If Iceland isn’t already on your bucket list you should definitely put it on there and maybe even move it to the top. Iceland is one of those places that you can literally turn around any corner + be amazed at what you see. There are homes with waterfalls directly behind them, hills that go on for miles, more waterfalls tucked away and snowcapped mountains in the distance. I’ve dreamed of coming to this magical country for years. Erin, my absolute best friend, asked if I was able to come spend a few days with her + Carey on their anniversary trip to get some photos for their NINE YEAR anniversary and duh, I said yes. 

Fast forward a few days later, my husband had to be out of state for work commitments + I had to call up Erin and cancel my trip — so many sad faces. Que in even more sad faces when Carey secretly let me know he would be proposing to Erin on their anniversary trip. Another day or two later my husbands prior work commitments got cancelled after I had already rescheduled several other shoots, bought tickets for my mother in law to fly in for a wedding I had to be out of state for and told Erin I wouldn’t be able to make Iceland work. It was an insane week with all the moving things around but untimately ended in the best way because I called up Carey + let him know it’d be able to surprise Erin after the proposal!! 

 The weeks leading up to Iceland were so insane. I was helping pick outfits for their “anniversary shoot” that I was really shooting.. I told her It’d handle finding a great photographer bc I knew so many people going out there around the same time her and Carey were going. I was talking to Carey on how and when I was going to show up. My husband was constantly hiding in the garage when I’d be facetiming Erin and I was always avoiding my girls trying to talk to her because I was so scared they were going to mention something about my husband being home. As often as I talk to Erin I didn’t slip up once and I kept the secret from EVERYONE. I had our friends asking if I though that a proposal was going to happen and managed to keep everyone thinking it definitely wasn’t happening on this trip.

I have never been so nervous to pull something off in my life. I was so scared to call and let Carey know I finally made it into Iceland. He set me up with a driver who took me straight into Reykjavik and dropped me off at a coffee shop. Carey was pretending to take a picture of Erin and her ring but was really recording me walking up to Erin + surprising her. Those poor owners of the coffee shop probably didn’t know if someone just had died or what.. between the shrieking, “oh my god’s”, squealing and tears.. We pulled it off. I surprised my best friend in Iceland after her proposal to take her engagement photos. Eeeeek! 

From there it was a whirlwind of a weekend we drove all around Iceland starting at Skogafoss and visiting all the spots in Southern Iceland. It was FREEZING but so incredibly beautiful. We’d take some photos, run back to the car drink some champagne and run back out to take a few more photos. I loved Dyrholaey the most. Cliffs on the coast with a magical beach and views for days.. definitely my favorite. The Icelandic ponies were another incredible moment– they were so friendly and we would pull off to the side of the road anytime they were near the gate. The days were short when we were there and we started at sunrise and went until sunset. Black Sands Beach was incredibly crowded but we ran around, twirled on the beach and soaked up every bit of our last days in Iceland. 

There’s almost nothing better than being in a magical country with your newly engaged best friend. After we were done with engagement pictures we celebrated with pasta, too much wine, cocoa puff white russians and finding a hot spring! A HUGE thank you to Carey for allowing me to crash your incredible proposal and engagement week in Iceland. I may have cried all over again putting this blog post together. Such a huge part of my life these two are, love you both so much!!! + I cannot wait to visit Iceland again someday, maybe sometime when its warmer 😉 — + if you’ve made it through this incredibly long post pat yourself on the back, push play + enjoy. 

+ bonus little video at the end!

Love you E+C, cannot even wait to be apart of your Maui wedding soon!!!

// dress BHLDN

+ more surprises!! I filmed just a tad bit of footage while + Erin edited it all.. SUCH a sweet video to remember their time in Iceland. Congrats you two. love you so much!