Engaged on Black Sand Beach in Iceland

While in Iceland last week, the boyfriend and I got engaged! That’s right, after a little more than five years together, we have decided to get married.

We actually started talking about getting engaged back in December. I’m not the kind of gal who likes surprises, so for me, talking about getting engaged before doing so was of the utmost importance.

I was itching for a trip back to Iceland and convinced Kendal that a vacation in May would be a great idea. He mentioned that it could be a “special” trip, meaning an engagement celebration. I was pretty into the idea (that’s an understatement). Not because it would surprise some people or make a good story, but because the plan involved sharing such an important moment with a place that’s so near and dear to our hearts.

After deciding we’d get engaged during our next trip to Iceland, I decided to look for a ring. I know some of you are probably cringing over the fact that I had so much involvement in my own engagement and in picking out the ring. I get it. Some people like lots of romance and surprise. I don’t. I wanted to make certain my partner and I were on the same page about this big decision in our lives, and I wanted to design my own ring.

Picking Out The Ring

As soon as I saw a ring by Ash Hilton, that was it for me. After that moment, I never considered a ring by a different artist. I had Googled minimalistic engagement rings, and one of Ash’s showed up as part of a collection of recommended rings. I fell in love with its simple beauty. I was even more excited to learn that he could customize pieces.

I wasted no time in sending the artist’s information to the boyfriend. Kendal really liked the idea of having a forest scene with a diamond as the moon, so he was totally on board with the ring. While I knew what my ring looked like, because I designed it, I didn’t actually see the finished product until Kendal was ready to give it to me in a Iceland. 

How He Proposed

Kendal decided to present me with my ring while we explored Black Sand Beach in Vík, Iceland. We spent a little bit of time in Vík during our last trip to Iceland, but it was too dark to walk along the beach. During this trip to Vík, there was plenty of light to enjoy while exploring the area.

 After walking around a bit, Kendal asked me to grab his camera for him that was in his backpack. I opened his backpack, grabbed his camera case, and opened it. Inside the case, was a tiny brown box. Upon opening the little box, I found this beautiful piece of wearable art waiting for me.

The ring is made of recycled and ethically sourced materials, which makes me love it even more.

Let The Celebrations Begin!

After getting engaged on Black Sand Beach, we made our way back to Reykjavík to continue with our celebration.

The staff at Black Pearl wanted to help us celebrate during our vacation, so they arranged a couple of treats for us. This was our second trip staying at Black Pearl, so the staff really pulled out all the stops for us. They treated us to a bottle of champagne, a bouquet of pink roses, chocolate, and strawberries — amazing! (They also treated us to incredible in-room breakfasts as a thank you for being loyal clients, but I’ll write in more detail about that in another post.)

We certainly celebrated our engagement throughout the duration of the trip. For instance, when I wanted to eat an apple pastry the size of my head from Sandholt, I was like, why not? It’s my engagement week. Ya know? If I want that whole loaf of pumpkin seed bread, I’m going to eat it — it’s my engagement week.

Let’s be real, I probably would have enjoyed all of those pastries and breads no matter what, but an engagement is a convenient excuse to celebrate even more than usual.

Kendal and I also had a really excellent meal at The Fish Company, which I deemed to be our engagement dinner. I won’t go into too much detail about it here, as I plan on writing a separate post about the meal. Just know that the slow-cooked haddock with roasted pear, havgus and mussel sauce, pickled grapes, fresh pears, and dill oil was superb. It was the best dinner I’ve ever had in Reykjavík.

Our engagement might not have been the most traditional one, but we wanted to do it our way. And so we did!

Get in Touch

Have questions about our engagement experience? Comment below or email me at emilykeenphotography@gmail.com.