West Magazine April 23 2016

23.04.16

SPECIAL EDITION

Wedding guide

17

tips from real photographers

INSIDE: + HEN NIGHT FROLICS + BRIDAL BEAUTY

CoverOptions_April23.indd 1

PLUS:

Your big day wishlist Shoes + frocks + the perfect venue

19/04/2016 14:18:43

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18/04/2016 29/03/2016 18:37:26 10:44:40

‘As we waited, I tried small talk with my friend’s friends. Worryingly, they all seemed consumed with a desire to dress him up in drag.’

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IN FULL BLOOM Anne Swithinbank on wedding flowers

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AND THE BRIDE WORE...

Something affordable from the high street

Chris McGuire on the joys of stag nights, p46

[contents[ Inside this week...

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THE WISHLIST Your must-have treats for the big day

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JUST BETWEEN US...

Sh! We have the latest gossip!

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THE WEDDING PLANNER Meet Devon’s to-do list queen

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PRECIOUS MEMORIES

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GOLDEN LADS AND LASSES Celebrity marriages lasting 50 years

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THE WEDDING PLANNER Meet Devon’s to-do list queen

The art of Westcountry wedding photography

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UP THE AISLE, IN YOUR GARDEN Turning a home into a wedding venue

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ANNE SWITHINBANK

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HENS AT LARGE Westcountry hen parties to try

Getting married? What to plant, right now

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THAT FIRST KISS Abbie Bray on make-up for the ceremony

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AND THE BRIDE WORE...

Something affordable from the high street

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CULTURE VULTURE What’s on and where to go

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BOOST YOUR WELLBEING Smart ways to feel your best this week

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WESTCOUNTRY HEN NIGHTS From surfing lessons to fascinator-making

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A STAG NIGHT? DO I HAVE TO? Chris McGuire on banter and wearing drag

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KISS THE BRIDE

Foolproof make-up for the big day 3

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PRECIOUS MEMORIES

The art of wedding photography

MAIN PICTURE: HELEN LISK

16

[

[

[ welcome [

16.04.16

A day at the races Frocks, finery and a bit of a flutter

10 feel-good life fixes

INSIDE: + LIFE AFTER DOWNTON

So. We’re going to the chapel and we’re...

+ BALLET FITNESS

PLUS:

+ HOW I MADE THE

ON PERFECT MACAR

onna get ma-a-arried. Yep, it’s wedding season and even if, like me, your own day (or days!) of wearing the white dress and throwing the bouquet are long behind you, chances are you’ll be donning frock, heels and hats to go to a wedding or two as a guest this spring. And with all things matrimonial in mind, welcome to the special wedding issue of West magazine.

In it, you’ll find all sorts of smart Westcountry ideas for what to wear, gifts to buy, hen nights to try and food to enjoy. We really have looked into the very best of the region’s wedding world and

G

Tweet

[

of the week @ExeterRaces Gorgeous fashion tips from @KathrynCMcleod in @WMNWest ahead of ladies’ night and there’s a free copy in our goody bags TO ADVERTISE: Contact Lynne Potter: 01752 293027 or 07834 568283, lynne.potter@dc-media.co.uk

found you some absolute gems.

On page 12, Sarah Pitt has an interview with wedding planner Emma Hemmington from Exeter, who once had to deal with a fraught bride (not the lady in the picture above!) wanting an entire beach cleared of seaweed before her big day. Emma’s job involves everything from repairing dented wedding cakes (“just a little sugar paste and water and it was sorted”) to persuading brides-to-be to go to a wedding dress bootcamp. Rather her than me, but it was hysterical to read. And her top tips for saving money on a wedding are real winners, too. Have a great weekend.

One bride wanted an entire beach cleared of seaweed

[

Becky Sheaves, Editor

COVER IMAGE: Helen Lisk

EDITORIAL: westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk Tel: 01392 442250 Twitter @wmnwest

MEET THE TEAM Becky Sheaves, Editor

Sarah Pitt

Kathryn Clarke-McLeod

Catherine Barnes

Lynne Potter

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If you buy one thing this week...

Check out this made-in-Somerset wedding dress. Planning a wedding? How about a beautiful gown from renowned Somerset-based wedding dress designer Sassi Holford. Her designs celebrate the female form while emphasising the bride’s own personality, such as this Marilyn dress from £2,295. All the dresses are handmade in Sassi’s workshop in Taunton. See www. sassiholfordtaunton.co.uk for details READER OFFER: Sassi Holford Taunton is offering West readers £100 off any veil priced at £200 or more. Find the boutique at 6-8a Bridge Street, call 01823 256308.

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Fun Liberty mixed patterns mini crackers £10 for 6 www.sistersguild.co.uk

wishlist

Make your Big Day extra-memorable with these special touches

STREET STYLE STAR Kate Spade New York guest book £22 www.amara.com

Sarah Morris Radio journalist Sarah married her handsome husband Luke Mulhall (who comes from Plymouth) recently, wearing a 1920s-inspired silk dress she bought online from The Outnet designer discount website. We love the way Sarah has paired her elegant dress with simple glittery pumps and a pretty up-do, plus her flowers are truly fabulous.

SHOE ENVY Graceland peep toe stilettoes £24.99 www. deichmann-shoes.co.uk

Dress £160 The Outnet Pumps £115 Pretty Ballerinas Send your stylish snaps of you or a friend looking fab to westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk 6

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Wishlist PRETTY Confetti £2.50 www.

Pink Tree Studios wedding hair pins

candleandcake.co.uk

£10.85 for three www.

DaWanda.com

Blush pink nail polish £2.99 New Look

Smile!

Fuji Instax minicamera and inbuilt printer £99 Argos

Coral suitcase box £40 www.oliverbonas.com

Store we adore...

Blue Geranium, Totnes

Whatever you fancy in the way of flowers for your wedding, Phil and Don of Blue Geranium will help you ensure your big day is filled with fragrance and colour. Their shop has something of the exuberance of an English cottage garden, which fits with their design ethos of flowers with a natural look. They can, though, provide you with whatever you want – one recent wedding featured a profusion of tropical flowers.

LOVE IT! Personalised silver locket £63.50 www. chambersandbeau.com

Blue Geranium is at The Workshop in Castle Street, Totnes, www.blue-geranium. co.uk. Call 01803 868983 before visiting as opening hours vary.

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talking points Gillian Molesworth

Story of my life...

Advice on wedding dos - and wedding don’ts ou’re engaged! Congratulations. Ahead of you lies the emotionally-charged labyrinth of planning your wedding. For what it’s worth, here is what I have learned from the many weddings I have participated in, including my own.

1. If your close friends and family are warning you that you’re making a mistake, take musical or Olympic opening cersome time to think about it emony? No? Ok, so relax. Modest You may think you’ve found the weddings can be magical. Trust right person. But marriage is in simplicity. And don’t be a cow/ more than just a love story: it’s jerk to your family and suppliers. the aligning of two lives, with It will be remembered. your family (and their finances) 4. Pick three things along for the ride. And the going This applies to daughters and will get tough, make no mistake. grooms alike. If someone else is People close to you know you and taking the lead on the organising, often have better perspective on pick three things you really want: your future. Just pause, and think e.g. the music choices, the cake about whether flavour and the marthis is what you quee model. Fight really want for like a tiger for these the long haul. If three things, and let Express yourself, it is, proceed, but someone else make but don’t shut if it isn’t, don’t be the other decisions your parents out too proud to back (and don’t complain down. about them).

- they spent a lot 2. It’s not just 5. Keep talking of time and effort about you Communicate with raising you. This My mother didn’t your fiancé/e, parplan a thing for ents and suppliers, is a big moment her wedding: it to make sure everyfor them, too was entirely orone’s “on the same ganised by her page.” mother.

Today, 6. Plan well, then couples fiercely protect their relax on the day right to have exactly what they On the day itself, let go. Any theawant. Express yourself, but don’t tre director or event planner will shut your parents out - they spent tell you that there are always sura lot of time and effort raising you prises: don’t let them faze you. and this is a big moment for them Everyone at your wedding loves too. A marriage is partly about you and wants you to succeed. a couple making a commitment Live in the moment and don’t to each other but it’s also part of panic. a wider community witnessing 7.Keep a sense of humour that. Negotiate, but share.

On this day, and going forward 3. It doesn’t have to be spectoo. Laughing together is your tacular strongest weapon against all Are you planning a West End kinds of adversity. Good luck!

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Gillian Molesworth is a journalist and mum-of-two who grew up in the USA and moved to north Cornwall when she met her husband

GRECIAN

goddess Supermodel Jerry Hall married media overlord Rupert Murdoch in a ceremony at St Bride’s church on Fleet Street. Guests including Bianca Jagger and Bob Geldof turned out to celebrate with the couple, who got engaged after a whirlwind four month romance. Jerry wore a Vivienne Westwood frock in a pretty and flattering shade of eau-de-nil. Vivienne’s the queen of draping, and this goddess-inspired frock has distinctly Grecian overtones. On a more affordable level, BHS is a great place to go for wedding attire these days, and here are our takes on Jerry’s elegant look if you too are tying the knot this year.

