TYING THE KNOT

Saying ‘I do’

Are you planning on tying the knot? Our little guide to local wedding-based businesses is full of folk who can help get you ready for the big day

HAMSWELL HOUSE

Hamswell, Bath BA1 9DG Tel: 07720727773; Web: hamswellhouse.co.uk

The romantic orangery and gardens of award-winning Hamswell House make the ultimate setting for your wedding. You will be surrounded by 50 acres of gardens and private land with breath-taking panoramic views over the Hamswell valley. Yours will be the only marquee wedding held that weekend, so it is truly, exclusively yours. And you will have access to the marquee the day before for set-up and styling. The venue is situated in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near Bath. No corkage charge.

PITCH UP AND PLAY

hello@pitchupandplay.co.uk; Pitchupandplay.co.uk

Headed up by Isabella Passafaro, who works as a private nanny and has been in the Childcare Industry for 12 years, Pitch Up and Play is made up of highly qualified and highly awesome Pitch Nannies. All of the lovely team are DBS checked, fully referenced and experienced with little ones. From Bell Tent Creches to Mini VIP Corners, they provide a variety of packages that can be tailored to your children’s ages from 0–12 years old. If you think the children at your event deserve to feel like Mini VIPs then do get in touch, the Pitch Up and Play team would love to hear from you!

HERITAGE PARKS

Web: heritageparkweddings.co.uk

It has just been announced that outdoor civil weddings and partnerships will be legalised permanently in England and Wales. During the pandemic couples were able to hold their ceremony outside under temporary measures. From April the temporary measures will be made permanent. They will still need to be held at licensed venues such as Heritage Park Weddings, who held ceremonies on the lawn in Parade Gardens, overlooking Pulteney Bridge and the weir, and within the Botanical Gardens next to the Temple of Minerva last summer. Manager, Jess Taylor at Heritage Park Weddings said “The change will allow our couples to hold a more personalised ceremony within truly magnificent parks in Bath.”

SWEET PEACH CAKE STUDIO

Hello@sweetpeach.co.uk; sweetpeach.co.uk

Full of creative flair –although anything but fussy –Sweet Peach, led by cake designer Helen Stewart, delight in designing and making beautifully crafted, artistic, allergy-friendly wedding cakes. This is a small, personal company who are passionate about helping you and your guests to connect and celebrate together. Their delicious vegan and ‘freefrom’ cakes are naturally more inclusive and, with their allergy-friendly focus, it feels amazing to be able to include a wide range of dietary needs without compromising on the taste, texture or style of cake. Tempt yourself with the year-round menu of delicious flavours. You can enjoy a sample box, either delivered to your door or at their in house tasting, where the design and consultation process begins. Sweet Peach Cake Studio offers simple, relaxed and contemporary styling, a little slice of laid-back luxury for your day.

Clare Lloyd

Clare Lloyd creates beautiful and intricate bridal hair accessories and jewellery inspired by all things floral and botanical. From her studio in Frome, Somerset, Clare creates exquisite and luxurious headpieces entirely by hand for modern brides all over the world who are looking for something feminine and romantic to wear on their wedding day. Using recycled precious metals and the finest pearls, crystals and glass seed beads, choose from a gorgeous collection of hair adornments and jewellery, or commission Clare to create a bespoke design unique to you.

Silk Mill Studios, Frome, Somerset Web: clarelloyd.co.uk

Desdemona statement pale gold and white crown £895. Image by oxiphotography.co.uk

9ct Gold Extra Petite Hoops with Keishi Pearls £ 270

Honey Willow

Honey Willow hand crafts meaningful jewellery for loved ones and life's milestones. Elegant wedding day jewellery for the bride, bridesmaid and mother of the bride and groom, along with keepsake gifts to commemorate the special day. All jewellery is handmade to order in central Bath. Visit the website to see the full range, or visit the shop on Pulteney Bridge where some of the wedding range is on display. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am – 4.30pm

8 Pulteney Bridge, Bath BA2 4AX Tel: 01225 822339 Web: honeywillow.com

Hats by Nancy Rose

Truly beautiful handmade headpieces and hats for weddings and all other special occasions. Nancy Rose will create for you your own unique, fabulous design to make you feel and look amazing. Email Nancy Rose for all enquiries and to book a consultation. View her ready made collection @Sumptuous Designerwear boutique on Walcot street.

Web: nancyrosehats.com Email nancyrosehats@yahoo.com Nancy Rose Hats in store at Sumptuous Designerwear, 68 Walcot Street, Bath BA1 5BD

An exhibition of her work will be on show in Devizes from 23 April - 21st May @ Tundra Jewellers.

