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GENERAL QUESTIONS
OUR CARS OUR RATES AND WHAT'S INCLUDED
OUR SERVICE Your first car journey together as husband and wife should be unforgettable. It will be one of the few opportunities you get to breathe, sit back and relax on what will be a busy day. Few people get the chance to be chauffeur-driven in the luxury and elegance of a genuine classic car, and if you only get one chance to do this, then your wedding day should be it. Our cars also offer the perfect backdrop to your wedding photos, and you leaving as husband and wife will be one of the most photographed moments of the day, let alone affording other opportunities such as photo stops en-route. I only need transport to a single venue. Do I need a car? If you are having your service and reception at the same venue, the car can still play an important part in the day. We would make sure you arrive in style, and unlike many companies are happy to stay until after the service and even give the bride and groom a short journey together, including any photo stops en-route. If the bride is staying the night before at the venue, then we can take the groom in luxury to the service and then we can stay until after the service for a short trip in the local area. The church is only ten minutes away - why is it so much more expensive than a taxi? We can understand why people might make the comparison, but the service we offer is different to a taxi company. For your wedding and your wedding only we will wash, polish and valet the car, decorate it with flowers and ribbons, will have champagne and mineral water available and even if you only have a ten minute journey, we will still be there an hour early, and are happy to wait around afterwards for photos. The price also factors in journey time from our Crowborough base and the peace of mind of having a professional chauffeur who only ever drives for weddings. While a taxi will pick up dozens of passengers every day, you will be the only person to use the car on your wedding day. No wedding has ever taken us less than two hours when you factor in all this, and we offer far more than 'just' a car for ten minutes. What cars are available for hire, and what are the differences between them? We have four classic cars available for hire - a 1953 Bentley and a 1960 Rolls Royce, plus a pair of Morris Minors. The Bentley and Rolls Royce are our most popular cars and are roomy and luxurious. Our Morris Minors are more compact but are perfect for 'shabby chic' vintage-style weddings. We also have two Jaguar XJ8s, suitable for bridesmaids. Are your cars genuine classics? Absolutely, yes. Many wedding cars appear to be classics (and are even marketed as being classic or vintage) but are kit cars and are relatively modern, styled to look like a classic using a reinforced plastic body on a modern car chassis. The giveaway is normally the modern number plates and pretend wheel trims. With the exception of our modern Jaguar XJ8s, our cars are all genuine classics with real chrome details, original leather detailing and period details. Our Morris Minors are nearly 50 years old, and our Bentley is now over 60. They are luxury cars, hand-built and steeped in history. What does a classic car 'feel like'? Are they comfortable? Despite being classic cars, our Bentley and Rolls Royce are both quiet, comfortable and smooth, and due to their luxury are comparable in this respect to even modern cars. Our Morris Minors are a bit less refined, and not as smooth due to their manual gearboxes, but are still comfortable and a great way to get to a wedding. How roomy are your cars? I'm concerned about my dress! "My dress had a very long train and a full skirt and there was plenty of room in your lovely Bentley - it was really easy to get in and out of the car too." Verity and Stuart We've driven plenty of brides with large dresses, and from experience our Bentley and Rolls Royce are both roomy and have easy access, our Jaguar XJ8s are roomy but quite low, meaning they're not quite as easy to get in and out of, while our Morris Minors are our smallest cars, but still practical for most dresses.
"Your Bentley was immaculate and had plenty of room for my dress (which is more than can be said for the gate into our church!" Katie and John Our cars are driven by their owners, the directors of the company. They will be smartly dressed in a suit, and when driving our Bentley or Rolls Royce will be wearing a chauffeur's hat. They are friendly, helpful and knowledgeable, and you are welcome to meet the drivers at wedding fairs, or by appointment. In the run-up to your wedding we will make sure you have the personal mobile phone number of your driver who will be on hand to look after you if you have any questions. The cars are owned by their drivers. We're not an agency or broker, so we can guarantee quality of service by knowledgeable, experienced drivers that we can trust. Can we see the cars before hiring? Yes, of course, it's something we encourage. Please get in touch via the contact us page to arrange a viewing at our base in Crowborough. Alternatively you can see at least one of our cars and drivers at the wedding fairs we attend. Can we hire more than one car? Yes, of course, please get in touch to discuss as we offer discounts on the use of a second car. Our Jaguar XJ8s are available for just £150 as a second car, while many of our classic cars looked great paired together. We like to tailor every aspect of our service to your special day. Our pricing is flexible and takes into account how many venues you wish to have transport to (we offer discounts if you require transport to a single venue), how many cars you wish to hire (the second car will be discounted), when you are getting married (we offer discounts for late bookings) and more. Here are some approximate example prices:
See full details on our rates page. How much is transport for the bridesmaids? For short journeys (approximately ten minutes) this will be absolutely free using a single car, then returning for the bride. For journeys longer than this we'd need to use a second car, otherwise logistically it would mean the bridesmaids would have to wait for 30+ minutes for the bride. A Jaguar XJ8 as a second car would cost £150. Our preferred method is by bank transfer (BACs), but you can also pay by cheque. If neither of these are possible and you wish to pay by credit card via PayPal. How long are we entitled to use the car for? What if we're running late on the day? Don't worry, we don't run to timetables, don't clock watch, don't charge by the hour and won't have any other weddings to dash off to on your special day so there are no unreasonable time limits. If you are running late, we will wait, and you will have the driver's mobile phone number so that if things do change, you can let him know. What is the process required to hire a car?
When is the best time to book? This is a common question and a difficult one to answer. Most people book around 9-12 months in advance, but many people book earlier. If you have a specific car in mind, even on a quiet month it would only take one booking on the same day for it to become unavailable. Our busiest month is August, and the busiest day across the year is Saturday although the trend is now moving towards other days and months. Please feel free to email to check availability. Only £100 is required to reserve with no further payment due until a month before the wedding. A £100 deposit is required to book our cars (or £50 for our Morris Minors, or £150 if you are hiring two cars) which is not refundable. We try and be as flexible as possible when it comes to cancellation, but due to the long lead times and limited availability of our cars, cancellations cause us disruption and lose us money. Fortunately, cancellations are extremely rare, and wedding insurance can help guard against loss of money should the worst happen.
Our priority is to get you to your wedding, but we do also have a duty of care which means we may have to substitute your car for something more suitable, such as our Morris Minors which can be fitted with snow chains. Unfortunately the possibility of snow is something you have to plan for with winter weddings - snow is disruptive and in the event that it does snow, it is likely to cause problems for other suppliers and wedding guests too. What happens if the car breaks down? This is a frequently asked question, and understandably so. Our cars are fastidiously maintained and the garage we use has an exceptional reputation. Because our drivers own their cars, they also know them inside-and-out. They are classic cars, though, and like all cars, we cannot rule out the possibility of breakdowns. If we have to substitute the car prior to the wedding, you will be refunded at least 10%. On the day, we aim to arrive around an hour early as contingency, but if any breakdown should directly impact on our ability to get the bridal party to the church we will discuss compensation with the organiser on a case-by-case basis. We will be as generous as we can in compensating you. If two cars are hired, it will reduce the affect of a breakdown, but we understand people may not want to do this, and will do everything we can to get the bride to the church.
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