Emily dress £85 BHS

steal her

style

OR MAKE IT YOUR OWN

OPTION A Simple OPTION B Sweet Embellished lacy dress £149 Monsoon

Carven poplin dress £320 www.oxygenboutique.com

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23.04.16

Just

CHUMMY’S COMING BACK! Hooray! Miranda Hart has confirmed that she will be returning to the muchloved role of Chummy Noakes in a new series of Call The Midwife.

The Devon-born star tweeted fans: “Tis true, CHUMMY’S BACK! Lovely to know people are as pleased as I am about it...

I love her!”

Actor Stephen McGann, who plays Dr Patrick Turner in the series responded

with a photo of the pair larking about on set, saying “More fun to come with this brilliant woman : - ) xxx” We were devastated to discover that super-successful Miranda was “too busy” to appear in series five of Call the Midwife. So we just can’t wait until next December for the Christmas special about those wonderful midwives of Poplar, Chummy included.

[ [ ‘I’m checking out this hot guy at the gym’

LAUREN ON THE LOOKOUT Reality star turned businesswoman Lauren Pope has confessed she’s attracting ‘classier’ men since she quit reality series The Only Way is Essex. Lauren, 33, who now runs a hair product company, grew up in Torquay. She has revealed that she is currently single after things fizzled out with her last love interest. But she’s keeping her eyes open, confiding to Star magazine: “I keep seeing this hot bloke in the gym - I need to find out his name!”

between us Gossip, news, trend setters and more – you heard all the latest juicy stuff here first!

!

AMAZING

MAISIE Somerset-born Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams has revealed she wasn’t initially sure what it meant when her character, Arya Stark, was labelled “a feminist”.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly ahead of the launch of the latest series, the 18-yearold star said that, when the term was explained to her: “I remember thinking, ‘Isn’t that just like everyone?,’ And then I realized everyone is not a feminist, unfortunately. But I also feel like we should stop calling feminists ‘feminists’ and just start calling people who aren’t feminist ‘sexist’ – and then everyone else is just a human.” West says: That makes sense to us!

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I will! Wounded veteran Huw Ingram proposed to Sarah Fitzpatrick at Cadgwith Cove - then rowed to the Isles of Scilly

in pictures True love: Dawne Penney and Marc Jones got married at Buckland Tout Saints near Kingsbridge in south Devon

Just for fun: Children from Compton C of E primary in Plymouth took part in a mock wedding

Sixty years together: Jack and Moreen Buckley from Plymouth are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary

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talking points Fifty years

Anniversary

ONE OF US Famous faces with links to the Westcountry

Showbiz stars who celebrated their golden wedding

1 Larry Hagman and Maj Axelsson 2 Martin Sheen and Janet Templeton 3 Angela Lansbury and Peter Shaw 4 Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola 5 Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward 6 Alan and Arlene Alda 7 Mitzi Gaynor and Jack Bean 8 Kirk Douglas and Anne Buydens 9 Charlton Heston and Lydia Clarke 10 James Garner and Lois Clarke

Tokens to mark the first 10 years of married life

1 Cotton 2 Paper 3 Leather 4 Fruit and flowers 5 Wood 6 Sugar 7 Wool 8 Salt 9 Copper 10 Tin

The happy list

In bloom

10 wedding-inspired garden plants:

1 Wedding Bells (campanula)

2 Wedding candles (iris) 3 Wedding Gown (pelargonium)

4 Your Wedding Day (rose) 5 White Wedding (rose) 6 Wedding Gift (tulip) 7 Wedding Vows (magnolia)

10 reasons to enjoy a good wedding 1 2 3 4

Dressing up it’s a must A good cry so emotional Hats a rare chance to wear Friends you haven’t seen for ages

5 Family time for a proper get-together

6 Food wedding nosh, so good these days

7 Dancing kids, dads, grandma, all on the floor

8 Wedding Bell (narcissi)

8 The band Devon’s One Foot

9 Wedding Cake (iris)

9 Speeches hilarious 10 Champagne cheers!

10 Wedding Bouquet (crab apple)

in the Groove are the best

This week:

Ben Ainslie Champion sailor Sir Ben Ainslie grew up in Cornwall

Success: Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie, 39, known as Ben Ainslie, is the most successful sailor in Olympic history.

He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 19962012, including gold at the last four games.

Flame: On 19 May 2012 Ben became the first person to carry the Olympic torch in the UK’s torch relay.

Starting the 70-day tour of the United Kingdom at Land’s End, he was the first of 8,000 torch carriers.

Early days: His first international competition was aged 12 at the 1989 Optimist world championships held in Japan. He was placed 73rd.

DID YOU KNOW?

Last year, Ben married sports presenter Georgie Thompson

Family: His father Roddy raced round the world in the Whitbread Race in 1973, four years before Ben was born.

Honours: Ben has been given three honours by the Queen, an MBE a CBE and a knighthood.

Wedding: Ben married the glamorous sports presenter Georgie Thompson (now Lady Ainslie) at Hampton Court, London, last year.

Cornwall: Ben went to Truro School in Cornwall and learned to sail from the age of eight at Restronguet Creek near Falmouth.

Honeymoon: Ben and Georgie spent their honeymoon on their classic wooden yacht called Rita. At one point, they had to radio for help and a rescue team was sent out from Richard Branson’s Caribbean island Necker. Later, Ben and Georgie put the yacht up for sale, for £950,000.

America’s Cup: Ben is competing in the 2017 America’s Cup, sailing an £80 million yacht he describes as “a fighter jet on water”. He is sponsored

by Land Rover and will sail for the Royal Yacht Squadron.

Truro: There is now a Sir Ben Ainslie Sports Centre in Truro, as well as a gold-painted post box near the Pandora Inn in Restronguet, to celebrate Ben’s 2012 Olympic gold medal.

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Interview

EMMA HEMMINGTON

I do? Can do Is the thought of your wedding stressing you out? Maybe what you need is a helping hand. Sarah Pitt meets Emma Hemmington, founder of The West Country Wedding Planner, for some hilarious plain-talking on how to be a happy bride mma Hemmington laughs when I ask her what, exactly, a wedding planner does. It is the end of a long day, but she’s still got her sense of humour.

After we’ve been talking for about an hour and a half – and I’ve really heard all about her job, warts and all – I am frankly amazed that she is still smiling at all.

“I am here to take the stress out of the wedding for the bride and groom,” she says. “There are plenty of problems I have quietly resolved behind the scenes, of which the bride (and mother of the bride) remain blissfully ignorant.

“Being a wedding planner is not as glamorous as you might think,” she confesses. “It is blinking hard work, if I’m honest. The thing is, there is always something that goes wrong with every wedding. It is just that, when I am there, the bride never knows about it.”

Problems range from small to potentially catastrophic. “I had a wedding cake crash once,” she says. “The person delivering the wedding cake had a car accident. Luckily, they weren’t injured, and the cake was fixable. With water, a brush and some sugar paste I was able to mend the whole thing so it wasn’t visible. And the bride had no idea.”

Then there was the time Emma arrived at a wedding, to find there was one cream buttonhole missing in the box she had transported from

E

Exeter - more than 40 miles away.

“Our event assistant had to rush down to the nearest florist, look at all the cream flowers to try and get a match,” she says. “It wasn’t an exact match of course, but it was bigger. So we gave it to the groom and told him we’d done it especially for him!”

I’ve come with a brief to ask about the secrets of the perfect wedding but, from the off, Emma scotches the idea that there is just one way to have a good wedding. “The best wedding is whatever the bride and groom want it to be,” she says.

Budget is no guarantee of fuss-free bliss, she believes.

“But things go better if we are there.” And while she’s happy to organise a wedding costing tens of thousands of pounds, she can also help you be clever with £500.

“I think people should spend what they want to spend,” she says. “If you have got £60,000 to spend on a wedding, that’s fine. But if you’ve got a budget of £2,000, that’s also fine. It is all about sitting down with the client and working out what is important to them.”

Emma started out in this line of work organising honeymoons - her background is in travel agency. She soon found she was helping more and more friends (“and anyone else who asked”) plan their wedding day as well. “I was spending most of my time helping people for free,” she says. “I thought, this is silly, I could be paid to do this!”

Given her travel background, many of the earlier weddings she organised were abroad and she can still make your dreams come true in far-flung places. More recently, Emma found that she was increasingly being asked to help couples on home turf. So she rolled up her sleeves and started sleuthing out suppliers and venues here in the Westcountry.

She and her team at West Country Wedding Planner, based in Exeter, are paid by the suppliers they recommend, rather than by the bride and groom. This means that her services are actually free to the couple, which almost sounds too good to be true – though she assures me it works well for all involved. She will also help, for a fee, if you’ve already booked your suppliers.

As someone who once sourced illuminated

‘One wedding cake was involved in a car crash. With water, a brush and some sugar paste I was able to repair it’

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Interview

wedding lettering hand-made by a local blacksmith as the piece de resistance at a recent wedding, Emma can help couples satisfy most luxury whims. But she’s also full of thrifty tips on how to make a limited budget go further.

“My own wedding only cost £1,800, including the dress,” she says. “I got married in my local church, in Exeter, and then we had the reception at a members’ club at Devon County Hall. I had already lived with my husband for seven years before we got married, so we didn’t need any household goods as gifts. Instead, for the food, we asked people to each bring a dish to share, which they did. We just split them up into sweet and savoury tables. It was great.”

