Jackie & Simon / Iceland Elopement
"They say love always finds its way."
"Ours began with my random search result on Facebook. I (Simon) was looking for a friend who had changed her last name after marriage. For some reason, at the top of the search results was Jackie instead of the friend originally intended. Even though Jackie was not the person of interest, her profile photo quickly helped redirect my attention. So I did what any responsible 36-year-old male would have done in that situation (the only logical choice really); I messaged her. She did not respond right away (good move on her part), but when she did, our very first conversation went something like this:
"Fast forward eight months and it’s February 2017. We are now engaged, and our wedding plans are well underway. But every day the budget grew larger with the endless list of things to buy and people to hire. The mounting stress took a toll and soon arguments ensued. It was a very stressful time for us."
"Then one day, I saw this in my Instagram feed."
"I don’t know exactly what happened but something inside of me clicked and I knew we had to go to Iceland. I asked Jackie and it was an easy sell since she loves to travel. Afraid we might lose momentum, we quickly purchased our plane tickets and started planning our trip; first, it was the Airbnb, then the restaurants, then a famous photographer named Mait for our engagement photos to take advantage of the trip. But after seeing his amazing work in Iceland came the inevitable. Instead of a big traditional wedding with all the stress and headache, we thought ‘why not get married in Iceland?’"
"It was a spontaneous decision to go to Iceland. But looking back, it was probably the best decision we have made so far. We were free, by ourselves, in a country that neither one of us had set foot in before. The beautiful scenery coupled with the frigid cold weather heightened our senses and we were able to really enjoy each other’s presence. If we had to do it all over again, we would do it exactly the way we did in Iceland."
