Newlywed couple, John and Laina Tauranga were enjoying their chauffeur driven journey from their wedding reception. Kissing on the back-seat, they thought they might have been driving a little bit fast, but as they came up for air they realised that they had been pulled over by the police for drag racing!

The Australian couple realised just how fast, when police stopped them and arrested their chauffeur for drag-racing a provisional driver at 130km/h in a 60km/h zone.

An unmarked police car had been travelling behind the wedding car, a Holden Caprice, and allegedly caught it speeding 70km/h over the speed limit. The wedding chauffeur was allegedly drag-racing a provisional driver before being pulled over by the cops.

Penrith police station officer Hamed Baqaie said, “They were driving at high speeds, revving engines, tyres squealing and they travelled quite a distance before police managed to stop them.”

Probably not what the couple ordered when they booked their wedding car…

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When Stanley Holloway sang “Get me to the church on time” in My Fair Lady, he managed to wonderfully identify one of the most important aspects in booking wedding transport – time. Time, and in particular the date of your wedding is more important than you might first imagine.

Before you trawl the net for a wedding car, ensure you know the correct date and time for your wedding hire. The date of your wedding is extremely important. Midweek wedding hire can often be found at a cheaper cost than a Saturday, especially in the busy months. So you might find that picking a date in the week will allow you to hire the Rolls-Royce Phantom that you have set your heart on. Obviously this is not always practical, and a weekend is generally easier to schedule for most of your guests, however your wedding may be an intimate affair, and your guests may find it easy to attend in the week. If so then you may grab yourself a bargain!

You don’t have to get married in June

The traditional wedding month, need not be your date of your ceremony. It is a wonderful time of year to get married. The beginning of summer, rainy spring fading to reveal flowers in bloom. A beautiful time of year and a fitting start to such an important day. London does really shine in June, it may not be the driest month, July has that honour. Choosing to get hitched in the summer months may be a safer bet in terms of weather, but the savings from booking wedding venues and cars in the less active months may be significant, effecting not just your wedding car hire, but also honeymoon costs as well as many wedding suppliers.

A bride’s prerogative – not the chauffeurs

It may be the bride’s prerogative to be 10 minutes late for the ceremony, but make sure your wedding car supplier is on time. You don’t even need to hire a wedding car, you could use public transport. You could even use your regular mini cab, but make sure they know that this is for a wedding, so that they can valet the car!

A wedding date

Once you have found the right date for you, your guests and of course the wedding venue. Then you can begin your search for the right wedding car. When hiring, make sure you have allowed enough time for the journeys, some pictures of your wedding carriage, and added a few minutes for luck. It is often better to negotiate a booking for the full amount of time rather than be billed for additional hours by your chauffeur after the event. It is good practice to ask for the charge for any additional hours in advance too, to save any nasty surprises in the event of the wedding overrunning.

Check your prospective date against any sporting or social events, marches or anything else that might affect your (and your guests) journey times.

Have the time of your life

Remember, this is your special day. Take your time to enjoy it!

With so many things to organize for your wedding day, the last thing on your mind, would be trying to save the planet. A few years ago a horse drawn carriage might have got you to the church. But these days, it is more normal to hire a chauffeur driven wedding car. The Eco Chauffeur™ service from iChauffeur may be the right vehicle for your eco-friendly wedding.

Why is it Eco-friendly?

The Eco Chauffeur car is a hybrid powered vehicle. It uses a combination of electric and conventional petrol engines to create a car that will run on electric power at a standstill and up to about 20 mph in slow moving traffic. It is particularly kinder to urban environments, and is favoured by Transport for London, who have made it exempt from the London congestion charge, because of it’s low carbon footprint.

What is particularly interesting about this Lexus Hybrid, is that it is the world’s first truly luxury hybrid car. The soft cream leather interior and luxury appointments make the car a very comfortable vehicle. It is almost silent in use, particularly when running off electric power.

Where can one hire the Lexus Hybrid wedding car?

The hybrid Lexus GS 450h is currently only available in the Greater London area, and wouldn’t be suited for a wedding in Aberdeen, because of the mileage involved, which would negate any environmental benefits. However, for a London Wedding, the Lexus is in a class of it’s own, and will no doubt be the car of choice for an ethical wedding.

