Chloe + Brian’s Faroe Islands Wedding
(sheep, lost luggage, and oddly the best Thai food of my life)
Chloe and Brian originally wanted to elope in Iceland but somewhere in the middle of our extremely active text thread, I casually mentioned a place that had been sitting at the top of my own personal bucket list the elusive Faroe Islands. Next thing I knew, they were booking their flights.
Tuck this in your pocket for bar trivia later because I’m about to blow your mind-the Faroes have more sheep than people. This of course means, you step on their offerings of poop or wool every 4 inches. The roads twist through soft green cliffs and underwater tunnels that make you feel like you’re traversing another planet. It’s the kind of place that forces you to slow down (also makes your orbitals pop out of their sockets) and that’s exactly what this wedding was meant to do- bring presence.
Chloe and Brian found a house in Rituvik that couldn’t have been more perfect for the vision we crafted together – a white-trimmed lemon yellow planked structure nestled into a damp green cliff surround by sheep on all sides. The entire property, I later learned, comprised one of the largest sheep farms on the islands.
This is where they based their whole Faroe Islands Wedding week- in a house overlooking the cliffside where they eventually said “I do.”
We spent six glorious days in the yellow house together.
ICYMI, I approach every wedding I shoot in hot pursuit of symbiosis- a shared experience- not a one-sided production. Chloe and Brian trusted me fully and let me know at every step in the process. They let me move through their week as a trusted (albeit voyeuristic) friend, not a hired vendor, and thats when the best stuff is created.
We explored the sights over several days and at one point, I found myself standing next to the headstone of James Bond, him having been “buried” in the movies next to the famous Kallur Lighthouse. We island-hopped. We wandered through record shops and bought Faroese books, wool hats and art prints. We drank entirely too much Faroese coffee (and I’ll admit I indulged in multiple orange sodas which are akin to the ones in Iceland IYKYK). We smothered our feet in warm wool socks because trust me-you need them there- and we lived the kind of week that makes the wedding day feel like the least performative part of it all.
Their Faroe Islands wedding day itself? Quiet. Zero production. All intention. They helped each other get ready in that yellow house on the cliff. Brian (who happens to be a baker) made fresh bagels for his bride that morning. They zipped and buttoned each other into their clothes before we headed into the “yard” for portraits before their family arrived for the ceremony. Chloe’s dress—a gauzy Martina Liana—moved with ghostly beauty in the Faroese winds (and also in the downpour that was our portrait-taking- day at the famous Black Church in Fuglafjordbur the day after the wedding). Brian’s beautiful blue corduroy suit was from Cordings London and he tucked his great-grandfather’s gold pocket watch into his vest. He has THE best hair (you’ll see what I’m talking about but I felt inclined to write it out).
We chose a ceremony spot the night before, walking out into the backyard and picking a location right there overlooking the ocean for their vow exchange. No chairs. No setup. Just a slick of grass and a lot of wind, surrounded by their closest people who flew in for this and stood with them through it all.
Side bar: My luggage got lost on the way there and I went two days without it. I have a high tolerance for stress (you have to in this business and as a mom of three boys) and I spent two days wearing borrowed clothes from both Brian and Chloe and wool socks and boots from a neighbor. This hammers the point that no matter how perfectly you plan a Faroe Islands Wedding, this place has its own ideas. You can either fight it or lean in and I am always going to advocate for surrender.
After the vows, there was champagne and celebration back inside the house. Later that night, we headed to Hvonn in Tórshavn which shocked me as it was hands down the best Thai food I’ve ever had in my life and I used to wait tables in a Thai restaurant for the better part of a decade.
If you’re thinking about planning a Faroe Islands wedding, know this: it will absolutely not go the way you’ve planned it. The weather will do what it wants. The ferries might shift. Your wedding dress will absolutely be dragged across sheep shit. And it’s always possible your bags might not show up. But that’s why this kind of wedding works for people who want a story of grand adventure.
It was an honor to spend this time in sacred voyeurism with Chloe and Brian.
Thank you for trusting me to tell this story of your Faroe Islands Wedding (I’m sorry to say it again but the google god demands her keyword sacrifices).
L
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