When it comes to helping other people organise their weddings, the devil is in the detail, Emma says. “It is all about getting to know each client and what is important to them. I will sit down with the couple and say, ‘What are you comfortable with spending on, say, the venue, or the flowers?’ and then I will work from there.”

She and her team members each have their particular strengths. “We have people who are more creative, and people who are much more logistic – and we annoy the hell out of each other!” she jokes. “The creative people are all going ‘oh, that is so pretty’ and the logistic people are the

ones that get on the phone and say ‘Get it here now’. You really do need both.”

Each wedding has a coordinator and an assistant - to “pop out at a moment’s notice and find the mint for the mojitos”.

Some of the team prefer being in charge on the wedding day itself, while others, herself included, focus on the meticulous planning which goes on for months in advance of the day. “My colleagues Claire and Hayley love the ‘on the day’ part. But what I really like is the one-to-one beforehand, meeting the bride and groom and planning everything in detail. I also love setting up the venue before the guests arrive.”

The way Emma tells it, being a wedding planner is more of a vocation than a job. She is always on call to calm last-minute nerves. She recalls one wedding she was organising abroad where the bride rang in a panic, demanding a beach clean where the ceremony was due to take place. “She had gone on Trip Advisor and somebody had written ‘there’s

a lot of seaweed on the beach’ - I just told her not to worry about it.”

And while, ideally, the couple will call on Emma well in advance, she is sometimes called on to crisis-manage a wedding, stepping in at the last minute. “I organised a wedding last weekend for a couple who came to us because their previous venue had fallen through.”

Working with a wedding planner is not just about having someone to take care of the practical details. They are also there to offer moral support, Emma explains.

“Some of the things you worry about in the run-up to your wedding really won’t matter one bit on the day.

Whether the tablecloths are the same colour as the bridesmaids’ dresses, or if the fonts on the wedding stationery match. You honestly won’t care one jot about that. The most important thing is that you are getting married – to each other – on your wedding day.”

See www.westcountryweddingplanner.co.uk

‘ bride rang in A a panic asking me to organise a beach clean, worried about the amount of seaweed on the sand’

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Cheaper eats

Affordable flowers

Even if you are going for a really smart venue, there are ways of doing it affordably, especially if you abandon the idea of a sit-down lunch.

“I always encourage people on a limited budget to get married later in the day, so you just have the one meal to pay for,” says Emma. “I will suggest having a tiered wedding cake made of rounds of cheese. Served with crackers and grapes, a cheese wedding cake can feed around 200 people for £2 a head - a real bargain!”

“If you have enough money, I recommend going to a florist,” Emma says.

“We had a wedding at the weekend where the bride and all the bridesmaids were freezing their hands off making up the flowers on the day before the wedding. Ideally, they shouldn’t have to do that.

“Also, florists get flowers from a wholesaler, so they are fresh. Supermarket flowers are rubbish, on the whole. If you are going to go to the supermarket, then going to Marks & Spencer or Waitrose will give you the best quality.”

Emma’s top tips:

Cut-price frocks

Bargain boot-camp

While the sky’s the limit when it comes to what you can spend on a dress, Emma stresses that you don’t have to spend a fortune.

For affordable wedding dress with a wow factor, she recommends the wedding dress shop run by Wedding Wishing Well, an Exeter-based charity which organises weddings for terminally ill people (www.weddingwishingwell.org.uk). “Some have price tags up to £5,000, and the charity sells them for £500. Designers give them their stock,” she says. “It really is a find.”

“Most brides want to lose weight and some grooms do too,” says Emma.

“My view is that if you are going to spend £2,000 on a wedding dress, then it makes sense to spend some money on making yourself feel beautiful in it.”

She recommends a course of fitness training with Exeter-based personal trainer Luke Cole, who can work with the bride and all her bridesmaids, in a group. “It is more affordable that way.”

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The look of love Across the South West, there are some superb photographers specialising in capturing the romance, emotion and excitement of your wedding day. Here, Catherine Barnes meets three of the finest and hears how they do it

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People Alan Law Alan Law, 35, has won multiple awards for his work, including Best Reportage Wedding Photographer three years running at the South West Wedding Awards. He lives in St Day, Cornwall, with his wife Catriona, who is a speech therapist, their daughter Bella and new baby son Ben.

Alan says: I don’t see wedding photography as a shoot – I never pose people or ask them to repeat anything they were doing. I want to capture little details from the day as they really happened.

People feel so much more comfortable when they’re not posing. I think when people look back at a posed photograph, they remember what the photographer was telling them to do and not what they were doing. It’s about being as unobtrusive as possible. I have silent shutters and barely use any flash, so people are not so camera-aware.

A wedding can be a day when people are not afraid to show strong emotions. You may not look at your best when you’re crying, but what I do is aim to record real moments.

One of my first award wins was for the moment a bride’s mum accidentally caught her with a safety pin. I’d rather that genuine events and people’s true personalities have the chance to shine through, than just create pictures of brides looking stunning.

Most of my clients are laid back and relaxed, but they do amazing things. At one wedding at the Eden Project, the groom arrived by zipwire. For another, in France, the groom chartered a £70,000 plane to fly the couple’s family and friends over from London.

For me, wedding photography is about the people, not ‘bride-and-groomography’. It’s just as important for my clients that I take plenty of photos of family and friends and moments that the couple themselves didn’t even see happen on the big day itself. And you never know which photos they’ll love. It’s always a surprise to see the one they’ve chosen for their Facebook cover and profile pictures.

I only wish I’d started this job sooner. I used to work in IT and began by taking photos when I was a guest at a friend’s wedding five years ago. They really liked them and that gave me confidence. It was my wife Catriona who said I should do it for a living. I started off with 25 weddings in 2012, then 50 the next year. Of course, I mostly work at weekends, which means I have time in the week to spend with our children.

I’m very lucky, I love what I do and I’m moved by virtually every wedding I attend. I think it’s important to have that empathy, especially since having a daughter of my own and imagining giving her away at her own wedding in twenty years’ time. www.alanlawphotography.co.uk 17

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It’s important to capture key moments: walking up the aisle, the first kiss

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People Barney Walters Barney Walters, 23, combines his passion for travel with wedding photography, with around a third of his shoots commissioned by couples tying the knot overseas. He recently returned from a wedding in Bali and lives in Menheniot, near Liskeard, with his girlfriend Poppy, who shares his love of adventure and works on the admin side of the business.

Barney says: I get itchy feet if I stay still too long and photography is the tool that allows me to travel.

Word of mouth is very important and more than half of my work now comes from friends of other couples I’ve photographed. I have just got back from Bali after getting to know the couple from their sibling’s wedding. So it was the second time I’d met the family, which was ace.

I started shooting weddings when I was 16 as a photographer’s assistant. I’d always been into photography although when I was younger I had ambitions to join the RAF and become a pilot. But at the time I left school, there was a freeze on RAF recruitment and a photographer I knew was looking for someone to help him. In my first year, I shot 40 weddings as second (assistant) photographer.

The following year I shot six or seven of my own and it grew from there. Now, about 40% of the weddings I do are in the Westcountry, with another third of them overseas, mostly in Europe.

Wedding photography is all about what you put into the day and my approach is to build up that trust in the first place. I’ll meet up with the couple at least once and we’ll have a coffee and chat, not just about the wedding, but life in general. You’ll usually find something that you have in common and it’s about building a friendship.

Then we’ll do a practice shoot together, maybe on the beach, so they get used to me and the camera pointing in their direction. If they feel relaxed and happy after a couple of hours on the beach then they’ll have no fear on their wedding day.

I like to be well prepared and informed, so that once the wedding starts I know where I’m going to be, when. It’s all in my head. There are key moments it is important to get right - the first kiss, the father walking his daughter down the aisle.

But I love it, too, when the bride opens the door at 7am with her hair everywhere and gives me a hug, with her mum making coffee.

I get brides asking me about all sorts of things, and I can talk about anything from ceremonies to confetti. And as a 23-year-old bloke, you’d be surprised how much I know about women’s shoes.

Often, I’ll look back on the photos and don’t even remember shooting them. I’m so in the moment and in the flow. I come away feeling completely drained, after up to 14 hours of being in the moment. A wedding day is a real adrenalin high, with happy people all around you. And it’s really special when the connection was there and you were treated like a friend. For me, that’s gold. www.barneywalters.com

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People Helen Lisk Helen Lisk, 41, studied photography at school and worked in television production before becoming a professional wedding and family photographer six years ago. She lives in Exeter with husband Ian and their children Albert, 10 and Fred, seven, with stepdaughter Hannah, 19, making up the family.

Helen says: People often come to me not really knowing what they want from their wedding album. But everyone wants the photographs to convey the happiness of their wedding. The main thing for me is to capture the day exactly as it felt for them, so they feel like they’re reliving it every time they look at the pictures.

Often, it’s the first time people have ever booked a professional photographer, so the experience is new to them. Some people want staged photos but most want a storytelling approach. I’ll always do a few formal group shots but in a very natural way.

I’ve done a few weddings abroad and it’s very nice to go overseas but most of my clients get married in the Westcountry. Some live, or have parents living here but lots of couples just love the idea of getting married by the sea and the South West is such a wonderful place to do that.

