Charlotte Balbier Wedding Diary... Transport

The big day is approaching now at rapid speed – the months, weeks and days seem to be going quicker and quicker and now I'm thinking not just about the pretty things like flowers, shoes, dresses and décor but also the logistics of the day and how I can make sure my wedding runs as smoothly as possible.
Early on in our planning, Teddy and I decided we wanted to get married in a church even though our wedding venue offers a beautiful space to hold a civil service. It was tempting to have the actual ceremony at Iscoyd just because of the ease. It would mean not having to worry about getting the two of us, a bridal party of 20 and all of your guests from A to B, but in the end our want for a church wedding overruled.
I've been doing hours of research investigating into how other brides have tackled the transport issue that faces those of us who choose to have a church wedding and then need to get everyone over to the second venue. I love to hear from my brides about the ideas they've come up with and there's definitely some unusual solutions out there. It seems vintage and classic cars are still as popular as ever – Rolls-Royce, Daimler, Bentley and Mercedes are all very popular choices – and that's including the new models which I think are popular for couples who want a traditional vibe with a modern twist. Then there's buses! I've noticed a huge trend for VW Camper Vans, London double deckers and old-fashioned buses, conductor and all. A bigger vehicle definitely makes sense when you need to get your whole wedding party from one place to another, but these choices are so much more imaginative than a standard coach.
On my quest for the perfect wedding wheels, I've also looked into some alternative options that are very specific to the style of wedding. If your wedding is a high summer affair set in the rolling countryside, have you thought about arriving on a tractor? If someone had said this to me I would have thought they'd lost their mind(!) but after seeing some images from a beautiful wedding of a bride and her maids arriving on a hay-filled tractor and trailer dressed with flowers, I fell a little bit in love with this idea. (Sadly it just doesn't suit my winter wedding.) Another idea I like for a city celebration is black cabs, but white! They look super-chic and stylish but can be a cheap alternative for wedding transport.

As much as I love the quirky ideas, both Teddy and I agree that we're a classic couple, and should go for a classic car. We don't usually spend a lot of time talking about cars (shocker!) but after discussing wedding cars we quickly agreed that we like the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. One thing I hadn't taken into consideration was that we'd need to find our dream transport near our venue, as a lot of cars won't travel far, especially the older vintage ones. It's one of those things you just don't think about until you become a bride yourself… well I didn't anyway. After some help from my wedding industry friends, I managed to track down a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 1 (woohoo!) and the best news ever was that the company who owns it is just a few miles from our venue. So without further ado, we booked the most beautiful car called ‘Alice’ (love the name) and she'll be transporting me and pops to the church, and then Teddy and I back to Iscoyd.
Although we have our dream car sorted, we still haven't worked out how to transport the wedding party and our guests from the church to the reception venue. Like most couples, we're having to keep a close eye on our ever-growing budget, so we're looking into using our own cars and those of our wedding party. We've got some lovely-looking cars between us, and it makes sense to use them if we're all there on the day.
But while I'm happy that we'll have enough cars to do the job, what about night buses to ferry the evening guests home at the end of the night? Perhaps that's where the red double decker will come in but that decision can be left until a little nearer the day. Until then, if you're a bride who's struggling to choose your transport, take a look at my transport Pinterest board for some cool ideas.
Until next time,
Much love,
Charlotte xxx