Learn more about the Eco Chauffeur Car Service from iChauffeur Ltd.

The Mercedes-Benz S Class has for many years been a industry standard for the chauffeur industry, and with good reason. The S Class has been the class leader in engineering excellence. It was the first car to introduce diagonal seat belts, and anti-lock brakes and many other now common safety features.

The 2007 Mercedes S Class again sets the standard for safety and engineering excellence. The new Night View Assist feature, is a special monitor using infra red lights to brighten up even the darkest of roads, way beyond the reach of the headlights.

The car uses radar to also determine if the car is likely to have a collision. If a car in front suddenly hits its brakes. The S-Class’s emits a warning sound to indicate a potential crash situation. Then, if the brakes are applied quickly, the Brake Assist Plus system recognises the emergency and adds as much braking as necessary, up to 100 percent to help stop the car as quickly as possible.

The 2007 S Class is also slightly wider, taller and longer than the previous generation, offering 42 inches of rear legroom. Which makes the S Class comfortable for even the largest of wedding gowns. Soft, leather interior with heated/cooling seats all help to make your journey to the church comfortable and luxurious.

Soft ambient lighting creates a warm glow throughout the cabin, helping to create the right ambience for your special day. These lights will also make any car interior wedding photographs spectacular.

Some S Class cars have a panoramic roof (as shown above), which also makes the car extremely photogenic, as most photographers struggle to take interior car shots, due to the lack of natural light. This light floods the car helping to create natural and romantic wedding shots.

Is the S Class perfect for your wedding day?

In many different ways the flagship of the Mercedes-Benz fleet is the ideal wedding car. It is stylish, safe and reliable, especially when compared to some vintage wedding cars. It has plenty of legroom, and will make any wedding journey comfortable and relaxing. Some may prefer a Bentley or Rolls-Royce, but the S Class is hard to beat in so many ways making it a fantastic wedding vehicle.

Many thanks to iChauffeur for the images shown of their Mercedes S Class Wedding Car

A guide to hiring a Rolls Royce Phantom for your wedding

The Rolls Royce Phantom is quite simply the king of the road. It continues the legendary Rolls Royce traditions of unsurpassed luxury and finesse and makes a very grand and impressive bridal vehicle for your wedding.

Rolls Royce Phantom Features

This quarter of a million pound monster will ensure a magical entrance to your wedding day, and one that you will stay with you for the rest of your life. It is a large and imposing vehicle, and features backwards opening rear doors to help you remain dignified as your enter and exit the vehicle especially while wearing a large wedding dress.

Designed and built by BMW, this Phantom is reliable and incredibly silent. It is almost impossible to hear if the engine is running while stationary and really is an amazing feat of engineering excellence. Nice touches include Rolls Royce emblems on the wheels which always remain vertical, and instead of a rev counter a "Reserve Power Meter" which tells the chauffeur how much power is available, which in normal use will be over 90 percent! It has an incredibly powerful engine, that gives this mammoth car sports car like performance. It glides on custom large diameter rubber tyres which helps keep road tyre noise to a minimum. In the event of rain, umbrellas pop out of the rear doors to help keep the rain from ruining your hair do.

Hiring a Rolls Royce Phantom for your wedding

This is not a cheap car to hire for your wedding day. Because of the huge investment, chauffeur companies tend to charge a considerable amount of money to hire the Phantom. If you are getting married to a tight budget then you might want to look elsewhere, but if you have the budget, there is not a car on the road which comes close to the Rolls Royce Phantom for status and presence. The Phantom is a Great British car, albeit owned by BMW, that continues Sir Henry Royce’s tradition and legacy for engineering excellence, and if you want the best car to take you to the church, then the Rolls Royce Phantom is the car to take you in the ultimate of style.

Where to hire?

• Rolls Royce Phantom Wedding Car Hire
• Manchester Rolls Royce Phantom Wedding Car
• Birmingham Rolls Royce Phantom Wedding Car Hire

Learn more about the Phantom Wedding Car

• Phantom Wedding Car

Planning your Great Escape

Your wedding day has been a complete success, now all you want to do is enjoy your honeymoon. So how do you get to the airport or honeymoon location in style?

