In what was perhaps one of the most popular posts I made in this blog, I mentioned the hiring of wedding cars. Specifically, one amazingly gorgeous car and one simpler, air-conditioned car. Well, now that we're post-wedding, I feel totally okay revealing the make and models of the cars involved. I'll also quickly review the company we used, just in case anyone was looking for recommendations/suggestions on where to go (or perhaps just doing some pre-planning).

VIV'S CAR

I rode around in a small, ordinary Holden Caprice. It was perhaps a bit too small for the 4 of us that needed to go into it, but it was fine because we were driving relatively short distances anyway. My sole complaint was that the driver didn't exactly blast the air conditioning as I'd hoped; the ride was often a bit too warm and sweaty for my liking, and it'd only just cool down as we were arriving at our next destination. I get that you don't want to kill the car by running the air conditioning when we're not in it, but man, at least blast me with it once I do get in from the heat!

I can't really comment on the cleanliness or condition of the car because I honestly didn't care that much, so I didn't look very closely. It seemed clean enough and didn't smell funky or stain my dress, so I think we're okay there.

Our driver, a lady, was super nice and I had a nice chat with her in the downtime before the ceremony. I reckon she was having a pretty cruisey day given that we only really drive from the Swan Valley down to Lilac Hill (Guildford) and back again, so that would certainly explain her good mood. She also remarked that I was one of the most relaxed brides she'd ever met, which was probably the highest compliment she could've given me that day, so that of course endeared me to her.

BLAKE'S CAR

Blake's car was a 1951 Jaguar Mk5 Convertible. I didn't ride in it except to sit in it for photos, but it was most certainly a beautiful car. I declined to ride in it at all because, well, I didn't want to mess up my hair even more than the wind already had and I wanted to be in air conditioning. The leather was pretty darn hot when it was parked in the sunlight, but Blake and the boys seemed to have a heap of fun riding in it - at least that's what I saw as we were riding behind them on our way to our next photo spot. They probably wouldn't have felt the heat at all that day while the car was moving.

Blake didn't have any remarks to make about their driver, which usually means he did a fine job. (I would've heard about it if their driver was a dickhead or something.)

THE COMPANY

The company from which we hired the cars was Belle Classic Limousine. There are a couple of other car hire places that also carry similarly beautiful cars, but be forewarned - at least 3 of them are actually the same company with different trading names/brands/websites. We chose Belle predominantly because they gave us what suited our budget best, and also because they are based in Guildford (near our house and also near the hotel where I'd stayed the night before).

Their initial quotes were similar to those I got from the other companies I approached about car hire, but John (the owner, I presume, of Belle) was by far the most flexible. He was really reassuring on the phone that we may be able to work something out, and I think he was genuinely surprised that *I* (the bride) wasn't going to be the one riding around in the pretty car. He came back with an option that ticked all our boxes (including my "nothing extravagant" box) and, well, we just couldn't say no at that point.

I will admit that I am reviewing Belle favorably in large part because we were able to get Blake what he wanted for the wedding, at a price that didn't completely wreck my carefully constructed budget. That alone would earn a good review, but we also got great service and drivers that were flexible, polite, and arrived on time. All communications - phone and E-mail - were responsive and when I went through the day's runsheet with John, he reassured me that I wasn't asking for anything beyond their ability to deliver. And deliver they did!