Blog
I want a discount!
Sunday 7th July 2013
There was a little flurry of enquiries last week. People with weddings in 2014 are starting to look for cars already! However one phone call was quite bizarre; the chap was trying to arrange a car just three weeks before his wedding and he wanted a special deal. On the day in question, I had one car booked and one available, so I offered him the second car at the published price. Through conversation, he established the first car was booked for an afternoon wedding and then informed me his wedding was at 10 o'clock in the morning. He went on to say his wedding would involve very little travelling and I could get away promptly which would enable me…
St Albans Wedding Fair
Monday 22nd April 2013
We took two cars to the St Albans wedding fair yesterday. Sadly we were delayed by a council jobsworth at the outset, and missed the initial rush of people who were waiting for the doors to open at 11 o'clock. The council worker had been given a yellow high visibility jacket, which transformeded her into a power-crazed tyrant; someone then gave her a walkie talkie radio which flipped her over the edge and she was ready to invade Poland! Being a coward at heart, I chose the easy option of ignoring the rudeness and waiting patiently until she eventually deemed it appropriate for me to drive to our designated parking area. Once in place, we quickly festooned the cars with ribbons…
A colourful day
Sunday 14th April 2013
The blue car was in use this week at a wedding in Harpenden. The bride wanted a colourful theme to the day so she asked for the Austin to be decorated with red ribbons. The bridesmaids wore bright red and blue dresses and the bride's bouquet was yellow and orange. I understand they were going to use Clarice Cliff crockery at the reception to brighten things up. I hope there were no breakages! It was a fairly low-key wedding but it was cheerful, bright and great fun. Driving the blue car has encouraged me to promote it a little more energetically and I am tempted to take it along to the wedding fair next week. Did I mention the wedding fair? It's…
Blue is the colour
Monday 25th March 2013
I have been heartened by a recent resurgence of interest in the blue car. The poor thing has been languishing in its garage with seemingly little prospect of getting out on the road. Most people opt for the traditional ivory cars and dismiss the blue one out of hand, despite gentle encouragement from me to take pity on it. Last year it managed only three bookings and, until recently, it had only a single booking for 2013. However, last week brought another firm booking plus a request to view the car, which will hopefully lead to a booking. Perhaps tastes are changing and blue is the new ivory. Regardless of wedding bookings, I am determined to use the blue car more…
First wedding of 2013
Sunday 10th March 2013
After a long winter break, the cars are back in action, with our first wedding of 2013 taking place on Saturday. Sadly I wasn't able to drive because I have been laid low by sciatica and the constant pain is driving me mad. Luckily my son in law, Peter volunteered to drive and, although it was his first chauffeuring assignment, he made a superb job of it. At the start of the day, I must admit to an odd moment of anxiety, worrying in case the car played up or in case Peter got lost but all such concerns proved groundless as the day went without a hitch. At this rate I shall soon be out of a job! There is…
Take a card; any card
Sunday 20th January 2013
For a special occasion, such as your wedding, it is worth taking the time and trouble to get all of the details just right. Obviously the choice of wedding car is vitally important and, clearly, a vintage Austin is the choice of the most discerning brides. But it is also the little things where attention to detail and choosing something out of the ordinary, combine to make your wedding exceptional and memorable. Invitation cards may be amongst those little things but they do make a difference and, in the blog this week, I thought I would draw your attention to a new designer who creates personalised cards for weddings, birthdays, Valentines Day and any other occasion you care to mention.…
Happy Christmas!
Sunday 30th December 2012
Happy Christmas!! Sorry the festive greetings are a little late, but our telephone and broadband were out of commission last week, causing a blog-free Sunday for the first time this year. Due to a fault at the exchange, we inadvertently hijacked somebody else's phone number, whilst calls to our number went unanswered. I didn't mind acting as Mrs Nott's unofficial answering service for a while but it was a relief when normal service was finally resumed. Vintage cars and weddings are low priorities at this time of year (although I did notice that we had four visitors to the website on Christmas day). Bob the mechanic and I were amongst a small group which got together at the Swan in…
Happy Birthday Fred
Thursday 7th June 2012
My Dad is 96 today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! We shall take him for a pub lunch and then back to the care home to sleep it off! His great grand daughter will come over after her midday nap and say hello too. There has been a lot of negative publicity about care homes recently but there are shining examples of first class homes out there, and the Lime Tree Manor in Hemel Hempstead is one of them. The staff are caring, cheerful and friendly. I thinking of reserving a room there for my old age!
All's Well
Tuesday 5th June 2012
Another busy weekend. A gorgeous sunny day and a wedding at our local village Church. One of the delights of my job is meeting such a wide variety of people, all of whom are friendly and happy. Saturday's customers were no exception. In fact they were particularly good company and I really enjoyed chatting to them and their guests. A good day all round. I was approached by one of the guests who asked if I would take a booking outside of our area. I will stretch a point if the customers seem to be nice people. But this wedding was in central London and although the bride was really pleasant and I didn't like to disappoint her,…
Royal wedding
Monday 30th April 2012
Did you watch the royal wedding yesterday? Silly question really; how could you not have seen it? Everyone will have their memories of the day; the crowds, the pageantry, the dress, the celebrity guests etc etc. The thing that struck me most was how bland the bride's car was. The Rolls Royce did glide smoothly along but where was the character? Where was the wow factor? A vintage Austin would have given them a more bumpy ride but it would have been fun and it would have brought a smile to the faces of the viewers. I suppose I am biased but I think they missed a trick.
Back from the show
Sunday 22nd April 2012
Just back from the wedding exhibition at St Albans. It started slowly but things picked up later and we had quite a lot of interest as well as one firm booking. It is always a pleasure to show off the cars so I was happy to encourage people to sit inside and chat about their wedding plans. Some were very keen and I'm sure we shall get several bookings in due course. Others admired the cars but were never going to become customers because their weddings are taking place so far away. The furthest away was Ireland, closely followed by one in South Wales. I would have to set out three days in advance if I was to take an…
Back to work
Monday 9th April 2012
Easter has arrived and it marks the beginning of the 2012 wedding season at Heritage Classic Cars. One car was out on Sunday; a wedding at the Auberge du Lac. A Michelin starred restaurant nestling in the picturesque grounds of Brocket Hall near Wheathampstead. This is a gorgeous setting and perfect for photographs with the lake and the big house sitting in the middle of the rural Hertfordshire countryside. I offered to take the bride and groom for a spin around the estate's roads so they could stop for photographs. Sadly the photographer wasn't impressed and my suggestion was dismissed out of hand; she wanted to use golf buggies instead of a vintage car! Strange choice, but she was an…