Where to Stay During Your Iceland Elopement – 2023

Where to stay during your elopement or wedding in Iceland? This guide is designed to give you some ideas on whats on offer, accommodation wise, around the island. There are hotels, guesthouses and rentals all over the country so there is no shortage of options but this is your wedding day we are talking about here, which is the perfect excuse to splurge a little and stay somewhere nice.

Your accommodation may not seem like the most important decision of all the decisions to be made before a wedding day. But where you sleep the night before, where you get ready in the morning and where you end up, the night after everything has gone down, plays a huge role in the over all experience of your elopement adventure.

Your accommodation will also play a huge role in how your getting ready images will turn out. A nicely designed place with beautiful light will elevate the images to a whole new level.

Below is a list of some of our top picks for places to stay in Iceland. The locations are spread out across the island and range from fancy hotels to nicely designed cabins but they each fit the criteria of creating a unique atmosphere, having the potential to elevate your getting ready images and fit the aesthetics of an adventurous elopement in Iceland.

A lone house sitting by the sea, surrounded by dramatic nature on all sides. Looking over grown lava fields, rugged mountains and the waves of the North-Atlantic. The clouds rolling by and the occasional sun ray dotting the mountains in the distance with spots of light.

A short walk down the road takes you to the only other building in the area, a black panelled church build in 1847. Walk past the church and you will end up down on a sea shell beach between plates of black basalt lava. This setting is the perfect backdrop for quiet adventures and is one of our favourite places in all of Iceland to document elopements and weddings.

The hotel itself feels like it’s been there for ages, it has a comfortable air of history and heritage about it. Sitting in the down stairs lounge with a cup of coffee or a glass of whiskey looking out the floor to ceiling windows at the Snæfellsnes mountains just feels right somehow.

The staff is all super friendly and nice, for us it always feels a bit like coming for a visit to a distant relative, everybody greets us and asks how we are doing. The onsite restaurant is excellent with one large dining hall and another smaller and more private one.

The beautiful location and this amazing boutique hotel make this the perfect place for elopements and destination weddings and we have probably shot more weddings here than any other location in Iceland. Despite that fact we are yet to grow tired of this place and that is probably the highest compliment we can give this place.

When driving under the windswept sides of mount Hafnarfjall you would never believe that one of the most beautifully designed accommodations in Iceland sits quietly in a small birch forrest just off the road. The aptly named Black House, is a modern but traditional Icelandic black timber house located just outside the town of Borgarnes. It’s designed and owned by the leading interior designer in Iceland and it shows in every immaculate detail of this place.

This house is perfect for getting ready before your elopement and coming back to after an adventurous day out facing the elements, to sit on the porch and watch the last blue hour light disappear behind the mountains.

When you reach the epic south coast of Iceland from Reykjavík the first landmark that greets you is the beautiful Seljalandsfoss waterfall. Drive a little further and look to your right and you will see a group of black little cabins, huddled together on a field.

These Nordic designed cabins are beautifully crafted and make great use of the space, despite being tiny. Perfect for a couple to get ready in for their south coast elopement, exploring the waterfalls, black sand beaches and glaciers of the south.

The floor to ceiling windows are perfect to enjoy the surrounding nature or northern lights display in the dark winter nights.

Just as you turn off the ring road down to the now world famous black sand beach of Reynisfjara you will see on your right the beginning of a whole village of timber clad houses. Here you can find accommodation fitting everyones budget, everything from hostel dormitories to deluxe suits. We wouldn’t recommend getting ready for a wedding in a dormitory but the Black Beach suites offer more privacy, clean interior design and big windows to enjoy the views over the Dyrhólaey island in the distance. This location is perfect for elopements and weddings in the area around the village of Vík.

There are not many forests in Iceland but Þrastaskógur or the Forrest of Redwings is located in south of Iceland, it’s a popular summer cabin area for Icelanders and nestled there by the shores of a lake, surrounded by tall evergreens are two villas. Both have room for 8-10 people, making them a convenient accommodation for tiny weddings with just your closest family or the very best of friends, where you can all stay under the same roof during your wedding shindigs.

You can also get a private chef to cook you dinner and eat together at a large dinner table. If your wedding party is slightly bigger you can also opt for the big lodge run by the same owners that is close by and features 9 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms, a spa and much more.

In a quaint little town in south Iceland, sitting under the mountain you drive down on your way from Reykjavík to the south shore, you’ll find Inni Apartments, boutique accommodations designed by the same interior designer as the Black House we mentioned in West Iceland. Featuring 9 apartments ranging from studios to 2 bedroom apartments and every single one of them featuring the same beautiful design and immaculate attention to detail.

Each apartment has it’s own color scheme and different layouts, making each one a unique stay.

A small concrete farm house located on the south shore, built in 1923 by Jakob where he lived until 1978 with his 50 cats, has now been newly renovated and is available for rent. Beautiful rugged design offering complete privacy at the farm of Efri-Úlfsstaðir.

The farmer Hörður is a modern day viking, but the nice and hospitable kind, he is also all in on the sustainability train and is the only farmer in Iceland that grows garlic. Who knows, maybe he will give you a taste. If you ask nicely.

At the farm they also raise Icelandic horses and offer riding tours on long stretches of black sand beaches.

South east Iceland is a paradise for adventurers, boasting some of the most dramatic landscapes in Iceland with the largest glacier, highest mountains, biggest volcanos, the rainiest place in Iceland and some of the strongest winds. Everything here is set up for drama.

Conveniently located in the middle of this far away, rugged place. Right between Skaftafell national park and the famous Glacier Lagoon sits Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon. It offers a bit of 4 star luxury in between all the crazy adventures. With modern and minimalist designed rooms, a great restaurant and even a spa where you can relax after your crazy elopement day in the mountains.

Located about as far north as you can go in Iceland in the quaint little fishing town of Siglufjörður. Surrounded by snowcapped mountains on all sides, endless midnight sun in the summer time and great aurora displays in winter which you can enjoy from a hot tub down by the sea.

This classic & romantic hotel sits right on the water where you can watch the boats come in and out of the harbour. It offers a good base to explore the natural wonders of north Iceland while still enjoying the peace and quiet of this little village nestled between the mountains.

The old school design and immaculate color palette add a beautiful touch to getting ready images.