Cami-Lou jewellery

Jewellery is generally given as a memento, something to treasure and remind us of a special person or time in our lives. Weddings are the perfect occasion to gift a piece of jewellery or buy a piece that will hold a memory of a wonderful day. Cami-Lou has a wide range of jewellery that would be perfect for the bride herself to wear or make the perfect bridesmaid gift. The jewellery created is sustainably made using precious metals, semi-precious and precious gemstones, making it a piece that you will want to wear again and again.

Web: camiloujewellery.co.uk Or email: camilla@camiloujewellery.com

Diamonds from Mallory

18ct white gold pear cut diamond cluster pendant and chain £3,195

Platinum round brilliant-cut Diamond set wedding ring £1,495

1–5 Bridge Street, Bath BA2 4AP Tel: 01225 788800 Web: mallory-jewellers.com

CITYNEWS

DOROTHY HOUSE WORLD TOUR

Paul Vosper of Fairfield Park is taking on a ‘world tour’ of the Dorothy House shops and hospices to raise funds for the charity. Paul lost his wife Jean in April 2021 –Jean had breast cancer and was supported through the terminal phase of her illness by Dorothy House, and Paul now wants to give something back. On 7 May Paul will cycle to all 26 Dorothy House shops and hospices in Somerset and Wiltshire, covering about 360 km and climbing about 4,000m in a single day. He will be going west to Keynsham, north to Malmsbury, south east to Salisbury and south to Shepton Mallet, visiting around 30 places. “It will a tough day in aid of a super cause,” says Paul. “It is about as tough as a day’s cycling can be and right on the edge of what I’m capable of. I will start at 5am and I will be supported by family and the great riders from Bathford CC.”

Visit Paul’s Just-giving page: Justgiving.com/fundraising/PaulVosper

Leading eCommerce fulfilment technology provider Huboo has been announced as the Official eCommerce Partner of Bath Rugby. Huboo has also become the eCommerce fulfilment provider for all Bath Rugby clothing and merchandise within its online shop, and the club’s official training wear sponsor.

CEO and Co-Founder of Huboo Martin Bysh, who lives in Bath, said: “We felt that this was a truly authentic partnership for us, given that we first breathed life into Huboo from a garage in Bath. Bath Rugby is so central to the city and its people and it has a great ethos with a focus on community, teamwork and solidarity, which match our core values.” Huboo, which is headquartered in Bristol, is a fulfilment technology provider which enables online retailers of all sizes to access a complete end-toend fulfilment operation within minutes in order to speed up their processes. huboo.co.uk

HUBOO PARTNER WITH BATH RUGBY

Martin Bysh, Tarquin McDonald and Paul Dodd

CREAM CORNWALL IN BATH

Cream Cornwall is expanding out of Cornwall and into Somerset with the opening of its third shop at 29 Milsom Street, Bath. The shop will offer a wide range of exclusive designs in homewares, fabric and furniture that are inspired by the coast. Like the others, this shop will display mirrors, lighting, throws, decorative objects, glassware, tableware and kitchenware. Owners Rebecca Heane and Allison Hughes state, “Cream Cornwall is about classic, timeless products with a contemporary twist.” Allison Hughes says, “We’ve got a product that people love and so the expansion to Bath seemed a very natural progression for us.” creamcornwall.co.uk No one wants to think about what would happen if they were no longer around or diagnosed with a life limiting illness but having these conversations really can help you and your loved ones in the future. That’s why Dorothy House and Mogers Drewett Solicitors have joined forces to create a series of four podcasts to tackle the topics we avoid discussing in the hope that if we encourage just one family to have ‘that’ conversation we will have made a difference and made life that little bit easier for them at an emotional time.

Join Sarah Dodd Head of Legacies at Dorothy House Hospice Care and Private Client Partner David Hill as they tackle the tricky issues around making a Will, Lasting Powers of Attorney, what to do when someone is dying and after a death in a series of podcasts. dhpodcast.podbean.com

LEGAL ADVICE PODCASTS

OUT OF THE BLUE SALE

Out of the Blue Gallery at 6 Upper Borough Walls, Bath, showcasing some of the best British artists and ceramicists, is having a sale before moving on, with 10% off everything on the ground floor and 33% off everything in the basement. Set across two floors, the gallery is packed with great pieces –and 5% of takings go to Julian House. Open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 11–5pm. outofthebluegallery.com

LEGAL ADVICE TO UKRAINIAN REFUGEES

Lawyers from Stone King are giving free legal advice Julie Moktadir to the Ukraine Advice Project UK. The project was set up by a group of immigration lawyers to provide pro bono advice to Ukraine nationals following the Russian invasion. The project has been inundated with enquiries since it opened, with Stone King’s immigration team joining lawyers around the country in offering expert legal advice.

