Iceland Budir Church Same Sex Elopement Photographer

My trip to Iceland was, in a word, AMAZING. Everywhere that you turn is STUNNING. You're just in AWE as you drive through the country, pointing out the millions of waterfalls and the billions of ponies-I'm sorry HORSES. (They get pissed if you call them ponies!) I drove with Hailey and Brina for about 4 hours to this wonderfully desolate location, close to the little black church, Buðir. This church is such an amazing place for an elopement, so private and beautiful, not close to anything at all. The land around the church is also gorgeous, covered in strange grass and puffy moss where Hailey and Brina took off their heavy winter coats and ran around in the 30 mile per hour wind together. They clung to each other, mostly for warmth, and I asked them 375 thousand times if they had caught hypothermia yet. The Buðir black church is one of the three black churches on the island. They're apparently black because they're painted with pitch on the exterior, just like the hull of a boat. This protects it from the harsh Icelandic elements. It works pretty well, I guess, because these buildings have survived for over 100 years! We did a short ceremony on the soft moss and then played around by the church. 

Next we headed to the Snæfellsjökull National Park. It took us about another hour to get there, (maybe longer because we stopped to pet some more horses!) We left the car, and hiked up towards the Londranger Basalt Cliffs. While we were hiking, the sun ACTUALLY snuck out and began to shine on us. It was still freaking cold, (thanks 30 mph winds!) but at least it wasn't rainy anymore! Londrangar and the hill Svalthufa are the remains of what used to be a crater, and has since eroded to its currant shape. The farmers in the area apparently never make hay on the hill, because it is said to belong to the elves living in the area. Yes, we looked for them. No, we didn't see any. Much to my chagrin. We enjoyed the sunshine by the water, wandering out to the edge of the cliffs to where the Pufins and seagulls had made their nests, and then we ran back to the car as the Icelandic rain started again! Our adventure was so much fun, and it was so gorgeous to see so much of Iceland that doesn't look like it does on instagram.