Choosing a wedding car - Feb 8, 2011

There are many types and styles so the first decision has to be the type. Classic wedding car, modern wedding car, vintage wedding car or American wedding car, all have their merits. Then of course style comes next; will the wedding car be open, closed or a limousine both British and American. Before all of this you need to know the size of the wedding dress as dress room is very important. Do you need a four-door car or will a wide two-door be acceptable (the majority of convertible cars are usually two-door – unless they are vintage). Also to be considered is how tall the bride is. Yes, height is important if you are considering a classic car for the bride.

A lovely wedding car if you are not too tall

The Mk II Jaguar (Morse car) is popular for weddings being a pretty and very iconic car from the fifties and sixties and above all British, but is not really suitable for a tall bride or groom over 5ft 8ins, nor brides wearing a large dress as the leg room is somewhat restricted. Leg room in vintage and most of the classic cars certainly up to the late thirties is more than comfortable enough for any bride or dress. Two door cars can be a little bit of a problem if the wedding or bridesmaids dress is slightly on the large side.

A modern 'E' Class Mercedes

Modern wedding cars have considerably less dress room, but good executive cars such as the Mercedes ‘E’ Class and the Mercedes ‘S’ Class have plenty of leg room and also have good size doors which makes it a lot easier to get in and out with a wedding dress. The ‘E’ Class is also used a lot for bridesmaids and Mother of the Bride and quite often before that they will take the Groom and Best Man to the ceremony venue.

Great contrast with this 1934 Sunbeam

Colour is usually important to most brides who will be looking for an effective contrast between the car and dress with many looking for a burgundy, dark blue or a rich cream car so the dress stands out in the photographs. The majority of professional photographers will tell you a white dress and a white car is very difficult to photograph really well and will also suggest you find a good contrasting colour. After all the car and the photographs can be a good part of the overall wedding day budget.

More great colour contrasts with this 1962 burgundy Bentley S2 and a beautiful 1925 dark blue Oakland Open Tourer

Before setting a budget for hiring a wedding car you should remember that prices will vary considerably and will depend on the type of car you choose and the distances involved. There are some quite inexpensive wedding cars available but they usually come from owners with only a single car who may well have a problem providing a backup in the event of a breakdown. So you really must look for a company that has been around for a good number of years and will employ mechanics with years of experience to maintain their beautiful old cars and will have a backup plan. The majority of wedding car specialists will have a really comprehensive website which will give you prices, let you check availability and have photo albums and probably videos of their cars online so you can rule out what you are not interested in without having to trek over to their showroom.

Six of our most popular cars in one place for viewing

Finally, make an appointment to see the wedding car or cars that you think might be suitable so you can judge for yourself the amount of dress room and ease of getting in and out. Experienced wedding car companies will have a mine of information and will have worked with the better photographers, videographers, florists, cake makers etc, so consult them, especially the companies who have been around for many years, after all you are only going to do this once so make use of their knowledge and experience.

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