How do I even begin to describe this magical land–a land where rainbows appear daily, hot springs bubble, and the mountains are fierce and perfectly majestic? It’s been a deep desire of mine to go to Iceland (whether for fun, for work, for wedding photography, for just about any reason).

My ultimate dream has been for my husband and I to renew our wedding vows in Iceland in our tenth year of marriage, and to have a fabulous photographer capture that moment. Well, it happened, and it was far better than I can even begin to describe. It was a definite dream come true…something I doubted would ever happen.

Every day in Iceland was full of such beauty and emotion. There were times when I felt completely numb and speechless, and the last thing I wanted to do was to attempt to capture these imposing landscapes photographically–the canyons, mountains, beaches, rocks, rainbows, sunsets, glaciers. It felt like stopping to take a picture would keep me from living in the moment and taking all of it in. Brandon and I agreed that just when we felt like nothing could top what we were experiencing in that moment, the next sight or experience was even better–and over and over. And to top it off, we witnessed the Aurora Borealis…the Northern Lights!!!…two nights in a row.

Nonetheless, my expectations as a photographer going in were probably too high. I mean, who in the world can really capture this place in a way that does it justice?!?! I kept reminding myself that this session wasn’t about the majesty of the landscape; it was about Rafał and Paulina, and our being in Iceland was a side note. It was about their flirty chemistry, their connection, and their eyes for one another. That was the most important thing I could capture.

We spent hours every day with them laughing, listening to music, and oohing and aahing over the phenomenal views. And we even spent evenings talking about deep things, God things, and comparing and educating each other on American culture vs. that of Poland. It was seriously the best. We really miss these two so much.

By the way, Rafał also photographed us on this trip…and he masterfully crafted it as a beautiful story on his blog. You should check out his blog post here!

Overall, it was an incredible trip. I’ll try to do a blog post later with some tourist/fun photos from Norway and Iceland and tell more! 😉

Below are a few photos from our adventures one day with Rafał and Paulina to the black sand beaches of Vik, the canyon called Fjaðrárgljúfur (try to pronounce that one!), and the magical Seljalandsfoss waterfall. And just a couple lines below this paragraph is a song we played every day while driving around Iceland–Runaway by Aurora. This song takes me back to that day. You should listen to it while you peruse!

* Jewelry by Lauren Hill Jewelry