OUR SIMPLE GUIDE TO CHOOSING A
WEDDING CAR
We know that weddings can be quite complicated to plan, so we hope that our simple guide to choosing a wedding car will help you make the right choice with the minimum of fuss.
Which wedding car company?What type of car?
What colour of car?
Journey planning
Which wedding car company? There are plenty of wedding car companies to choose from, so do be selective. We offer the following handy checklist:
o Specialist company or
not? Many
companies are not wedding specialists, but are actually minicab or car
hire firms. Consider whether a firm whose main business is
airport runs or general hire will give you the dedicated service you
need. Cars that are pounding up and down motorways, or being
used
for hen and stag parties may lead a hard life and may not be what you
want for your special day.
o Does the company own the
cars?
Some companies are actually agents for a network of owner-drivers who
do the odd wedding in order to help pay for the upkeep of the
car. Most of these companies are entirely respectable and
offer
good services, but they tend to be more complicated to deal
with.
Are you happy to pay a middleman to book your car?
o Are there any hidden
charges?
Some
companies offer no indication of charges, preventing you from
making easy market comparisons. Others will have a low basic
fee,
but will charge for ‘extras’ which includes time,
distance,
particular seasons, particular days of the week and so on.
Prices
advertised as ‘…from £xxx’
should be
scrutinised carefully for hidden charges.
Some
companies offer no indication of charges, preventing you from
making easy market comparisons. Others will have a low basic
fee,
but will charge for ‘extras’ which includes time,
distance,
particular seasons, particular days of the week and so on.
Prices
advertised as ‘…from £xxx’
should be
scrutinised carefully for hidden charges.o Does the company book
cars to more
than 1 wedding per day? Often this can work without problems,
but
most people prefer knowing that they are getting exclusive service on
their special day.
o Does the company allow
you to view
the cars beforehand? We strongly advise all our clients to
make
time to view cars before entering a contract. Photographs can
be
out of date, retouched or simply not of the relevant car!
Viewing
a car will allow you to get a feel for it, see how it is kept, practise
getting in and out if necessary, and above all give you confidence by
talking to the owner. Be very wary of companies which just
want
to turn up on the day.
o Does the company plan in
detail to
ensure your wishes are met? Many companies will simply ask
you
for a form giving pick up and drop off points, and nothing
more.
Conveying a bride to her wedding is not like a taxi run to the station
– it needs careful planning to get it right and this can only
be
accomplished through meetings with clients.
What type of car?
There is a bewildering variety of vehicles available for hire;
here’s our guide to most of them:o Vintage and
Veteran. Generally
this applies to vehicles built before 1931. They offer great charm and
can be great fun. They will also tend to be slower, more
basic
and more cramped than others! Reliability might be an issue,
and
such cars often tend to cost more because of the work needed to keep
them roadworthy.
o Classic Cars.
Generally these
are from the 1930s up to the 1970s. There is a huge range,
from
cute and quirky Austins, racy Jaguars through to elegant and imposing
Rolls Royces. We advise you to consider whether the car is
big
enough for your needs (elaborate dresses may need a limousine sized
car), whether the car fits in with your wedding (a 1930s Austin might
look out of place in a 1950s themed wedding), and what kind of
impression you want to make (Cool and stylish? Sheer glamour? Wow
factor?). Getting it wrong can be painful, as you will be
looking
at those photos for many years!
o Commercial Vehicles.
Vintage
tractors, buses and lorries can all add a fun element to a
wedding. We would advise you to consider access for this type
of
vehicle, both at the wedding and reception venues. Big
vehicles
also tend to dominate photographs, which should be borne in mind.
o Open Top
Vehicles.
Any
convertible makes a great statement for a summer wedding, but we would
advise treading warily here. If the car is old, it may not
have a
proper hood, or the ‘weather gear’ may not be
watertight. Open top cars can also be draughty and cold, even
in
the summer, and a short burst at even moderate speeds can ruin
elaborate and expensive hair and makeup. A shivering,
bedraggled
bride will not photograph well!
Vehicles.
Any
convertible makes a great statement for a summer wedding, but we would
advise treading warily here. If the car is old, it may not
have a
proper hood, or the ‘weather gear’ may not be
watertight. Open top cars can also be draughty and cold, even
in
the summer, and a short burst at even moderate speeds can ruin
elaborate and expensive hair and makeup. A shivering,
bedraggled
bride will not photograph well!o Modern cars.
Most modern cars
are a very safe choice, but they can be dull as well. A
modern
Rolls or Bentley might suffice, but again we urge caution; a new
Bentley convertible turning up at a traditional English summer wedding
may appear a little ‘Footballer’s Wives’
for some!
o Stretch
Limousines. We would
generally advise you to avoid these contraptions. They are
normally brash, inelegant and clumsy, and can be the surest way to
cheapen the look of your wedding. Most will have spent the
previous Friday night ferrying hen parties from one nightclub to
another, and are unlikely to be prepared to the standard your wedding
deserves.
o Friends or Relatives
Cars.
Planning to use Uncle Alberts old Rolls may seem the perfect solution,
but in reality it often proves to be anything of the sort.
Cars
that are not run regularly or professionally maintained will often fail
if suddenly pushed to a long run in the heat of summer. It is
also unlikely that the car will be properly insured for wedding use, so
neither you nor the car will be covered in the event of an accident.
What colour of
car?
This is an area which again needs great care. Wedding
photographs
are for many the most immediate memory of their special day, and a car
in the wrong colour will spoil every shot it is in. We would
advise against the ‘traditional’ white wedding car
–
this colour scheme will swamp a white or ivory bridal gown, and on a
sunny day a large car in white will be overexposed in most photos,
making it look like an enormous white blob. We prefer a mix
of
silver, gunmetal, dark blues or black – these shades will
highlight most bridal gowns whilst discreetly toning with gentlemen in
morning dress, uniform or black tie. Such colour schemes will
normally provide very balanced photographs, even for friends and
relatives using point and shoot cameras. Many 1930s Rolls
Royce
are painted in black over dark maroon – this is an elegant
colour
scheme made famous by the Royal Family whose cars were always painted
this way. This will provide good photographs, but do check
that
the red part of the car does not clash with your main colour
scheme. A large car will normally give better photographs if
painted in a two-tone colour scheme, as a vast expanse of any one
colour will tend to dominate most shots.
Journey Planning.
People often want their wedding car to transport the bridesmaids or
mother of the bride to the wedding first. This can of course
be
done but we advise a little thought beforehand. If the
wedding
venue is more than 15 minutes from the collection point, then mother
and bridesmaids will have to leave at least 45 minutes to 1 hour before
the wedding starts in order for the bride to get there on time. Often
this is just not convenient, and may result in the bride’s
mother
arriving before most of the other guests. It may also be the
case
that the car gets dirty or delayed in traffic on the first
journey. We would therefore advise that unless the venue is
close, traffic can be guaranteed light, and the weather good, you
should consider keeping the wedding car just for the bride.