All

Thurs

Fri

Sat

Sun

Mon

Tues

Wed

Overview

Thursday

Most of us board our flight and depart for Reykjavík! If you're in a window seat, you might just catch a glimpse of Greenland. It's pretty incredible.

 

Friday

Arrive in Iceland, luxuriate in the Blue Lagoon (at least those who choose to), get settled into our apartments, recover a bit from the flight, and engage in a Whole Group Mystery Event in the evening.

 

Saturday

Roll-your-own in the morning, then at 1:30 PM hop in the two 8-person SUVs we're renting and embark on a Judd-and-Kelly-guided Golden Circle tour of Thingvellir, Geysir, and Gullfoss--the three most visited sites in Iceland. The evening is all yours. This would be a good time to book reservations at a restaurant, if one catches your fancy. Bonus: Saturday night in downtown Reykjavík (where we're all staying) gets pretty lively. It's kind of like State Street at bar-time, except they allow booze on the streets, you'll hear 15 different languages being spoken, and the sun will already be rising when the bartender calls Last Call.

 

Sunday

The rehearsal dinner for the wedding party is at 6:00 PM at Austur-Indiafjelagid in Reykjavík, but the rest of the day is free for you to do whatever you'd like. At 11:00 AM, Kelly and I will be taking one of the SUVs about 40 minutes outside the city to Hveragerdi, where we'll do a 2-mile hike to, and extended dip in, the natural hot springs of the Reykjadalur valley. Anyone is welcome to join us. It's a very Icelandic experience.

 

Monday

Wedding Day

Still working out the details, but here's what we know: We all get ready in the morning, have a short ceremony indoors at 10:15 AM in Reykjavík, then pile into the SUVs and any other available rental cars around 11:00 AM and head out for an all-day road-trip along the southern coast of Iceland. There'll be a handful of stops for sight-seeing, group photos, and a ceremony or two. We'll get back to Reykjavík in the evening and have the wedding reception (really more of a Post-Road-Trip Pizza-and-Pajamas Party) at our apartment until the wee hours of the morning.

 

Tuesday

Brian John's birthday! And a free day! To do whatever you want! If enough people are interested, we may take one of the SUVs up to the highest waterfall in Iceland. There are also plenty of day-tour options available that you can do on your own. Puffin-watching boat tours, buses to almost anywhere on the island, a great Haunted Reykjavík walking tour, history and art museums, pools, etc.

 

Wednesday

The official end date of the wedding (but hopefully not the marriage). Some will have already left, some will be leaving, and some will be sticking around a few more days. The flight doesn't leave until 2:45 PM, so the morning is free for last-minute souvenir shopping, and pounding one last Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur--the best damn hot dog stand hot dog you'll ever taste.

Thursday

4:00 PM

 

 

5:00 PM

 

 

7:30 PM

4:00 PM SuperShuttles arrive at both Judd-and-Kelly's condo and Brian-and-Sarah's house.

 

Judd, Kelly, Linda, Brian, Sarah, Chris, Tyrele, Josh (T), Kathy, Jerry, Ali and Luke arrive at MSP Terminal 2.

 

Icelandair flight 656 departs!

 

Friday

7:00 AM

 

 

8:00 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

9:00 AM

 

 

 

11:00 AM

 

2:00 PM

 

 

4:00 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7:00 PM

We arrive at Keflavík airport (about 45 minutes outside of Reykjavík). But remember that this is 7:00 AM local time--your body will still think it's 2:00 AM...

 

Everyone catches a Reykjavík Excursions FlyBus from the airport, but those wanting to (let's call them Squad K) will stop at the Blue Lagoon for a few hours with Kelly. (The Blue Lagoon is on the way to Reykjavík, so the bus will drop Squad K off and Squad J will continue on to Reykjavík with me. When Squad K is done at the Blue Lagoon, they'll catch a different FlyBus to Reykjavík.)

 

Squad J arrives in Reykjavík and should be able to check into at least one of the three AirBnB apartments immediately, and then proceeds to crash HARD for a few hours.

 

Squad K arrives in Reykjavík midway through Squad J's nap time.

 

Judd, Kelly, Wenda, Tyrele, Joseph, Nora, Ali, and Luke check into their AirBnB.

 

The Whole Damn Group (WDG) meets at a TBD location for a group activity. This Mystery Event will require teamwork, resilience and a command of the Icelandic language. But if you can only muster one of the three--you should be fine. It'll take from about 4:00 PM to about 7:00 PM, and you will definitely have the opportunity to grab dinner throughout the event. Or you can wait until after. This is one of the only decisions you will be allowed to make for yourself throughout the trip, so enjoy it.