I genuinely love doing what I do. I think you have to, if you’re involved in something as important in people’s lives as their wedding day. On the day, you’re not quite a guest, but also not quite ‘working’. You have to be able to mingle and chat and be part of things, to capture the moments.

It’s an amazing opportunity, to be part of something so special. Every wedding’s different and I start fresh with each one. Even if I’ve been to the same venue before, it’s new every time - when the bride’s father sees her in her wedding dress for the first time, the little glances and fleeting touches. Those moments sing out for me. A few really do stand out for me, though, including when Jakki and Sheila, an older couple, got married last year.

As a gay couple, they wanted to convert their civil partnership into a marriage but found out they would only be able to do it in a register office, with no family or friends present. So they campaigned for change, got 45,000 signatures, took it all the way to Parliament and won. They had their wonderful ceremony at the Burgh Island Hotel and when Sheila signed the register, she said, “This is the first time in my life that I’ve felt equal”.

Everyone was in tears. I could feel my own trickling down, as I held the camera steady.

They’re such a wonderful couple.

Ian and I married 11 years ago and I’d love to have a vow renewal and redo my own wedding photos. Having seen what I give to couples, I think it would be wonderful.

We do have a family photo taken every year, though, by Totnes-based Sarah Lauren. That’s because I take photos of Ian, the children and the dogs all the time but I’m rarely in any of them.

People are always putting this kind of thing off and then time just ticks on. I don’t really like being in front of the camera, but a professional thinks about the flattering angles. It’s lovely, in a slightly vain way! www.helenliskphotography.co.uk

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Interiors

A fabulous venue Former lawyer Nicola Evans created her very own wedding venue in a west Devon garden. Three years on, her beautiful ‘wedding barn’ is fully booked, she tells Becky Sheaves

“

t never occurred to us to hire our “Steven and I designed the barn and a local comhome out for weddings, until the capany based in Tavistock built it for us, called terer on the day of our own wedding Tamar Joinery. I would whole-heartedly recomsuggested it,” remembers Nicola mend them.”

Evans, owner and manager of the Also included in the project were glass-covered Ever After wedding venue in west Devon. terraces, again to allow for enjoyment of the stun“I remember saying to him, it sounded like a ning gardens but to offer shelter from the weathgreat idea - but I didn’t have time to think about it er if needed. “Now, we can have weddings with right that moment!” up to 120 guests. We are fully booked this year, Nicola and her husband Steven, a GP with a almost full for 2017 and also have some bookings practice in Plymouth, live in a beautiful Georalready for 2018. We limit ourselves to one wedgian farmhouse called Lower Grenofen. It is set ding on a Saturday and another on a Wednesday, in 46 acres a couple of miles out of Tavistock, on just for our sanity. It’s been far busier than I ever the edge of Dartmoor. When they got married in anticipated.”

2012, Nicola and Steven decided Nicola herself attended a wedto build a “wedding barn” in the ding planner’s course before garden for their own ceremony launching the business in 2014, and party afterwards. studying at the renowned Nie‘We wanted Today, the beautiful oak and mierko Academy in London. The to create glass structure plays host to academy is run by celebrity wedsomewhere two weddings every week, and ding planner Mark Niemierko, Nicola has found herself runwho created weddings for the undercover in ning a thriving wedding venue. likes of James Corden and his the garden, that “It’s all been totally unexpectwife Julia, as well as Marvin and ed but a huge amount of fun,” Rochelle Humes. His weddings didn’t feel like says Nicola. regularly command budgets of going indoors’ And there is no doubt that the £100,000 or more. architecture and design of the To add to her business, Nicola improvements she and Steven realised she needed to offer made to their home have conbrides somewhere really special tributed greatly to the success to get ready for their big day, as of their venture. well as a truly gorgeous honeymoon suite. The “It may sound extravagant to build a barn es- answer was to convert a tiny detached Victorian pecially for our own wedding but we had wanted miner’s cottage into something very special. “We to create something like this for some time,” says started from scratch,” says Nicola. “A new roof, Nicola. “We are very sociable people and love to re-wiring, new plastering, and underfloor heatentertain. What we wanted was to be able to enjoy ing. Then I went for décor with a sense of relaxed, the garden here, and also to have somewhere unrustic glamour.” dercover that didn’t feel like going indoors.”

The end result includes a beautiful dressing The first step was to create the oak and glass room, complete with hairdressing chairs and barn, which has an open wall to allow for a real film-star make-up mirrors with lights around feel of indoors-meets-outdoors, Nicola explains. them. “The hair and make-up people love it, be-

I

[[

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Interiors The main wedding venue, left, also comes with a chic “getting ready” room and honeymoon suite

cause they aren’t struggling with curling tongs and a bride sitting on a hotel bed,” says Nicola.

“And it is the perfect backdrop for the bride’s getting-ready photography, which is such a big part of wedding photo-shoots these days.”

Once the wedding itself is over, the cottage transforms into a romantic honeymoon suite, with a private terrace overlooking the gardens.

“We serve up a wonderful breakfast on the terrace the morning after the wedding. Couples often say it is a really special moment, when they can be together and re-live all the excitement of the day before, in a totally relaxed and tranquil setting,” says Nicola.

To give the cottage a truly luxurious makeover, Nicola went for a simple palette of white, grey and silver. The silvery-grey quilted silk bedspread on the bed was ordered from America, she explains: “I just had my heart set on it, so I imported it from a US website called Bed, Bath and Beyond. We are aiming at the top end of the market here, so I also went for a ViSpring bed – they are handmade locally near Plymouth and absolutely top-of-the-range.”

In terms of the garden, the photo-opportunities are glorious. “Steven bought the property 13 years ago and the previous owners were real plant-enthusiasts,” says Nicola. “I love gardening

too and I have added to the planting with wedding photography in mind - all our flowers are white.

We now have a beautiful scented white rambling rose which has romped over a rose arbour and looks fabulous in pictures. And in December this winter I planted 500 white tulips which will be in bloom for our May weddings this year.”

Nicola has also added five “wedding cake” trees (cornus controversa Variegata), which look stunning in photographs, flowering in springtime.

“For the wedding floristry, we use three local florists, all with very different styles, depending on what sort of theme the couple are looking for,” Nicola explains. These are Dartmoor Flowers (www.dartmoorflowers.co.uk), Amanda Randall Floral Design (www.amandarandall. com) and Flowers Going Green (www.flowersgoinggreen.com).

Right now, Nicola says green chandeliers are “very sought-after, as is lots of foliage generally”. When it comes to catering, Nicola has an exclusive arrangement with chef Philip Burgess of The Dartmoor Inn, Lydford. “We don’t do buffets, as I hate the whole queue situation but we do a lot of sharing platters which are very informal and relaxed,” she says.

So what of the future for the couple and their new business? “Well, we are getting bookings now from all over the world, with couples coming from America and New Zealand to get married here. It’s all going so well that, this June, Steven is going to scale back his hours as a GP to spend more time here working on our business.”

For more details, visit www.lowergreonfen.co.uk

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18/04/2016 14:43:14

Gardens

ANNE SWITHINBANK

Wedding flowers Devon’s Anne Swithinbank, panellist on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, on how to make your garden look good for a summer wedding

ne question guaranteed to cause a collective drawing of breath and rolling of eyes is the one about what to grow in the garden as a backdrop to a wedding. The wedding is usually two months away, with a strict colour code and extra requirements like table flowers, sweet perfume and home-grown confetti.

If only planning had started a decade before and the date set for early summer, the event could take place against a forest of wedding cake trees. Cornus contraversa ‘Variegata’ is a festive affair, each reaching a height and spread of 8m/25ft. The tiered branches of shapely leaves with bold creamy margins ensure a fine display enhanced by white flowers held in flattish heads. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, planted one in the yard of St Mary’s church Tetbury in the Cotswolds to honour the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Their young foliage is apt to be scorched by late frosts, especially where morning sun shines in from the east and thaws frozen shoots too quickly. So give wedding cake trees a cool, green backdrop to show off their frothy white markings.

Should a wedding be coming to your garden

O

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soon, sowings of annuals will deliver colour opens its waxy, white, deliciously perfumed quickly and cheaply. To fill whole beds, Cosmos flowers naturally in summer, though plants can bipinnatus makes large, bushy plants whose be bought in bloom almost all year round. This finely divided foliage knits together, making lovely climber is known as Madagascar jasmine them self-supporting. Flowering can start as or bridal wreath and a few plants bought in bud little as two months after sowing and while white could transform a room. I find them easy to acand shades of pink have always been easy to find, commodate as long as you can offer them good there is now ‘Xanthos’ a variety with soft yellow but not direct light and an even temperature at daisies at 60cm/2ft.

15-21 C/60-70 F. Their flower meanings encomAs this has been a cold spring pass happiness in marriage and so far, I’d sow under glass, spaca desire to travel, so just right ing seeds generously in trays for a wedding and honeymoon.

I also rather like so they can germinate without More humble plants include sweet sultan, knitting together. Transplant some of the shrubby spiraeas seedlings when the first pair with arching stems of white whose fragrant of true leaves shows beyond flowers, chiefly S. ‘Arguta’. pom pom the seed leaves. Holding them This is good for May wedflowers remind by their leaves, set one per dings though you need a few 9cm/3.5in pot, grow on then years to raise a plant to its me of 1960s stand out for a few days and full height of 2.5m/8ft. wedding plant 30cm/12in apart.

