Greenland Elopement Locations: Kulusuk East Fjords (Part 1)
Planning to have an elopement or destination wedding in Greenland is one of the most unique decisions you can ever make. The land is full of history and mystery. Imagine experiencing (or introducing your guests) a culture that has survived and thrived on their own since the 11th century. Being able to witness it firsthand is one of the most unforgettable decisions of your life! Not to mention all of the adventure that comes with this incredible place!
Greenland is a part of Denmark but is self ruled. So what does that mean? They are kinda like their own country within a bigger one. With over 836,330 square miles of vast tundra to explore, and only 56,483 people living there and tourism never being at “full peak”compared to other Nordic countries, it’s a perfect offbeat wedding location for you to consider!
Greenland is a place for extremely adventurous couples. You have to embrace the cold weather (year round), be open minded to very firm cultural traditions that may be surprising to you (like seal / whale hunting, etc), find beauty in all types of landscape, be ready to hike with risk (polar bears are thing here and they aren’t the friendly zoo kind), and have patience when it comes to logistics and transport. Greenland is nothing like Iceland, it’s way more rugged.
There are a lot of challenges in visiting Greenland. Mainly because of the inaccessibility. There are not roads that connect villages together. So you will need to sail by boat or fly to visit many different villages within Greenland. Most of the villages don’t even have cars to rent rather they walk everywhere or have a ATV. Which often means you are carrying your own luggage from the airport literally by hand and foot. That said, any luxury needing brides out there may want to revisit the idea of a wedding in Greenland.
Some villages only have 15 people so it takes “remote locations” to a whole other level. This also means the internet does not exist in many of these villages. So having a satellite phone is the only open for connection. The larger villages like Kulusuk or Tasiilaq were the only villages in the East-fjords that had any fort of infrastructure for phone or paid internet. In the fall of last year, we spent weeks literally sailing around the East-fjords scouting unique Greenland wedding locations. So come along with us today as I introduce you to a few East fjords villages in Greenland that you may want to consider for your elopement or wedding in Greenland.
Leaving Iceland in September breaks my heart (one of my favorite months), but the area of the East Greenland I wanted to explore was only “open” to sail during August and September (you’ll see in one of our later posts a certain ice fjord is only open to go into around then). Arriving in Kulusuk was a bit of a shock…
It was sideways raining and crazy windy which wasn’t so much a shock for me being an Wedding Planner living in Iceland, but I was taken back by the remoteness. I expected at least a taxi or a driver around to take me to the area where my sailboat would be disembarking, but there wasn’t. I was told that a ATV with a trailer would take my luggage to the dingy that would take me from the dock to the boat. Okay, but now what? Then a local pointed in the direction away from the airport and said “walk for 20-30 minutes that way until you see the village.” The walk to the village was beautiful despite the challenging weather. Lots of amazing Greenland wedding photo locations!
Alright folks, this is where I get super candid and real… So if you are easily offended or squeamish, maybe don’t read on and just look at the pretty Greenland wedding location photos below 😉 Upon my arrival into the village of Kulusuk, I heard the constant howling of the sleigh dogs. Then I saw the colorful houses and the sleigh dog pups! When I got closer to the docks to board my boat I witnessed a very normal cultural occurrence: Seal Hunting. The Greenlandic people have a mindset of using EVERYTHING from animals so nothing goes to waste. The seal is used for their fur (gloves, hats, pants, blankets, etc), oil, food, and nutrition for the sleigh dogs, etc. It was pretty surreal watching it happen in real-time but it was super educational to watch.
Once I boarded the sailboat, we headed off to a glacier area where we tucked into a cove away from the wind for the nights sleep. The sailboat our Your Adventure Wedding commissioned would be ideal to fully rent for your wedding in Greenland too! Being surrounded by all you love in such close quarters can be a really fun experience being right there in the middle of nature too! The next morning some folks jumped off the boat as their “morning shower” adventure! When you commission the Greenland sailboat for your own private wedding event, you’re welcome to do as you please (within safety reason of course)!
People often come to Greenland to chase icebergs. The bigger the better, right? I think when planning an elopement or wedding in Greenland you need to have a nice mix… Of the charm of the old colorful houses, to icebergs, to the sea and the glaciers. The next morning we sailed a village that barely had anyone living there but it was beautifully covered in icebergs all along its shore.
This was hands down one of my favorite villages I experienced when scouting Greenland wedding locations. Oh how I would love to live at least 2 weeks out of the year with no internet, running water, TV, and have my morning coffee with a view of icebergs every morning.
The beauty of also renting a private boat that sails around the East Fjords of Greenland is that you can adventure through this magical landscape not only by the boat, but they also equip the boat with adventure gear! There were double kayaks, singles, and stand up paddle boards! It was one of my top 25 moments of my life to be able to SUP board between ginormous icebergs!
Our Your Adventure Wedding team would love the opportunity to plan your wedding or elopement in Greenland. Feel free to contact us for more details! Until then, stay tuned next time for our Part 2 installment of Greenland elopement locations!
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