Wedding Help!

[Zulu162]

Hi there guys and gals!

I myself am not a Minor owner, in the Mini scene I'm afraid.

But I have a (re)quest should any of you good people be brave enough to accept... The good lady I'm marrying loves Morris Minors. So I'm looking for a kind hearted soul with a lovely Minor to bring my fiancee to the wedding.

Its on the 30th June and I'd need her to be picked up from Bashurst Hill and taken to St Marys in Horsham. (west sussex)

Of course I will pay for petrol and your time etc, may even throw in a pint... But proper hire firms are extortionate

I had a friend of a friend doing it previously, but he's no longer able to make it. ANd he suggested i try this forum.

Let me know either via here or email me at d.r.joinery162@gmail.com

Thank you so much for reading this and apologies if I put this in the wrong area.

Regards, Duncan

[simona1]

I'm afraid you'll be lucky because its the Morris minor national rally that weekend and everyone will be there.

[Zulu162]

Oh no

What a shame, well if anyone wants to miss out on the razzle dazzle of the National Rally then let me know

Regards, Duncan

[chickenjohn]

Hi Duncan,
good luck on getting a car. I could have gone to West Sussex for my fee plus petrol, however sadly, Dibble (convertible below pictured) and myself are already booked in for a wedding on the 30th.

Might I suggest you contact the local branches to you?? They will know someone who does weddings locally.

[Zulu162]

Thanks for the tip chickenjohn, much appreciated, another member kindly suggested the same thing, so going to try that tomorrow methinks! Thanks again, and enjoy the other wedding!
Regards, Duncan

[autolycus]

<snip>

Of course I will pay for petrol and your time etc, may even throw in a pint... But proper hire firms are extortionate

More extortionate than the rest of the wedding industry? Or than any other business operating in a genuinely free, competitive market?

Wedding firms charge what they can get away with, just as people selling spares do, or people selling their labour to an employer.

One of the reasons I prefer driving for weddings to my previous self-employment is that there is no element of "I didn't think it was going to cost that much". I show couples the car, describe the service I offer, then won't let them book until I've confirmed their quotation in writing and they've thought it over during a period of "first refusal" I give them. If prices really were "extortionate", someone would offer a similar car and service cheaper, and I'd get no bookings.

I do find it interesting that many people expect car owners to drive for a wedding for a couple of beer tokens, but wouldn't expect the photographer, or caterer, or even the vicar to do their stuff for (almost) nothing.

The more of these £25k weddings I see, the dafter I think people are going in for them. Life's going to be one hell of an anticlimax after a party like that. Spend it on a decent house, or the kids' education instead.

But sorry, to the OP: I haven't got a suitable Moggy, and I'm in the wrong part of the country.

Kevin

[Zulu162]

Sorry if I upset you Autoycus, didn't mean anything by it, was just trying to find someone that didnt necessarily do it as thier business, as we have a tight 7k budget.

Regards, Duncan

[chickenjohn]

Hi Duncan,
I do weddings as a sideline and my charges are only £180 for a local wedding, which although not beer money is hardly extortionate!

[autolycus]

Fret not, Duncan, you've not upset me!

As I said before; "The more of these £25k weddings I see, the dafter I think people are going in for them. Life's going to be one hell of an anticlimax after a party like that.", so I applaud people who take a more rational approach, while hoping that not all of them do.

I just wouldn't put wedding car hire in the same bracket as firms who you entrust to do an open-ended job at a fair price but who then rip you off - that really is extortion. Perhaps wedding cars should be charged at say, the cost of one tyre and one distributor cap, which would make my £375 a bit cheap, and cj's £180 quite dear . I'd been wondering what to charge if I buy a Moggy convertible, and it certainly wouldn't be any less than that.

Kevin

[chickenjohn]

What car do you do weddings in Kevin?

BTW, the charge reflects not only the days work at the wedding but also the day before hand spent washing, vacuuming and polishing the car!

[autolycus]

I use this one at the moment - a 1954 Silver Wraith, with "lightweight" all-aluminium coachwork by H J Mulliner

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which isn't to everyone's taste, but enough brides seem to like it. I had an earlier, open tourer last year, but brides weren't daft enough to want to get to Church looking like they'd been through a hedge backwards - so I've sold it and can't make up my mind whether to buy something newer, like a Silver Shadow, that my son would drive as a bridesmaids' car.

As cj says, there's not only the time on the day that the bride sees, there's all the time taking phone calls, showing couples the car, sending out quotes, preparing the car, cleaning it afterwards, and getting to and from the wedding venues. I also always do a recce run a few days beforehand - you can't rely on turning that thing round in someone's driveway, so you need to know exactly where you're going.

Kevin

[rjt1951]

Can help, have sent you an email.