I Recently met with Richard Shakespeare, Disability Consultant, Business Owner and Training expert at Richard Shakespeare Disability Consultants Limited. We met so that Richard could check out our London Taxi Wedding Car, to see if it was suitable for use as a wedding car for people with disabilities, or limited mobility.

He then wrote an article for his LinkedIn page, and he’s agreed that we can share his article here:

“Without doubt one of the biggest questions you can ever ask or be asked is “Will you marry me”

Recently Andy Poole who runs White Taxi Weddings near Derby contacted me. Andy was in the process of starting a wedding car hire business, this in itself is not especially unusual but, his question did make me think. Using a former London Taxi Andy and his wife Jules wanted to help make a wedding day all the more special. Andy wanted to know if I was aware of any accessible wedding vehicles or if I thought there might be demand for one.

According to a leading website the wedding industry is worth billions of pounds to the UK each year and over 50% of us would consider hiring some form of transport for the big day.* The way in which we think about weddings, marriage and partnerships has changed in recent years. Only this week I read an article via the Daily Mail Online about another Derby based business who will be hosting the first ‘social media wedding’ in the UK. With over 40% of us thought to use some form of social media in planning our wedding, it is fair to say that the team at Status Social could really be onto something.

Everybody dreams of having the perfect day surrounded by friends and family as you start your journey with the person of your dreams. The more I thought about Andy’s question the more intrigued I became. I could see how I would plan the wedding, what kind of suit I would like and could even come up with ideas for the all-important honeymoon but, I couldn’t decide what I would do for transportation on the big day!

Andy has purchased a 1997 London Taxi and had it very tastefully refurbished, the vehicle still has all the elegance you would expect from a wedding car but is just something that bit different. “Betty” as Andy affectionately calls her is equipped with a range of ramps and grab handles which would make it easier for a person with a disability to get in and out of. If you need to use a wheelchair during your special day then this vehicle could be a viable option for you or for other people wanting to enjoy the occasion with you.

I recently met with Andy to take a look at his vehicle for myself and to explore just how accessible it might be if I were to be planning a wedding. I met Andy on a gloriously sunny day, the ideal day for a wedding in fact.

Upon entering the car for the first time the first thing that struck me was just how nice the car looked. Yes, it did of course look like a taxi but then that is part of the charm. Adding a beautiful red leather interior and a few other finishing touches Andy and his wife really have created something really quite remarkable.

To find out more about White Taxi Weddings please visit the website by clicking here. Or if you fancy a social media wedding you can contact Status Social by visiting the website.

*Figures courtesy of the 2015 Wedding Report. http://www.confetti.co.uk/wedding-report”

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