Henley on Thames Town Hall & Boat // Amy & Mark
Amy and Mark had a truly lovely relaxed spring wedding in beautiful Henley. They wanted their Henley wedding to reflect them as a couple, completely personal to them and their family. They were very laid back ahead of the day, Amy only chose her gorgeous dress a few weeks before! However they paid a lot of attention to detail in the things that mattered to them and it was a totally perfect day. They wanted everyone to enjoy themselves and with details like asking their groomsmen and bridesmaids to dress to their own styles and tastes, rather than deciding for them.
“Even Amelie our 4 year old daughter had the opportunity to put her own personality into the day, having seen a beautiful pair of sparkly rainbow coloured shoes that she fell in love with.”
Their love story started in 2011 when Amy took a job at Mark’s work.;
I ended up hating the job, but falling in love with him! By early 2012 we were inseparable and when I found out I was pregnant in 2013 we were over the moon. Not one for doing things in the order, we got engaged 2 years later, in August 2016.
Mark wanted to recreate their first date for the proposal, where they’d gone on a lovely walk and to a beautiful country pub afterwards. However, having hiked for over an hour, Mark realised they were on the wrong route with no proposal; and the lovely country pub a little further away than planned!
As we drove back to Henley I thought Mark seemed a little on edge not realising he was frantically trying to re-plan this “well thought out” proposal. Eventually, he got down on one knee beside the river and asked me to be his forever. It was perfectly imperfect – just like us.
Mark and Amy discovered me as I had photographed a number of their friends weddings here in Cheshire and I was more than happy to make the trip to stunning Henley;
I fell in love with Jess’s relaxed, documentary style and we were delighted when she said she’d travel south for our Henley wedding day. Before we were even engaged, we always used to walk past the beautiful Henley Town Hall and say “when we get married…”. When we finally got engaged we called them straight away and asked “what dates do you have in Spring 2018?” The 7th was the first one they came back with and we leapt at it! The stars aligned when Jess was also available on that date! The photos absolutely capture our personalities, our love and affection for each other, and the sense of fun that we and our guests had on the day. We couldn’t possibly love them more!
Amy and Mark had a wonderful ceremony at the Town Hall, with their young nephews Alfie and Albert doing great job welcoming guests and handing out confetti. Amy says one of the memorable moments from the day was when their little flower girl completely freaked out and ran off when she walked into the town hall and saw 60 plus people staring at her! It’s little moments like this that make a day!
We knew that we wanted something simple for our Henley wedding, fun, relaxed “us”. We chose neutral colours, lace and fairy lights. I just wanted to marry Mark with everyone we loved there to celebrate with us, which is exactly what we did.
As newlyweds they then walked to the river bank and had afternoon tea aboard a boat on the River Thames with an evening reception in Shiplake Village Hall, complete with hog roast.
Walking through the town that we live in and love, alongside our family and friends, being congratulated by strangers was truly a unique experience and I’m so glad we did that rather than getting a car to take us.
There are so many memorable moments, it was literally impossible to stop smiling all day. My Dad made a speech, which was very sweet, followed by Mark, who gave a really funny, very “Mark” speech which everyone enjoyed. Finally, it was just so special to me to have so many of our family and close friends present, particularly my Grandad who turns 90 this September. Having him there made my day, and seeing him and his wife Mabel enjoying themselves was a memory I will treasure forever – and was beautifully captured by Jess too.
My favourite photos were completely un staged, one of the knockout photos for me was one captured of Amelie at our evening reception venue in front of our giant LOVE lights, twirling on the dance floor in her “princess dress”. It’s truly a stunning picture and I will treasure it forever.
It was a total privilege to capture Amy and Mark’s Henley wedding, such a brilliant couple and a simply beautiful day! Congratulations Mr and Mrs Fielding!
Love Jess xx
To view their slideshow click here
