautiful light. The great thing about the fjords is that the mountains often hold off the clouds, so while it may be raining in one fjord, the next one over has blue skies. With some location advice from our friend Geiri, tour guide and manager of West Tours, we found our way up a gravel road, along the side of a mountain to the top of a fjord. On a clear day, facing north, you can see the ocean for miles and miles. But on this particular day, we were surrounded by a dense fog. No one else around to witness their love. No pressure to act or show emotion or hurry up to enjoy cocktail hour and mingle with all their guests. These intimate moments on top of a fjord in Iceland we will hold close to our hearts for a very long time.
After we finished photographing, we had a typical Icelandic fish skillet for lunch. We parted ways to nap and later met up at the local football field (that’s real football for all you north Americans). Pok spotted Matt playing keep up and ran over. They kicked around the ball, playing for well over an hour. The amazing thing about Cindy and Pok is their modesty. Not once during the entire day shooting did it come up that Pok was a football star and represented Hong Kong internationally when he was 19 years old. Cindy and I sat chatting about everything from hobbies to our next travel destinations. We looked over at the guys, laughing and smiling from ear to ear, and she said words that left a bit of a lump in my throat: “what I see there is pure happiness.” We made wonderful new friends in Iceland, connecting over our love for travel and we cannot wait to meet again!
This wedding was featured on A Practical Wedding.
These photos are beautiful – such a lovely set and story too :)