Or why not hunt down hats I rather like sweet sultan varietal names reflecting whose fragrant pom pom flowbrides and weddings, like ers remind me of 1960s wedthe double, fragrant Narding hats. Sown direct, into cissus ‘Bridal Crown’ for drills made 20cm/8in apart, spring. Rose ‘Wedding Day’ they should be out by July or August. There are is one of the big ramblers that no guarantees in gardening, so filling beds with needs a tree or two to climb but plants and hoping at least some will be out on the makes a mass of fruity-scented, big day seems the best plan. creamy white flowers. And if there’s been a Adding plants with a wedding or bridal theme is long sermon at the church, you could opt for the fun and will lead down many avenues. The house rather bridal-looking ‘Rambling Rector’, which is or conservatory plant Stephanotis floribunda also white and scented.

[[

Question time with Anne West reader queries answered by Anne Swithinbank

Q

My cat likes to join me in the garden and enjoys rubbing and rolling in catmint. What else can I plant for him and is there anything to be avoided?

We’ve been adopted by a cat called Puschkin who moved in with us a couple of years ago. He enjoys catmint but his absolute favourite is rubbing and rolling where roots of evening primrose have been disturbed. We allow a patch of Oenothera biennis to seed and grow at the edge of the kitchen garden because goldfinches feed on the seeds all winter. Any exposed, bruised roots attract Pushkin like a magnet and he is soon rolling around and entering a feline trance. I can find no references to this and it doesn’t seem to do our old cat any harm. Has anyone else noticed this? Poisonous lily pollen is probably the greatest threat to cats, as it can fall on their coats and they take it in while cleaning themselves.

Q

I’ve lost several seedlings and the tops out of French marigolds growing under glass. Do slugs get into greenhouses?

They certainly do and, by day, you can’t see them. They often hide up in the drainage holes of pots, or between the cells of modules. At night they come out to feed, so popping down close to bed time with a torch could be revealing. They also leave silvery trails. Catching the slugs by night is probably the most effective way of banishing them but you could put down a few ferric phosphate slug pellets near the plants you need to save.

This week’s gardening tips Anne’s advice for your garden

• Resist the temptation to trim hedges that missed the boat last year, as birds will be nesting deep within. You can play catch up by trimming the likes of yew and beech in summer.

• Tidy up goji berry plants but keep as much growth as possible for maximum fruit.

Tie shoots in to supports – I use parallel wires strained between posts.

• Sow courgettes, marrows and patty pan (summer squash) plus pumpkins and

other winter storing squash under glass.

Prepare their planting ground by delivering and forking in dollops of wellrotted compost or manure 1.2-1.5m/4-5ft apart.

I always set some butternuts in greenhouse beds in case of a bad summer.

• Pot young rosettes of house leeks (sempervivums) hanging around the sides of older flowered or rotted plants. Root them in gritty compost and use as replacements.

Inspect your peonies, which should be throwing up new shoots. Winkle out any weeds like aggresive, penetrating docks growing around them and spread a mulch of well-rotted garden compost over their roots but without burying their crowns.

Send your questions to Anne at westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk 27

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Beauty

Perfect Jane Iredale Naturally Matte eye shadow kit (£39.95) and blush (£23) I love Jane Iredale’s skin-friendly mineral colours. They are packed with pigment for long-lasting, photoperfect colour.

[[ ‘There’s no point telling me not to cry at a wedding.

I need waterproof mascara’

Lovely Mii’s Lash Lover waterproof mascara (£14.50 ) This mascara will define, volumise and stay put, no matter how emotional the day gets.

Abbie’s

Pretty Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb (from £49.50, John Lewis) A bouquet of rose, orchid and jasmine scents. Feminine and adorable.

Nail it Kiko Milano nail lacquer (£4.50) There are 59 colours to choose from in this online Italian range but Vintage Rose is my hands-down wedding day winner.

Beauty box Expert advice from beauty guru Abbie Bray of Newton Abbot There’s no point telling me not to cry at a wedding. Luckily this waterproof mascara from Mii is a real stayer. Here, I have sought out some pretty and romantic products that are practical too up to a whole day of excitement, emotion and lots of photo opportunities.

Kiko Milano is an online treasure trove of Italian beauty treats, now available in the UK. Its salon quality nail lacquer lasts for up to seven days and at just £4.90, I think it’s a bargain.

Jane Iredale’s mineral cosmetics have been formulated to care for your skin while you wear them, with its latest colour palettes created to subtly accentuate your features. And finally, before the dress and even the lingerie, every bride ought to begin her wedding day with a beautiful perfume.

Light scents with delicate floral notes are perfect for a special day - try this one from Viktor & Rolf.

Radiant Stila Aqua-Glow serum foundation (£34.95) This lightweight base contains light-deflecting pigments which make the skin look radiant, as every bride should look (and feel) on her wedding day. It’s available in ten shades, suiting complexions from fair to dark.

Mwah!

New CID demi-matte lip colour in Dusk (£17) Kiss the bride?

Absolutely! Luckily, New CID’s lip colours have great stayingpower and are moisturising, too, leaving lips looking smooth and hydrated.

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18/04/2016 14:55:09

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You look beautiful hen it comes to shopping for a wedding dress, you are spoilt for choice these days.

So it can be all too easy to get carried away, spending many thousands on that perfect frock. Which is absolutely fine, if money is no object. But just in case you might need that cash for your house deposit, or to pay the caterers, do have a quick look at these off-the-peg options.

Major players in the wedding dress market on the High Street right now include Monsoon, Phase Eight and BHS. The French online store La Redoute also stocks some adorable options. We love this pretty Maid Marian-style dress from La Redoute, only £129, while some of the short wedding dresses from BHS this summer are truly gorgeous, adding a note of fresh informality to your wedding day. As for accessories, keep it simple with pretty shoes, fresh flowers and a smile.

W

Steve Madden strappy heels £79 Dune

Josefina dress £495 Marley heels £99 Phase Eight

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Fashion

Louisa lace wedding dress £95 BHS

Joanna dress £595 Phase Eight

Bridesmaid’s dress £45 La Redoute

Short ivory wedding dress £95 BHS

Wedding dress £129 La Redoute

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Trend Have you got a fashion question or a trend you’d like to see tackled? @KathrynCMcleod

Top, Reiss, Princesshay, £125 Skirt, Karen Millen, Princesshay, £199 Shoes, Reiss, Princesshay, £140 Bag, Reiss, Princesshay, £195

MAIN PHOTO HAIR: ADAM AT SAKS, EXETER MAKE-UP: CLARINS, DEBENHAMS (BOTH PRINCESSHAY) PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVE HAYWOOD

HOW TO WEAR IT:

Pleats If you’re a wedding guest this spring try this look for size, says Kathryn Clarke-Mcleod

hen I’m not designing this magaperfection? zine, writing this column or out Let the time of year dictate the length, I love shopping like it is an Olympic sport, this floor length Karen Millen beauty for an April I am also a wedding photographer. wedding as the longer length will help keep your Most weekends see me at a pins warm. Also, I don’t know about you, but I wonderful Westcountry wedding venue getting am not exactly sporting any kind of tan just yet. to witness true love.

My legs are best kept a mystery When I’m working I have to for now. As the mercury inches dress more for practicality than higher, so can your hemline. Mid prettiness. This can get a bit dull length versions make for the most My go-to look especially when surrounded with delightful flippy movement as you for a day of the glamour that these occasions walk. Tres mesmerising. For high champagne, demands. But when I get invited summer events don’t be afraid to to a wedding as a bona-fide guest I pick up an on-the-knee version. canapés and have plenty of inspiration to draw Paired with classic courts and a commitment? on. sweet sleeved blouse this is a look My go-to look for a day that will never go out of fashion.

Pleats. I think of champagne, canapés and They are surprisingly versatile everyone commitment? Pleats. I have a too. For example, if you have an should try them major crush on these wonderful oversized cashmere jumper they folds and think everyone should will be a match made in heaven, give them a go. throw on some heavily bejewelled Victoria Beckham included softly pleated silk ballerina slippers, a spindly clutch and twist skirts in her SS16 collection, and celeb fans of your hair up into a chignon for a style that is as this wardrobe item include Taylor Swift and cosy as it is chic.

Alexa Chung. No shortage of endorsements If tight-fits don’t frighten you, then consider a then. So, how to translate it into wedding guest pretty long-sleeved bodysuit. The volume of the

W

skirt means you can get away with a skin-tight top half. Slick your hair back into a neat bun and add block heels to invoke the grandeur and grace of the Bolshoi Ballet.

A simple blouse is always a good option too.

Weddings are a great opportunity to dial up the romance, so look for soft fabrics, ruffles and feminine details.

Want to to know another reason full length skirts appeal to me? You can choose your shoes based on comfort. Of course they still need to match your outfit, but they simply don’t carry as much clout when tucked away under reams of hypnotic and swaying fabric. Bliss.

These skirts translate well into less formal situations too. I particularly love a graphic tee (Think cute French bulldog) tucked into a plain one. Or a simple grey slouchy tee tucked into a patterned version. Add metallic sandals and you’re ready to sip flat whites with the best of them.