Safe Honeymoon Travel

Your London wedding car may have been perfect for your wedding day, but it may not be the right vehicle for your honeymoon. In London, you can legally hire a wedding car, from pretty much anyone with the right insurance. But for the ride to the airport, to take off on your honeymoon, you will need a PCO licensed driver. It could be that your wedding car chauffeur is registered with the PCO, who are part of Transport for London, but many London based wedding cars are not. Click here find a list of registered PCO drivers and operators. The PCO state that “Illegal cab drivers commit 10 sexual assaults each month. Don’t become a statistic, know what you’re getting into by always booking through a licensed private hire operator.”

Who will carry your bags?

A good private hire driver will be more than happy to carry your bags and liaise with hotel and airport staff to make sure that all your needs are catered for. No matter how good he or she maybe, if you didn’t inform her that you planned to go on a skiing or scuba diving honeymoon, then you might not be able to squeeze your luggage into the vehicle. If you do have lots of luggage, then a chauffeur driven Mercedes Viano would be a good choice. It has ample luggage space for most travellers, but if you have special requirements always mention these before you book your journey.

For most airport runs a Mercedes S Class will be perfect, they are very comfortable and have a fair sized boot for your luggage.

Returning to London

After the honeymoon, try and arrange a chauffeur driven airport collection from a PCO registered hire company. Ask about their airport transfer procedures, will they be waiting for you at arrivals with a nameboard? How much do they charge for waiting time and do they monitor your flight, so that incase of delays, you won’t be charged copious amounts of waiting time.

Plan for a successful honeymoon escape

Do not assume that your wedding vehicle is large enough for your needs, ask the supplier if it will take your 14 trunks and 27 suitcases! Ask if they are PCO registered, and about their airport transfer procedures. Careful planning will help you escape in style, and all you have to do is enjoy your honeymoon…

Honeymoon Travel Resources

• Luxury Travel Directory
• London Chauffeur
• PCO – Find a Ride

Advice on hiring a wedding car for your wedding day

Picture the scene, the drive of your life awaits. Months or even years of planning your wedding day have led to this point. Then ten minutes before your arranged collection, you get a call that your hired bridal car is stuck in traffic or even worse broken down!

This nightmare scenario is not common within the wedding car hire industry, but it can and does happen. So what to do? How do you make sure that when you hire your wedding car, you get exactly what you imagined?

Careful Planning

Even the best made plans can go wrong, but with a little bit of thought, you can help take away any wedding car hire blues.

• Use a reputable wedding car hire company. Do not go for the cheapest option. Do they install confidence when you call?
• Create a contingency plan with your bridal car service, if the car broke down or had an accident, would they be able to provide a swift alternative?
• Make sure you give the car hire service accurate address and time details – double check those postcodes!
• See if it was possible to view the car at another wedding, so you can see the presentation of the bride’s car and of the chauffeur – are they both clean and smart and is the driver amicable?

Vintage Wedding Car Hire

Classic and vintage wedding cars are a popular choice for weddings but they do have an Achilles heel – reliability. Vintage Bentley and Rolls Royce wedding car hire brings an air of glamour to any wedding day, but unless they are properly maintained they can’t compete with the reliability of a modern wedding car.

The lovely 1964 vintage Bentley Silver Cloud as pictured above, is lovingly maintained and even kept in a protective “bubble” within a garage to make sure that it is kept at the correct humidity! Not all vintage wedding cars are cared for in this way, so ask your wedding car hire provider how often the car is serviced before you part with your money.

Wedding Car Hire Summary

Whatever car you choose, do the company install confidence? Do they have any contingency plans? Are they helpful on the telephone and answer your e-mails promptly and efficiently?

Get it in writing and you can then be assured that you have done all you can to make your wedding day wonderful and one you will always care to remember.

There are no guarantees in life and you have no control over the weather but using a little common sense and some careful, detailed planning, you can be assured that you will get to the church on time.

