I had quite a bit of time thinking about how my wedding car business would be, before actually starting, so I suppose I had some sort of idea how it would work. I felt it was important to offer something different, rather than just repeating what’s already available, which is why I’ve gone down the route of having an ex London Taxi as my chosen 
vehicle. Not that I’m knocking other companies’ vehicles – far from it, there are some wonderful cars around, it’s just that I didn’t want to get lost in the crowd!
However, even allowing for the desire to be different, without being consciously aware of it, I suppose I’d assumed that the rest of it would be pretty conventional, in that I’d promote my services, certain Brides would be attracted by what I was offering, and they’d hire me to get them to their Wedding! I expect over time, that’s pretty much how it will be, but in a fairly short time, I’ve managed to pick up a three bookings and none of them fit the template that I’d envisaged.
Booking number one – the one that lets you breathe that little bit more easily, as your idea of what’s viable as a business is actually being endorsed by presumably a sane adult in the real world – came as a result of some foot slogging I’d done to get my business cards around to some local wedding florists. The first unusual element was I got the enquiry on the exact day I was moving house, technically while in that state of Limbo between houses, and apart from my smartphone, I had no access to anything related to the business, plus my mind was overloaded with the usual stressful house moving stuff, but somehow I managed to convince the enquirer that I wasn’t totally incompetent, and managed to handle it sufficiently well to seal the deal on the booking
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Unusual element number two, was that the enquirer was the mother of the bride, and the car was being hired to take the Groom, Best Man, and Page Boys to the wedding venue, instead of the Bride, and that it was a surprise present for the Groom. I like it, I just wasn’t expecting it on my first booking!
Fortunately, when enquiry number two came along, I was better placed to handle it slightly more conventionally, oh apart from being dressed in purple and yellow Lycra, as I was about to go for a bike ride. This time it was for the Bride, but in this world of ‘different’ that I seem to have created, she and the Groom are fellow wedding car business 
owners, but understandably she wants to travel in something other than what I suppose is to them their everyday working vehicle! To be honest, I’m extremely flattered that I’ve been entrusted with the job and will do my best to live up to expectations! Also, the request is not for the usual white or ivory ribbons and bows, but for Navy Blue which I really like the sound of and should show Betty off pretty well!
Booking number three had the appearance of fitting the ‘normal’ template, in that it was a Church wedding and it was for the Bride, but then I was told the date; New Year’s Eve. So, a winter wedding with bells on – literally! And then I was given the time, 3.45pm at the Church, which I realised after a while, would mean that by the time the Bride & Groom came out of the Church, it would be dark! Now that’s something I hadn’t factored in at all, and what a challenge for the photographer!
No doubt in due course the conventional booking will come along, but in the meantime, I’m relishing the fact that my new business life is full of surprises!
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