 

You're free--free at last! You can bail on the group entirely, or find something to do with one of your new friends. (I hear Tyrele is nice.)

Saturday

Morning

 

 

 

 

1:30 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evening

 

 

 

 

 

Late-Night

More free time. Do what you want, with whom you want. If it were me, I'd head straight to one of the local pools for a morning dip. They're great. I'd also grab a coffee and a pastry somewhere. Maybe check out the giant topographic map of Iceland in the basement of City Hall.

 

The WDG loads into two big ol' SUVs (and whatever other vehicles people have been kind enough to rent) and embarks on a Judd-and-Kelly-guided Golden Circle tour. This includes the three most-visited attractions in Iceland--Thingvellir, Geysir (Strokkur), and Gullfoss. This road trip will last all afternoon and into the evening. Depending how people are feeling, one SUV may go back to Reykjavík and the other might continue on to a few more sites. We're fluid like that.

 

No plans, but if there are any restaurants you'd like to get dinner at, this would be a good time to do it. We'll provide a few ideas, but perusing Google Maps for 4+ star reviews works well, too. Reservations are required at a lot of places, so plan ahead. 8:00 PM or later would be best, as we likely won't be back to Reykjavík until 6 or 7ish.

 

Downtown Reykjavík goes a little nuts. If you've ever been to State Street in Madison at 2:00 AM on a Saturday, you have a pretty good idea. Except in Reykjavík, bar-time is an hour or two later (and it's still pretty light out), you can have booze in the street, and you'll hear about 15 different languages being spoken. Perhaps this would be a good time for a last-minute bachelor/bachelorette party.

Sunday

Morning

 

11:00 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3:00 PM

 

6:00 PM

Do what you will.

 

Anyone interested can join Kelly and I on a short drive to Hveragerdi, a city about 40 minutes outside Reykjavík. From there, we will park and hike about 45 minutes to the natural hot springs of Reykjadalur valley, where--like it or not--bathing suits are optional. I'll be wearing mine, but I'm not going to tell you how to live your life. We'll likely grab some sandwiches from a cafe or gas station (gas station sandwiches are wonderful in Iceland, btw) and hike them in for a picnic lunch in the valley. The hike is pretty easy and these are probably the only truly natural hot springs you'll see on this trip, so I highly recommend coming.

 

Return to Reykjavík.

 

The wedding party meets at Austur-Indiafjelagid for the rehearsal dinner.

Monday

Morning

 

 

 

 

 

10:00 AM

 

 

 

11:00 AM

 

 

 

 

 

7:00 PM

 

8:00 PM

Get dolled up! (Unless you're Ali, in which case you woke up like this.) As far as Dress Code--shoot for somewhere between what you'd typically wear to a wedding, and something you'll be comfortable doing a little walking and a lot of road-tripping in. Everyone will be heavily involved in the pictures, so Brian--please get outfit approval from Sarah.

 

We will likely begin the day indoors to:

  • Ensure we have a place out of the rain
  • Guarantee some pics when we all still look our sharpest

 

Commence the road-tripping! It will involve several stops along the southern stretch of the Ring Road. Each of the stops will include plenty of time for wedding pics, as well as time for you to explore on your own. We also may make you (yes, you) take an active role in the ceremony. You're all ordained, right?

 

Return to Reykjavik and get cleaned up.

 

Post-Wedding Pizza-and-Pajama Party (PWP&PP) at our apartment. And no--you don't have to wear your pajamas, but please feel free to. It'll have been a long day. There will be pizza, wedding cake, and booze. (Speaking of which--you may be asked to mule some booze in your luggage as it's pretty expensive there. More on that later.)

Tuesday

All Day

Brian John's birthday! And another Do-What-You-Want day.

  • If enough people are interested, we may take one of the SUVs up to the highest waterfall in Iceland.
  • There are also plenty of day-tour options available that you can do on your own:
    • Puffin-watching and whale-watching boats
    • White water rafting
    • Cave exploration
  • Buses to almost anywhere on the island (including the glacial lagoon Jokulsarlon, arguably Iceland's greatest attraction)
  • An excellent Haunted Reykjavík walking tour
  • History and art museums
  • Great municipal pools (often with 3 different temperature hot tubs and an ice bath)
  • Icelandic horse-riding

 

Wednesday

All Day

The official end date of the wedding (but hopefully not the marriage). Some will have already left, some will be leaving, and some will be sticking around a few more days. For those leaving this day, the flight doesn't depart until 2:45 PM, so the morning is free for last-minute souvenir shopping, and pounding one final Baejarins Beztu pylsur--the best damn hot dog stand hot dog you'll ever taste.