A gay couple in Iceland threw the hottest wedding ever when they exchanged vows and rings in front of an erupting volcano. According to reports in The Observer and elsewhere, Sumarliði and Jónsi had planned on a traditional ceremony before the global pandemic sent the lovers into quarantine, but with the help of Pink Iceland, the couple were able to marry in front of one explosively magnificent background.
“It was beyond perfect, a day we’ll never forget,” Sumarliði said.
All photos by Stymir & Heiddis / Pink Iceland
The pair met in 2015 and live together in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik. Jónsi had proposed to Sumarliði on Bastille Day in France in 2017. They had planned to marry in a public ceremony with friends and family in attendance until the quarantine cancelled their plans. But with the help of Pink Iceland, the pair were able to get married, in a less traditional setting but with an explosively magnificent background.
Of course, getting married in front of a volcano came with some unique logistical and safety issues. Birna Hrönn Björnsdóttir of Pink Iceland (@PinkIceland) explained they had scouted numerous locations for the wedding, but the main deterrent proved to be poisonous gasses.
“Mother Nature is in charge,” Björnsdóttir told the BBC. “So one of the security measures was to have a gas measurement type of thing with us at all times.”
Sumarliði told Queerty via email the plans were “very last minute” as a result and they had only four days to make all the arrangements. Then there was a 90-minute hike in full protective gear through a snowstorm just to reach the volcano. The pair added “the hike was fun” but the snowstorm “stressed Sumarliði out as he was terrified of freezing to death once he’d changed into his wedding suit.”
Video of the event prepared by Kaco Films (@KacoFilms) shows an almost surreal setting for the marriage, with rivers of red hot lava flowing from the erupting crater in the Fagradalsfjall mountains roughly 20 miles from Reykjavík on the Reykjavík Peninsula. Volcanic activity is common in Iceland, but the region’s relative accessibility, spectacular eruptions, and lava flows have turned the volcano into a tourist bonanza.
“We couldn’t invite anyone to the volcano, and we didn’t tell anyone until the day after,” Sumarliði told The Observer. “The whole thing feels like a dream.”
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