Wherever your guest duties take you this wedding season, enjoy. I might even see you there. If you’re wearing pleats I’ll be the one with the approving smile, oh – and the cameras...

All fashion in these pictures is from Princesshay Shopping Centre, Exeter, www.princesshay.co.uk

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19/04/2016 13:20:22

Something in the air

culture vulture

A heart-warming tale of courage and survival comes to the Barbican Theatre in Plymouth on April 29 and 30, when RAF servicewoman turned performer Rebecca Crookshank reveals all. Her show Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is based on her time serving with the Royal Air Force from basic training to the Falkland Islands. She celebrates friendship, awakens her creativity, and uncovers the dark truths about sexual harassment and bullying in the armed forces. Warning – this show contains weapons, strong language and penguins.

Performances start at 7.30pm, tickets £12 (£9 concessions) from www.barbicantheatre.co.uk or 01752 267131

Our guide to what’s on in the South West by woman-in-theknow Sarah Pitt

Meet the author Garden art The Tate Gallery in St Ives may be closed but you can enjoy a convivial evening at its Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden in St Ives on Friday, April 29. The free event is part of celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of

opening the famous sculptor’s studio to the public.

There will be talks and activities for all ages plus a pay bar in the greenhouse. The free event runs from 6-9pm. See tate.org.uk/ stives for details.

Tickets are now on sale – and likely to be snapped up quickly - for a talk by Orange Prize-winning author Helen Dunmore about her latest novel, Exposure, at Waterstones in Exeter on Thursday, June 2. The latest novel by the author of A Spell of Winter, The Lie and The Siege, sees Helen turn her talent for evoking historical periods through human relationships in her

take on the British spy thriller. Exposure is set in 1960s London, where the enemies are not always the people you might expect. The talk by Helen, who divides her time between Bristol and St Ives, is on Thursday, June 2 at 6.30pm.

Tickets are £3 (redeemable against the book on the night) from Waterstones, on the High Street, or by calling 01392 218392.

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Enjoy

Your stars

by Cassandra Nye This week’s sign:

Happy birthday to...

The Taurus personality is one of the most easily recognizable of the Zodiac. Positive Taurean traits include reliability, practicality, ambition, sensuality, and independence. However, the bull can also have some negative traits and can be very lazy, stubborn, materialistic and possessive at times. People born under the sign of Taurus have an eye for beauty. They tend to be good with finances, and hence make efficient financial managers.

Ben Howard born April 24 1987 Singer songwriter Ben grew up in Totnes.

After attending King Edward VI Community College and Torquay Boys’ Grammar School, he studied journalism at the University College Falmouth, but dropped out before graduating to pursue a musical career that began back when he first started songwriting - aged 11! Ben was named best Breakthrough Act and British Solo Male Artist at the 2013 BRITs. Typical Taureans like Ben are determined to succeed, while ruling planet Venus can influence a strongly creative streak.

TAURUS (April 21 - May 21) Make a point of noticing all the good things around you. It is easy, sometimes, to pay more attention to negative thoughts. Why is that? Being a little insecure can lead us to suspect those things and people who are really on our side. This week someone who wants to help is not shouting at you loudly enough. Be aware.

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) Does it seem like everyone is pointing out what you need to do? Do you agree with their comments? Why do they think they know best? Hesitate less and send out a clear message that this is what you want and this is what you are doing!

CANCER (June 22 - July 22) An opportunity is in your lap. Sit there looking at it for a while if you wish, but would accepting it move you from your comfort zone? There are times when pushing yourself a bit can be very satisfying, both physically and mentally. Bring something or someone new into your life.

LEO (July 23 - August 23) Life can be confusing. Rarely is it simple for long. This week you may feel jostled and prodded. Standing still won’t help, but bouncing along with others will. Who wants to stay in the same place anyway?

VIRGO (August 24 - September 23) There is a lovely feeling that something really good is about to happen. Perhaps your efforts made in the past are, at last, paying off. Some of you will be welcoming a new member of the family. Others hear of the

recovery of a loved one. Are you ready for the good news?

LIBRA (September 24 - October 23) Those who have cast doubts on your future should now be eating humble pie.

Looking at what you have achieved it is time for you to be a little pleased with yourself. Of course, if you don’t let others know what you have done, how will they know? Be social.

SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22) Some weeks we do feel that the world is moving too fast for us. For you, this week, the quieter moments are the ones that you will treasure and enjoy. So let others rush around.You know what is a pleasure for you: lots of laughs, lots of photos, lots of fun.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21) This can be the week when you change a situation that has been niggling you for some time. Why now? Because there is a determination and strength of mind about you right now. In reality, a few words in the right direction are all that is needed. So, let’s get that cleared up! When luck is on your side, welcome it.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20) Yes, spring is the time for fresh

thoughts on love and romance. Yes, you want to be a part of that lovely flowing feeling. How will you go about it? For a start, look at what you have and really appreciate it.

AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19) Everyone and his brother seem to have an opinion on your life. It is hard not to listen, but you are the only one who knows what is possible for you at the moment.

Waiting a while could put you on a stronger path to success. Your heart should be in any move.

PISCES (February 20 - March 20) Some of us have religions or doctrines or strong beliefs to lead the way. Others depend on relatives or friends to be a guide. What you feel this week is an inner strength and a feeling that you know what is best. Some moments of loneliness may lead you to consider a long-term change, but is this necessary?

ARIES (March 21 - April 20) A bright and optimistic outlook comes from deep within you this week. Be it spring in the air or a pending plan, excitement is high. Someone you trust is giving advice. Please check, before making a decision, that the facts are right. Weekend jaunts prove to be both romantic and surprising.

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Wellbeing

the 70% boost

Of brides aim to shape up ahead of their big day

Life just got better. We’ve handpicked the latest wellness trends, best-body secrets and expert advice to help you be your best self, everyday

Bridal bootcamp Victoria Wills runs luxury boot camps at boutique weightloss retreat Westwood Hall near Ifracombe. They are practically tailor made for the bride-to-be and her bestie. There’s a Nu Beginnings weekend event taking place there on June 4 and 5, where you can take part in fitness and relaxation

classes, dine on meals based around a personalised food plan and head home with ongoing support to continue a healthy eating and exercise routine developed especially for you.

Places are strictly limited and cost from £900 per person. Visit www.nubeginnings.co.uk for more details.

Pamper time The Thurlestone Hotel near Salcombe has created a Bridal Spa package (£99 per person) with a choice of treatment available (including Decléor Discovery Facial or Asian Back, Neck and Shoulder Massage). It also includes full use of the facilities at its Voyage Spa, with indoor swimming and jet hydrotherapy pools, steam room and more. Finish the day off with a cream tea and a glass of Prosecco. Sounds like bliss! www.thurlestone.co.uk

Shine

Manuka Doctor Gold dust firming serum (£15) Prep your skin the night before your big day.

This serum works to diminish the appearance of lines and wrinkles, for youngerlooking, photo-ready skin.

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The science of scent Our sense of smell is connected to the limbic system in our brain, which triggers deep-rooted emotions. So choose a beautiful wedding day fragrance that will bring the happy memories back every time you spritz.

Chloé Love Story Eau de Toilette (£58) is fresh and floral, perfect for celebrating your very own love story.

Thumbs SUP

Have fun with the hens, or lols with the lasses at one of Ticket To Ride’s Paddle & Prosecco ladies’ nights this summer. Back by popular demand after their raging success last year, the first of these weekly stand up paddleboard (SUP) lessons for beginners takes place on May 5 from 6.30pm-8.30pm in Newquay. Laugh, unwind and chillax with a glass of bubbles afterwards – it’s an exhilarating way to get fit at just £15a session. Enjoy the ride- and falling in! www.tickettoridesurfschool.co.uk

Base Silica-based skincare products can help fade the appearance of scars and fine lines, but you can’t usually apply makeup over them. Hylamide’s skin-perfecting HA Blur (£19)is infused with hyaluronic acid powder, meaning it can be worn over, under or mixed with foundation - or on bare skin - giving a dewy, soft focus finish.www. hylamide.com

What’s coming up? Tweet us your wellbeing diary dates

@WMNWest or email westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk 37

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Drink

Beer of the week A new entry into the Wetherspoon chiller cabinet – home of all manner of bottled beer delights – is Hopping Hog IPA, from the terribly English Hog’s Back Brewery in Surrey. And this is a terribly English IPA, no big American hop bursts. Instead, a great malt background and some herbal, grassy hop notes in a bitter finish, all within a polished mahogany coloured brew. One of many shades of fine IPAs.

FAMILY FUN Chagford’s Beer Festival (April 29-May1) is set to be a family occasion. As well as ales and ciders in The Globe, there will be live music on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon and a treasure hunt around the town on Sunday.

Wedding brews

This being the wedding issue of the magazine, I thought it was worth mentioning that if you want a special tipple for the big day, there are plenty of brewers around who offer brew days for amateurs to create their own beer. What would be better at the reception than a toast with your own one-off beer than a pint of the usual?

