A couple who wanted a “small, remote and adventurous” wedding took things to the next level when they ended up climbing a wall of ice and saying their vows in a cave in Iceland.
Dan Grimmer and his wife Caroline have always shared a sense of adventure, with the pair meeting in the U.K. after growing up in the U.S. and Germany.
After getting engaged, Dan, from Oklahoma, jokingly suggested hosting their wedding in Antarctica, before settling on Iceland, a country between where he and Caroline’s German family are from.
That decision was not long after the pair had gotten engaged in Oxford, in December 2023, and having carried out a little more research, they decided on a wedding that would incorporate ice climbing and caves.
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Soon, Dan and Caroline realized they were in a race against time: ice cave weddings in Iceland are only safe during the colder winter months, between November and March.
Having worked quickly to secure the likes of a photographer, videographer, venue, a guide and their families’ commitments, Dan and Caroline headed to Iceland for their planned ice climb on March 6, 2024.
What followed was a breathtaking series of events, which saw them say their vows in an ice cave in Vatnajökull National Park, before donning the likes of crampons to scale a giant wall of ice.
Using sharp axes, Dan and Caroline made their way up the wall – both still wearing their wedding attire from when they had said their vows.
After the one-of-a-kind climb, the couple then hosted a public ceremony for their families on a black sand beach the following day.
Dan and Caroline admitted they had never done any climbing before their wedding shoot – but Caroline has since become a fan of bouldering as a result.
Speaking of their stunning wedding and shoot, Dan said: “Our guide, a weathered mountaineer with decades of glacier experience, told us that the ice cave we got married in has never existed before in exactly this form, and it will never exist again.
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“Each structure is completely unique to its season.
“It was surprisingly warm!
“It was all so exciting – we’ve never done anything like this before and there we were, climbing up a steep glacier wall with ice axes in our hands and crampons strapped to our feet.
“The whole experience brought us closer together.
“Caroline wasn’t sure whether she would be able to get up the wall of ice with her thick winter wedding dress, especially since she had never done anything like this before.
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“She let me go ahead to watch the way I climbed up the wall.
“There was a moment when I turned around to check on her and she smiled at me – it felt so connecting and special.
“Her dress got tangled in the crampons towards the end, but she’s a strong woman and managed to pull herself up the last couple of meters with just her arms.
“Caroline said she actually had a lot of fun ruining her dress.
“And fun fact: she really got into climbing and bouldering after our cool ice climbing adventure in Iceland.”
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