Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…
We are full-time vanlifers based in Vancouver, Canada. Around our day jobs, we travel most spare moments, seeking beauty in both epic vistas and also the mundane everyday moments, inspiring ourselves to live our best lives and be stewards of the environment.
We treasure personal empowerment, experiences, time, genuineness, and intentional living. We believe in the power of individual action and strive to live zero-waste. In the past, we travelled to all 7 continents (with Antarctica being our favourite); now we do our best to stick a bit more local and fly less. We are grateful for everything we have but especially each other – there’s not a lot of people that can thrive in 60 square feet and still love each other.
Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling and some of your favourite details…
When we started planning the big day 4 months prior to our wedding, we wrote down a list of priorities to refer back to. We did this to keep our focus and not become distracted by any necessities that are important to other couples but not to us. Every couple has a different vision and we wanted to stay true to ours. We wanted our union to be beautiful, intimate, wild, and adventurous, like the 10 years of our relationship beforehand, and the rest of our lives together. So we chose to have our wedding in Iceland, where we had been planning to visit anyway. We wanted to vividly remember our time together during the day, and fully focus on each other, so we made the decision to only invite immediate family (and one faraway friend as an exception). After the ceremony, the rest of the day was an adventure into the wilderness of Iceland, just us and our photographers – a dream day for us. This meant the wedding video was critical so that we could share the full experience with our friends later in the summer at a casual reception. It was also important to us to strive for minimal environmental impact, so we made our wedding and subsequent reception as zero-waste as possible. We opted for minimal décor, letting the environment speak for itself. This was especially necessarily because we flew with only carry-on to Iceland, and with all our camping equipment, it was truly a tight fit!
Tell us about your main outfits:
Everything we wore and used was pre-owned, part of our priority in keeping our wedding zero-waste. This took a little faith, trusting that things would arrive, fit and look good. The Anna Campbell wedding dress was a lucky dream find, scored from eBay, and it was adjustable so it didn’t even need alterations. To handle Iceland’s frigid temperatures, two pairs of wool leggings were worn underneath, and a second-hand fur stole for warmth on top. There were 2 iterations of wedding blazers, with the first not quite right, but the second one was perfect, made of soft and cozy cashmere. The pants were wool to beat the chill.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?
Our ceremony was perfect, with our celebrant Baering poetically wrenching our heartstrings with his words. He read a signed poem from Tyler Knott Gregson that made everyone cry, and then we all cried again during our vows. The horse farm we were staying at had the sweetest dogs, who featured heavily in our photos and got lots of love. After the ceremony and goodbyes with the family, who all left together on their own little adventure, we spent some quality time petting the horses, and then took off to chase some Icelandic waterfalls. At this point the bride’s high heels got ditched in favour of the photographer’s rubber wellies. This was all part of an outfit that must have been quite a sight, multiple metres of silk dress tucked into the waistband of the wool leggings underneath, as we hiked up waterfalls. Our last adventure of the day was at a moody volcanic black sand beach, where somehow the threatening rain just held off for us. What followed was another 10 days of exploring the country in a rented campervan (little did we know this would be our normal life in a couple years).
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?
Life and love are so quickly taken for granted. When you remember this, and try to remember often, take the time to enjoy the feeling of having the best two arms in the world to hold you.
Photography: Maria Luise Bauer | Videography: Ingo Scheinhutte | Ceremony location: Hekluhestar | Celebrant: Baering Gudmundsson | Bride’s gown: Second-hand Anna Campbell Dress | Groom’s outfit: second-hand sport coat from Façonnable and pants from Burberry | Bride’s rings: James Allen and a vintage ring from ebay | Groom’s ring: Juvelisto | Shoes: secondhand from eBay | Poetry: from Tyler Knott Gregson
