A Senja elopement in Norway: snow, mountains & the Northern Lights
Some places just make sense for an elopement. For these two, that place was Senja.
Norway wasn’t a random choice. R & E travel there several times a year to hike in the mountains, so getting married surrounded by the landscapes they love felt like the obvious thing to do. At the end of October, they brought their closest friends and family and their White Swiss Shepherd Tueli to Senja for a few days in the snow.
And Norway being Norway, not everything went according to plan.
An adventurous couple shoot at Tungeneset
The day before the ceremony, we headed out for a couple shoot at Tungeneset. No wedding clothes yet: just Norwegian-inspired sweaters, hiking boots and Tueli coming along, of course.
It was cloudy, cold and snowy, with the mountains rising across the water. Exactly the kind of scenery you come to Senja for.
When a snowstorm changes your elopement plans
The ceremony was actually supposed to happen on a different day.
Senja had other ideas.
A proper snowstorm and extremely strong winds meant there was no point trying to stick to the original plan. One of the advantages of a small elopement is that you can change things when you need to, so the ceremony was moved to the following day.
By then, the weather had calmed down enough to make it outside.
Around twenty of their closest friends and family gathered on a snowy beach, with the water in front of them and snow-covered mountains all around. There was no priest or official ceremony. A close friend led it, they exchanged personal vows and rings, and that was all they needed.
Small, personal and very much theirs.
And then the Northern Lights appeared
After the ceremony, we went back to the hotel. Suddenly, the clouds opened up just enough to let the setting sun through. We stopped on a random road surrounded by mountains and took a few more photos while the peaks caught the last bit of light.
Sometimes the unplanned stops turn out to be the good ones.
That evening, everyone gathered back at the hotel for dinner.
We were still eating dessert when the bride’s uncle suddenly came over and told us: “You need to go outside. NOW.”
So we did.
And there it was.
The Northern Lights had appeared right above the hotel, completely unexpectedly. We hadn’t planned a Northern Lights photoshoot and we hadn’t gone out searching for them. We were simply in the middle of nowhere in Senja, with almost no light pollution, on the evening of their elopement, and suddenly the sky lit up.
Photographing it for the first time wasn’t easy and I didn’t end up with hundreds of images. But honestly, I don’t think it needed hundreds.
After snowstorms, last-minute changes and days of unpredictable weather, getting the Northern Lights that evening felt like a pretty good ending.
Eloping in Norway
You don't have to choose a place because it’s a popular wedding destination. Choose somewhere that actually means something to you.
For this couple, that was Norway. For someone else, it might be a completely different corner of Europe.
And your elopement doesn't have to mean spending the entire day posing for photos either. Go hiking. Bring your dog. Wear your hiking boots. Invite the handful of people you actually want there. Change the plan when a snowstorm rolls in.
The photos can fit around the experience, rather than the other way around.
Thinking about an elopement somewhere in Europe?
I photograph small weddings and elopements throughout Europe, especially for couples who would rather spend their wedding day somewhere in nature than follow all the traditions of a big wedding.
You bring the plans, the people you love — dogs very much included — and I'll bring my cameras.