Darren Norbury

talks beer he daily cartoon on my New Yorker stemmed glass. Created by former Rebel Brewdesk calendar recently showed two ery innovator, Guillermo Alvarez, it was worthy young boys on a school bus, handof comparison to a fine wine: malt led, but with held devices before them, with one nice hop balance, a rounded but not too full body, saying: “Apparently, they give out orange, spicy notes. Oh, and dangerously drinkawards for something called ‘television’.” able for its ABV, but it was a wine measure so Much as I try to live up to middle-age expectalow-ABV by comparison. tions, I find myself living in the This, my friends, is what beer world of YouTube these days – if drinking is about. Even with I do watch television it is gena standard pint in my local erally on iPlayer. Among my we often get into conversation I bet there are YouTube subscriptions are two about the beer, the hop characalready several or three beer review channels. ter, and then the conversation married couples The premise is fairly simple: will drift off on some other tansomeone has a bottle or can of gent and I think: where would I who have met beer, pours it out, describes the rather be, in here or at home in because of their aroma, the taste, the aftertaste, front of the TV? throws in some opinion and With great bars springing up, mutual love of gives a rating. innovative brewers emerging beer Yes, yes, but beer appreciation and more people getting into is so much more than that, as I good beer, I bet there are alwas reminded recently. I was ready several couples who have seated in Peter Walker’s HAND met because of a mutual love of bar in Falmouth, enjoying some beer and perhaps wedding bells excellent company, and sampling Heisenberg’s are in the air. It’s easy to look at the world’s big Double Decoction Doppelbock (actually easier to problems and think that if all sides just sat down drink than say) from the Electric Bear Brewing with a beer we’d make a lot more progress as a Company, in Bath. society. Thinking I’m overstating the power of It doesn’t happen often but there are times beer? I think not. But there’s only way to find out. when the place, the people (the ones you are with, Go on, record Corrie for the evening and get out and the ones serving) and the beer just come for a beer and good company. You won’t regret it. together like a symphony. The beer was 9.1% Darren Norbury is editor of beertoday.co.uk and served in a third of a pint measure in a tall @beertoday

T

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Eat

Ingredient of the Week

Bread

with Tim Maddams arriage is like a good loaf of bread: OK, so, you could go and buy a bread maker you have to work at it... and a pack of bread mix and bung it all together, I like an analogy. Bear with me and I am sure that initially you would be very and I will weave you a tale of marhappy together. Soon, however, the shine wears riage, bread and the inevitable off and you realise that although you are going crusty bits that no-one really wants but are part through the motions, this bread really isn’t any of the deal. better than the bread they’re It’s spring and I have just serving down at Greggs. That’s sealed the deal on another Hall when the rot sets in - you can give & Hearty wedding. Hall & Hearty up on your own bread (see where I love a good is a venture run by myself and I am going with this?) and start Robin Rea (like me, Robin is a shopping around for a place to wedding - Dad former River Cottage chef and find better, or just some different, dancing, the lot. he now runs The Rusty Pig in bread.

Ottery St Mary). Together we So, these days, most people Weddings are offer pop-up dining events for who care about bread think about great. The food communities around the South what kind of loaf they are after in is always an West in their local village hall. the long run; what really makes It wasn’t long, though, before them reach for the butter, as it important part people asked us to do their wedwere. dings in a similar laid-back, reaWeddings are happy days and I sonably-priced and honest way, love them. I love the commitment so this year I think we already to bet against the odds, to declare have four to do. to the universe that you can make it, together.

I love a good wedding - Dad dancing, the lot.

Even though the odd over-proved loaf or lop-sidWeddings are great. The food is always an impored bun may crop up, you will still love each other tant part, but pales into insignificance compared and make everything OK together. And you can to the real deal happening between bride and do it. There are lots of great examples of happy groom. This is a big deal indeed and not one to be couples out there and, these days, some very taken lightly – a bit like making your own bread. good bread too.

M

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Use your loaf Leaving things well alone when they need to be is a tricky part of baking. You have put in all the hard work and so you naturally want to give the thing a poke and see what it’s up to. Don’t. Let it be, to grow and gather a little flavour before the final shaping and baking takes place later, often much later, on, and often after a second prove.

Great bread takes time to perfect.

You need good quality ingredients to start with but you must also treat them in the right way.

Listen to them, shape them but let them be themselves too. Most importantly, leave well alone if need be, but do not ignore the dough if it seems to be going wrong. Think about it and work together to make it better. Just like a marriage, in fact. @TimGreenSauce

Tim Maddams is a Devon chef and author of Game: River Cottage Handbook no. 15 (Bloomsbury £14.99) 39

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OPENING SUMMER 2016 GOURMET BURGER KITCHEN

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Enjoy

wonderful westcountry

Hen nights t’s a lot of responsibility, being the chief bridesmaid these days. Expectations run high and a hen party out at the pub with L-plates and a pink sash is just not enough to satisfy the modern bride and her pals. But fear not, help is at hand. If you are planning a hen night – or, more likely, weekend – in the Westcountry, here are some fun ideas to inspire you.

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Pamper days The iconic Headland Hotel in Newquay has recently spent £5 million on a stunning new spa. A Girls’ Night In package here costs £69 per person, and each of your hens can choose from either a back, neck and shoulder massage, a mini facial or a manicure. You can then all relax in the heated pool, sauna, Cornish salt steam room, aromatherapy showers and hot tub. Finish up at the VIP room for a private screening of a chick flick with bubbly and nibbles. If you want to stay the night too, B&B starts at just £50 per person. Visit www. headlandhotel.co.uk

Go glamping How about a get-together around a camp fire at your own exclusive glamping site? You can book the whole of Cuckoo Down Farm in east Devon, near the beaches of Branscombe and Sidmouth, for a weekend of glamping from £50 per person for a 2/3 night stay. The beautiful safari tents and yurts come complete with cosy proper beds, woodburning stoves, rugs, cushions and bunting - and the chance to book massage, nail art or yoga sessions while you are there. Visit www. cuckoodownfarm.co.uk

Surf lessons Want to try something really cool and quintessentially Westcountry? The English Surf School at Fistral Beach, Newquay offers two-hour hen party surfing lessons at £35 per person. Lessons are for all ages and abilities, so whether you’ve never surfed before or had some experience, the instructors will pitch the lesson at a suitable tempo. The emphasis is on your hen group having “an awesome time in a safe environment” says the team here. Then finish up with a bottle of fizz! Visit www.englishsurfschool.com

Bubble football Bubble Football is lots of fun – with your upper body completely covered in a huge zorb, you’ll be able to run around and kick the ball but your ability to balance will be seriously compromised without the use of your arms. Bubble Football will provide a stream of laughter as you see your mates bouncing and rolling about the pitch. By the end you won’t even remember the score line, just the funniest falls. From £30 per person for 90 minutes, including referee, ten bubble suits, pink bubbly and a team photo. Can be booked countrywide, call 07435 441693 or email info@bubblefootball.co.uk

Horse riding Yee-hah! Gooseham Barton Riding School in Morwenstow, near the coast on the Cornwall and Devon border, offers horse riding for hen parties, with rides tailored to your abilities, either Eng-

lish or Western style. A one-hour ride costs £24 per person. You can also rent their farmhouse accommodation, which sleeps up to ten people and for larger groups there are three more holiday cottages if you need more bedrooms. Contact debbiehmltn@aol.com, call 01288 331204 or see www.riding-holidays-cornwall.co.uk

Lingerie laughs Feeling crafty? Rowan Tree Studio in Bideford specialises in throwing creative parties for groups of hens. The well-equipped studio also offers delicious afternoon teas served on vintage china in the relaxed and beautiful surroundings of Clovelly in north Devon. Craft party themes range from making bunting to creating a trousseau for the bride, but a real favourite is the knicker-decorating class. Email sarah@rowantreestudio.co.uk or visit www.rowantreestudio.co.uk for details.

Fascinator fun Get ready for the wedding day by fashioning your very own fascinators under the guidance of Cornish milliner Holly Young in her Truro studio. You can match your designs to your wedding outfits for a bespoke accessory to don on the big day. It’s £35 per person for 2½ hours tuition (cost includes all millinery materials) and, with groups of ten or more, the bride goes free. Visit www.hollyyoungboutique.com

of fun along the way. Visit www.sarahdrew. com for details.

Chocolate creations Gill Coates of Lyme Regis is a master chocolatier and works exclusively in top-quality Belgian chocolate. She offers hen party classes in west Dorset and east Devon, at the venue of your choice, from £38 per person (with discounts for groups). It’s are a lot of fun, plus you get to take home lots of seriously scrummy treats that you have made yourself. Visit www.chocolateamour.co.uk for details.

Cocktail mixing

Bovey Castle is a grand hotel on Dartmoor.

Instead of staying in the (admittedly gorgeous) hotel rooms, try its private lodges, each sleeping six people and offering privacy for your celebrations. The hotel can organise a cocktail-making class for you, or offer sloe gin tasting, Craft party and you can even book a private chef for your lodge. Staythemes include ing here means you also have making use of the hotel’s gorgeous bunting, but a spa and swimming pool area, as well as the restaurant and real favourite bar. Prices begin from £450 is the knicker per lodge per night. Visit www.boveycastle.com to disdecorating class cover more.