Questions to ask a wedding car hire company

To make sure that you get exactly the right wedding car for your wedding day. Here are some questions and points to consider when negotiating with a prospective wedding car hire company.

• Try and get a written quote for your wedding car, an email should be fine. Do not rely solely on a telephone conversation. Similarly, double-check all correspondance for correct addresses, contact details and times.
• If you visit a website to look at wedding cars, ask is the picture displayed is the actual car or a similar one. Many chauffeur and wedding car hire websites use stock photographs on their websites and in brochures. Could you come and see the car?
• Will the wedding car be valeted before your wedding?
• What is the age of the wedding vehicle? There is a great deal of difference between a 1996 Bentley and a 2006 model.
• Make sure the wedding car operator and vehicle are properly licensed and insured? In London, for wedding car hire, no licence is necessary, aside from a current driving licence. However, if you would like to take the wedding car to an airport after the ceremony, then the driver should be PCO licenced.
• What contingency plans are in place, in case of vehicle breakdown or other eventualities?
• Ask for the driver’s mobile number
• What will the chauffeur be wearing? Do you want them to wear a suit, shirt and tie?
• Will they co-ordinate and work with the photographer and other wedding services?

The perfect wedding car for your Asian Wedding

Traditionally the Shaadi or Asian wedding is arranged and paid for by the bride’s parents. These are usually very elaborate affairs and the travel arrangements can be quite complicated. So how do you get the right wedding car for your Asian wedding?

The Asian Wedding Budget

Planning a Shaadi can be quite a daunting task and often the wedding travel arrangements are left to the last moment, which is less than ideal. Once you have decided on your wedding budget, you can then find the right wedding vehicle(s) to compliment and really make your wedding day special.

Because of the long wedding day – normally most Shaadi’s will last for about 10 hours. Wedding car hire can be very expensive. Hiring a prestige, luxury wedding car for 10 hours is not a cheap option, but most wedding car hire businesses will give special rates for their Shaadi customers. For example, London chauffeur company iChauffeur, offer some very special rates for Asian weddings, and the cost in comparison to a typical western wedding of 3 hours duration is not too great. So it pays to shop around, but just as important as their price, are the terms and conditions. For example, how much would you have to pay for an extra hours hire? Will the driver or chauffeur be on hand through out the day? Probably the most important thing to decide is do I trust company xyz for my Shaadi? Do they respond quickly to your emails? Are they listening to your requests or are they just trying to sell you a Rolls-Royce Phantom?

Choosing your Asian wedding car

You may have a specific idea of the car you would like. Traditionally light coloured vehicles are preferred for Asian weddings, but your car choice is a personal thing, but it is fashionable to hire the grandest car you can afford for your Shaadi. So what are your options, what car makes a great chauffeur driven wedding car?

Prestige Asian Wedding Cars

If you have the budget, then a Bentley or Rolls-Royce chauffeur driven car, will ensure that your Shaadi is a very grand affair. A Rolls-Royce Phantom makes a great luxury wedding car, but will be a very expensive choice. For a lot better deal, why not hire a Bentley Arnage or Bentley Continental Flying Spur? Both cars have bags of class and make extremely stylish and comfortable wedding cars. If you need to travel from London to Birmingham for your ceremony, then a Bentley Continental Flying Spur would be your best option, it was built with Grand Touring in mind, and is very safe and comfortable over long distances.

Good value Asian wedding cars

If you can’t stretch to a Bentley or Rolls, then a Mercedes-Benz S Class (long wheelbase model) makes a great value wedding car. Stylish, safe and comfortable, the S Class is a wonderful all-round wedding car, ideal for the longer journeys too. For round about the same price you could hire a BMW 7 series, Jaguar, Range Rover or Audi, each car has it’s own merits, but all are very capable, luxury chauffeur driven vehicles.

Asian Wedding Car Resources

• Choosing your wedding car
• Bentley Flying Spur wedding car
• Rolls Royce Phantom Wedding Car

How to find the right wedding car for your wedding

So you’ve picked the dress, whittled down the brides maids and even found the right venue for your wedding. But what about the wedding car? How do you find exactly the right car for your special day?