“Whilst the immigration rules have been slightly relaxed for family members of Ukraine nationals, there is a backlog of applications and a sense that the visa system is not currently fit for purpose,” said head of immigration Julie Moktadir. “There are a large number of people fleeing who do not have identity documents or the resources to seek safety or assistance which makes it all the more complicated. We are seeking to help both Ukrainian nationals and other nationalities fleeing Ukraine.”

To request advice, email: ukraine@freemovement.org.uk with details of your circumstances and the advice you need. advice-ukraine.co.uk; stoneking.co.uk

ocl

ACCOUNTANCY

141 Englishcombe Lane, Bath BA2 2EL Tel: 01225 445507 www.oclaccountancy.com

Tax planning and IHT –an opportunity

You may be aware that if you make gifts to family, friends or others but die within seven years, those gifts may be added back to the value of your estate for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes, unless the gifts are exempt; although many exemptions aren’t generous, there is one with no limit.

Gifts made from surplus income are exempt from IHT regardless of value or beneficiary. Understandably HMRC impose conditions & before you review the situation you need to determine your “surplus” income.

For a gift to be exempt it has to come from income left over after you’ve paid normal living costs, such as food, energy, household costs, etc. The rules don’t allow you to artificially create surplus income by living off savings – that’s not within the exemption. The rules say the exemption only works if you have sufficient income to maintain your “usual standard of living” after making the gift.

Another condition means that one-off gifts out of income won’t qualify for the exemption, as it requires there to be a ‘pattern of gifts’ so that they become part of your “normal expenditure”. There is no definition of how many gifts have to be made before this condition is met although HMRC do accept that a series of gifts over three years is sufficient.

The exemption isn’t tied to tax years and the rules state that HMRC must review “one year with another”. However, HMRC also state that income that you accumulate (by not spending it) becomes capital after a couple of years and gifts from those funds won’t qualify for the exemption.

It’s always best to make the gifts in cash and not by way of assets, and it’s important to keep records of your gifts, such as date, amount and beneficiary so they are available to your executors.

Finally, although normally a pattern of gifts has to exist before the exemption can apply, this can be short circuited if you can show that it’s your intention to make regular gifts, for example by writing to the person you intend as a recipient, advising that you intend to gift them some of your excess income each year. As an alternative, you could arrange to pay a regular expense for them, for example child’s school fees.

For tax saving tips contact us – call Marie Sheldrake, Matt Bryant or Samantha Taylor on 01225 445507

The importance of getting your affairs in order

Talking about what would happen if we were no longer around or diagnosed with a life limiting illness is not an easy conversation to have but taking the time now to get your affairs in order will help your family and loved ones in the future.

To make that conversation a little easier Dorothy House and Mogers Drewett Solicitors have joined forces to create a series of four podcast to tackle the topics we avoid discussing.

In the first episode Sarah Dodd, Head of Legacies at Dorothy House chats to David Hill a partner in the Private Client team at Mogers Drewett Solicitors about what ‘getting your affairs in order’ actually means and why it is so important.

Where to start?

A blank sheet of paper! Often just writing a list of assets, pensions, properties, bank accounts and savings is a good place to start. It can help us to understand exactly what we have and, in many cases, highlight the need for guidance on minimising our tax liability to ensure loved one’s benefit.

Is drafting your own Will a good idea?

When thinking about drafting your Will it is important to ensure that what you think will happen when you die, does happen.

We are lucky to live in a society where all sorts of relationships and blended families are commonplace but things that might require some extra consideration when it comes to drafting your own Will include second marriages, living together but with no civil partnership or marriage, young children and ownership of property.

What do Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA’s) help us with?

LPAs are like insurance policies. In the event you are no longer able to manage things for yourself (for whatever reason), you have insured that a person who you trust will step in to ensure important decisions are made and invariably this saves time, costs and emotional upset at a difficult time.

LPAs are quite daunting to most of us, so who do we talk to?

A Private Client lawyer, who specialises in these matters is best placed to give you advice concerning LPA’s and other documents to get your affairs in order. We understand that having these conversations can be daunting and emotional, but we often find that after these discussions families feel a huge sense of relief that wishes are known and plans have been made.

Listen to the full conversation between Sarah and David here https://dhpodcast.podbean.com/ and start getting your affairs in order today.