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Butler in the buff We wouldn’t be doing our job properly if we didn’t suggest something a little bit saucy. Step forward, then, your Butler in the Buff, a hunky young chap who will entertain your hens with a little titillation and champagne-pouring, wearing nothing more than a strategically-placed pinny and a broad smile. Your butler will cost £65 per (hilarious) hour, visit www.butlersinthebuff. co.uk for details.

Jewellery making Sarah Drew is a rising star in the jewellery world, often combining precious metals with beachcombed finds. She holds hen nights in Cornish boutique hotels such as Fowey Hall, Bedruthan Steps and The Scarlet, with prices from £20 per person, and can also travel to your hen party location if required. Create something unique and beautiful to take home with you, such as a pair of shell earrings or a beautiful tiara, and have a lot 43

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My Secret Westcountry Holly Young Cornwall-born Holly Young makes bridal headpieces, bespoke occasion hats, buttonholes accessories to buy and hire, from her Truro studio. She formerly worked for couture milliners Philip Treacy and Jane Taylor and now lives in Portscatho with her fiancĂŠ Nik, a chef, and their miniature Dachshund, Crouton.

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People

Spring Park, Launceston

Tatams Cafe

Hotel Tresanton

My Favourite…

The coast at Gwithian

Walk: My favourite walk at this time of year is from Towan beach to St Anthony’s Lighthouse on the Roseland Peninsula, south of Truro, ending up overlooking Falmouth Harbour. The sheer variety of its one-after-another views is breathtaking.

Beach: I love Gwithian and Godrevy beaches

St. Anthony’s Lighthouse

on the north Cornish coast for their vast space, caves and views overlooking St Ives.

Arts venue: The Hall for Cornwall in Truro.

It’s a wonderful asset to the county and puts on great productions.

Activity: I love walking with my dachshund

of Devoran Creek and you can cycle there along the Bissoe Trail, a lovely cycle route.

Restaurant: My favourite restaurant is the Kathmandu Palace in Truro for Nepalese and Indian food. It’s very authentic with glorious flavours and the staff are really always friendly.

Way to relax: I walk down to Tatams, the coffee shop that Nik runs at Portscatho (it was converted from an old public loo!) and enjoy an artisan coffee there, locally roasted by Olfactory in Penryn. The cafe has stunning sea views.

Weekend away: Nik and I love Spring Park at Rezare, in the Tamar Valley near Launceston.

They have a range of quirky vintage showman’s wagons and cabins and they’re dog friendly too (www.quirky-holidays-cornwall.co.uk)

Crouton and going down to see my friends at the Hidden Hut cafe on Porthcurnick Beach at Portscatho, on The Roseland. They do amazing fresh sweet and savoury food, plus the beach is dog-friendly.

Shop: The Sea Garden in Portscatho is a

Food: I love all sorts of seafood, particularly

unique little boutique in a cottage selling vintage clothing and homewares.

mussels and oysters, which are so fresh here.

My fiance Nik is an expert at preparing them, so I take full advantage when they are in season.

Tipple: You can’t beat a refreshing pint of Tribute from St Austell Brewery - it reminds me of homely warm summer evenings.

Pub: The Old Quay Inn in Devoran - I’m biased because I used to work there! It has lovely views

Treat: My favourite is going for a lovely afternoon tea at the Hotel Tresanton in St Mawes.

Holly’s hats can be viewed online at www.hollyyoungboutique.com & by appointment at her studio in Princes House, Princes Street, Truro.

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My life

What a week

Staggering on Chris McGuire battles his way through yet another stag weekend ’m sure I was born middle-aged. My had been completed. My old friend was dressed mum used to joke I came out of the up (unoriginally) as a woman and most members womb wearing carpet slippers. And of group finished the night wearing their undermy idea of a good time has always pants on their heads – I still have no idea why. been different to my peers. I prefer I’d tried to play along (without removing my unmore sedate pursuits, like board games and sitderwear) but felt old and tired. Then, as the only ting outside cafes in cycling kit. This week, on a vaguely sober member of the group, it fell to me stag weekend, I learned that orto make sure the stag got home ganised ‘fun’ is my idea of hell. in one piece.

“You made it!” said the best Next afternoon, once Most members man. the others had worked “Wouldn’t miss it for the through their hangoof the group world,” I replied. vers, came clay finished This wasn’t true. Ever since pigeon shooting. the night an email arrived proclaiming a Nothing is more weekend of ‘banter’ and ‘lagerlikely to make me wearing their ing’ (not my words), to celebrate feel ill at ease than underpants on the last days of freedom of a being surrounded school friend I hadn’t seen in by grown men, their heads. I’ve years, I’d been hoping the world dressed as no idea why would end so I could avoid the Rambo, armed whole affair. with real As we waited for the stag, I shotguns. tried small talk with my friend’s I’m somefriends. Worryingly, they all one who seemed consumed with a desire to dress him up avoids tiddlywinks due to in drag. As you may know, I’m not a fan of Fancy the blatant risk of losing Dress. an eye. Still, dutifully, I “Is he up for that?” I asked. got stuck in. I’m not a “Who cares?” great shot. In fact, if I The stag arrived and threw himself into the jumped off the Eiffel action, so I decided to follow his lead. Things got Tower it’s not a forerowdy very quickly. First was the drinking game gone conclusion I’d hit ‘I have never’; where you drink if you’ve done France. Did I get a shot what speaker says they haven’t. My turn soon on target? Yes. Was it came: after many, many, misses “I have never regretted watching an episode of and accompanied by much QI.” whooping from the Fancy Everyone drank the forfeit; meaning I won the Dress militia? Yes. Yes it was. round, but clearly lost the crowd.

“Having fun?” said one of I ducked out of the drinking games after that, the Rambos. feeling a little like a mum at a fairground – hold“Oh yes,” I lied. ing coats and wincing as the gang sailed peril“Great, it’s karaoke next.” ously close to the wind. Safe to say, by the end “My favourite,” I lied, again – inof the evening, much ‘lagering’ and ‘bantering’ wardly cursing.

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Many, many, hours later, a member of our group sang ‘It’s Not Unusual’ for the sixth time (proving the song’s title to be correct). As the fellas started to work their way through ABBA’s back catalogue, I took my chance and sneaked back to my hotel. Like the clay pigeons that afternoon, I don’t think they missed me.

So, this week I’ve learned: 1: Stag weekends go better if I’m not on them.

2: Some people like wearing underwear on their head.

Chris McGuire is a writer who recently moved to the Westcountry. If he ever has his own stag weekend it may involve crown green bowling @McGuireski

NEXT WEEK: Phil Goodwin on love, life and parenthood in the South West 46

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Why “off the gas grid” needn’t mean “off the shortlist” With many of Cornwall’s most picturesque locations out of the reach of mains gas, Mark Britton of South West Heating examines the options for homebuyers and vendors alike.

From Torpoint to Sennen, and Bude to the Lizard Peninsula, some of Cornwall’s most beautiful places are also among the most remote. In fact, the secluded location is often a big part of the appeal.

What’s more, the Economy 7 energy tariff that night storage uses offsets its night-time discount by making your peak time energy more expensive – costing you more every time you do your ironing, watch television or make a cup of tea.

But life off the beaten track has its challenges, and high on the list for homeowners is finding a reliable, affordable way to heat a property with no mains gas.

Switching to a self-contained “wet” heating system – powered by oil or bottled gas – can be an effective option, but it’s hardly straightforward.

Buyers want efficient heating That presents the region’s home buyers with a dilemma. After all, a 2014 survey found efficient heating is a top priority for 73% of buyers – making it more important than parking, a garden or a shower – but ruling out properties without mains gas can severely limit your buying options.

For vendors, too, it’s a problem. In particular, try selling a property that still relies on night storage heaters. They’re famously hard to control, expensive to run, and always seem to run out of heat just when you need it most.

Oil and LPG: messy and complicated

Even for properties with the luxury of space to store a bulky tank, there’s the hassle, mess and disruption of pipework – not to mention the worry of notoriously volatile prices and, in remote areas, potential difficulties with deliveries.

It’s no wonder that vendors can be reluctant to install new central heating just to sell – or that buyers prefer properties where the heating is already sorted out.

Your secret weapon: ELKAtherm® electric radiators Where replacing ageing, inefficient or inadequate heating with a new “wet” system is not practical or desirable, the new generation of efficient, electric ELKAtherm® radiators are an excellent option.

Slimmer and more attractive than night storage heaters, ELKAtherm® heating is easy to adjust without even leaving your sofa – and because there’s no need for wasteful overnight charging, you can be as warm as you like, at a moment’s notice.

You can switch away from your Economy 7 tariff, too – saving money on your energy overall – as the efficient, German heating technology uses far less power, more than making up for the overnight discount.

Upgrade in a day Crucially, the lack of pipework and storage tanks means ELKAtherm® radiators are no trouble at all to install – here at South West Heating, we usually upgrade an entire property in a single day, and leave the home as pristine as if it were our own.

That’s good to know if you’re trying to sell a property with night storage heaters – and if it’s a sticking point in that perfect property you’re keen to buy, you can safely go ahead and negotiate your discount: we won’t tell how easy it is to fix, if you don’t.

For more advice on efficient, controllable heating, call South West Heating on 01209 714600, visit southwestheatingsolutions.co.uk or write to us at ‘Freepost SOUTH WEST HEATING SOLUTIONS’ no other address details required (not even a postcode). ©LW

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