The answer will depend on a number of factors. Your budget maybe the biggest constraint, or you could be undecided between a vintage or new shaped car. Hopefully by the end of this article, you will have found some ideas on what vehicle you would want on your special day.

Modern Wedding Cars

Lets start with the most recent cars, which are available in all price ranges from E Class Mercedes-Benz and similar right up to luxury Bentley or Rolls Royce models.

Budget Wedding Cars

You do not need to spend a fortune on a decent wedding car, in fact, have you considered asking a good friend or relative to chauffeur you to your wedding service? You would have to ask them to check their insurance policy first and if you were to pay them for the privilege you would need to make sure that they had the right policy for private hire – which would cost more than hiring a professional firm. Your friend may have a lovely car though, so it is always worthwhile considering.

Executive Cars

A Mercedes-Benz E Class, midrange Audi or similar all make good and reliable wedding cars. They are all reasonably affordable, and if hired from a reputable company will be well maintained and clean. I would discourage booking a “cab” from your local, cut-price firm for this purpose, unless you know them particularly well, and can explain how important this day is for you. Choosing the right company is very important to a successful wedding car service.

Also, which goes contrary to most other wedding sites, make sure that you tell your chauffeur or private hire company that you wish to hire the vehicle for a wedding. The reason being that the chauffeur company will then be able to properly valet your wedding car, and also make sure that the car is available on time. Also the chauffeur will not be double booked on that day, so he won’t have to leave before the ceremony is complete!

Luxury Modern Wedding Cars

The Mercedes-Benz S Class is the industry standard chauffeur driven vehicle. Safe and reliable, an S Class makes an excellent choice for your wedding day. Again make sure that you inform your private hire company, that the S Class is for your wedding, ensuring that you get the full wedding service, as per your instructions. Other cars from this class include the Audi A8, Jaguar, BMW 7 Series and the Range Rover, all make fine wedding cars but the final decision should be the car that best fits your needs.

Prestige Modern Wedding Cars

The Bentley Arnage and Bentley Continental Flying Spur both make fantastic wedding cars. They have just the right look to make you feel very special. Both cars feature handcrafted interiors with luxury hide and wooden veneers which are characteristics of the Bentley brand. The Bentley has always been a prestigious car and the latest generation from the Bentley bloodline are reassuringly expensive and have a certain touch of British class which you will not find from many other types of vehicle.

Money no object – wedding cars

If you have an limitless budget for your wedding day, then a Rolls-Royce Phantom or Maybach maybe what you are looking for. Both cars cost well over £250 000 so it may not come as much of a surprise that these will cost a considerable amount of money to hire for your wedding day. Also, in the event that your wedding goes on for a little longer than expected an extra hour might cost you £250 or more just for waiting, don’t say we didn’t warn you! Having said that both vehicles are breathtaking, the Rolls-Royce Phantom in particular is a very special car, with “suicide” doors which open backwards to allow an easy entrance and exit, and if you wanted a very modern wedding then a Maybach would be a good choice.

Vintage Wedding Cars

For some people, a vintage wedding car is a must have. There are a number of different types of vintage wedding cars available from vintage Jaguars, to Bentley and Rolls-Royce models. One thing to bear in mind is that these can be very old cars, and reliability could be an issue if they are not properly maintained. So choose a company with a good name or one that is recommended to you before you take the plunge and hire a classic wedding car for your wedding. There is no doubt that a well maintained, classic wedding car will fuel your wedding day with the romance and glamour that you maybe looking for, but if the car fails to turn up or breaks down on the way to your church then all you will be left with is a nightmare. iChauffeur’s Bentley Silver Cloud is a fine example of a vintage wedding car.

Conclusions

Just as important as the right car, is the right chauffeur. The wedding car industry is full of part-time drivers, who have bought cars to hire out. This is a double-edged sword, you may find someone who can provide a wedding car for a very reasonable rate but make sure that they come recommended, and ask what is their procedure if the car breaks down!

Don’t be afraid of mentioning that you are booking a car for your wedding, the more information you can give your chauffeur company the better. It’s your wedding day, so make sure they know how important it is for you and how you will expect the best possible service.