Conversation: 4-months to plan a wedding can be enough!

When it comes to love stories, Sigurjón and Simona’s stands out. As one of Iceland’s most active couples, they have conquered some of the world’s longest mountain trails and built a training community—Últraform. To celebrate their 10-year journey together, they decided to tie the knot, aligning their wedding day perfectly with their anniversary. “When we realized that our anniversary fell on a weekend, it felt like the perfect opportunity to combine the dates.” Simona shared, reflecting on the meaningful choice. We asked Simona and Sigurjón how their special day came together.

The start: How did you decide to get married?

We decided to get married when we realised that our 10 year anniversary is on Saturday - a perfect day to throw a party! We found it to be a perfect opportunity to combine the dates. Therefore, there was no proposal, just a mutual decision!

White studded bridal shoes on a navy blue velvet surface with flowing white fabric.

Embroidered wedding hoop art with floral details and initials S & E on natural linen.

Close-up of hands buttoning a blue vest against a dark background.

A person in a blue suit gazes out a window with mountains in the background.

A bride in a white dress puts on jewelry while wearing a flowing veil.

A bride wearing an off-shoulder white dress and jewelry smiles in a bright room.

planning a wedding

We took the decision in mid of December 2023 and got married on 6th of April 2024, so we only got around 4 months to plan and prepare.

I love planning events and I am kind of good at it so it was not stressful. Because I wanted to do everything myself and had no planner mainly because I thought of the time that would go finding a planner and meetings would go wasted, as well because of the of the expenses we were not ready to spend the money on.

Finances: Budgeting a wedding

Ideally I would encourage couples to save up for 1-2 years before planning. We had savings, maybe not an actual wedding fund, but it helped a lot. There are a few big expenses and a lot of little ones that add up quite fast.

A couple walks along a scenic beach with snow-capped mountains in the background.

A couple shares a moment on a beach with mountains and rocky coastline.

A person in a navy suit adjusts their jacket on a beach with ocean views.

White boutonniere with roses adorns a navy blue suit jacket against an ocean backdrop.

Elegant off-shoulder wedding dress flows in the wind on a beach with snow-capped mountains.

Beautiful bridal portrait on beach with mountains and ocean in background.

the non-negotiables

For us having a good photographer and videographer was one of the non-negotiables. We knew that we would want our wedding memories to live forever in pictures and videos. I decided to gift my husband a singer performance of Jónsi,a known Icelandic singer, and this was one of the better decisions I made only a week before the big day - it was so fun and beautiful. Also to have chosen the venue that was beautiful without needing to decorate too much - my best friends helped us to decorate the tables but the rest was perfect as it was. Truly here is nothing that we wish we had done otherwise - we spent our money wisely only only on things/services that were crucial for us.

the advice

The best advice is to begin with finding the venue, catering, church and photographer. The rest can be done in smaller steps, preferably with help of your family and friends. Our wedding was so much more fun than we had imagined, mainly because we did everything we wanted. And it was so much fun!