The ceremony of igniting the northern lights

It sounds like a dream – a deal vow, when the sky dances behind you in shades of green and purple – but in recent years, the mysterious Northern Lights wedding has become a reality as Astrotourism transforms from a niche interest to a public obsession .

According to Booking.com, one of the biggest travel trends in 2025 is “nightism,” with nearly two-thirds of travelers seeking dark skies.

Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights are ribbons that occur when charged solar particles interact with Earth’s upper atmosphere. Last year, they were the most active people in two decades, and even rare in some of the 48 states.

Tanja Skoglund, a Norwegian private planner at TS Foto Design, added the Northern Lights wedding to her track in 2022 at the suggestion of her ex-husband. “I live in Alta, a small town in the Arctic, locally known as Northern Lights TownShe said, “or “Beideng Town”. With the minimum pollution of light pollution, lights can be seen in Alta from late September to early April.

Prices range from $6,200 to $9,300, Skoglund can help customers with anything, where to eat to where to reindeer sleds. But her main job was to get money under Aurora, and she had gone to the best of her ability to purchase.

Just like the time of February 2023, she brought clients to the clear skies in Finland. She calls it one of the most terrifying drivers of her life.

“It’s a full white man, and we’re so lucky that the road is not closed,” she said. “But in the end, the snow disappeared. Can you imagine the joy of the couple, seeing Aurora Borealis for the first time on their wedding night ? It’s totally worth it.”

To be sure, there are comfortable ways to have an Aurora wedding experience. Book a wedding at Alyeska Resort in Gidwood, Alaska ($233 per night) and offer its Aurora concierge to give you the Northern Lights awakening.

Or cruise in the Norwegian fjords on the Hurtigruten or Havila Cruise line and have a wedding on board. Both lines have the Northern Lights promised during certain seasons, and if you go out empty-handed, a comprehensive trip can be offered.

Due to its natural flavor, light weddings in the north tend to be elopement. It’s also better for photographers – dealing with only one couple, allowing photographers like her company Zephyr & Luna to be adaptable when chasing lights from countries like Finland and Sweden. (The fee is $9,900.)

For her, things can get tricky if more than two people are involved, “the couple can be annoying,” she said. “I want them to be as free as possible. Obviously, if you want to have the Northern Lights, you have to open the ceremony later in the day. Guests have to be very open.”

Everyone also has to realize that it will get very cold. “I always carry the warmth of my hands and feet with me because I do have crazy brides who want to wear their own clothes and have nothing to do with [else],” she said.

In Fairbanks, Alaska, the temperature was so cold that the iPhone gave up. “We have a photographer who has special equipment that is extremely cold because when we go out there to do it, it’s usually much below zero,” Miller said. “Electronics hate cold.”

Demand led Miller to start offering Aurora weddings. “We keep getting calls and emails from couples asking, ‘Do you do that?’ she said.

So their Aurora Borealis Adventure wedding package was launched in 2022 and costs $5,434.

For Miller’s wedding, the more guests there are – the largest number so far is 30 people. The couple chose a desired location from the list and for seven nights, the Golden Heart Wedding staff were on standby.

Every day, they check the weather and Aurora predictions from the University of Alaska’s School of Geophysics. Once they know the level of activity of the aurora and the chances of actual visibility (for example, it is difficult to see lights through a blizzard), they consult with the couple.

The couple then called them whether they wanted to try that night or wait. But the harvest is that they only shot it one shot. Any extra night will get you $2,612.50 per half hour.

The couple may wear headlights and can see the camera in the dark. The bride can hold the silk flowers if she wants. (The real people will perish in the cold.) Miller is an official.

“I’ll go there in my coat, my muklux and my Arctic gear and then do the ritual,” she said, noting that “we have to move around the photographer, and be still.” Move. Almost like old-fashioned photography, to get those perfect shots.”