Get me to the Church on Time
Oh the adventure
Now many things on a wedding day can be unpredictable, but there’s nothing quite like transport that can really put a spanner in the works.
Ohh the stories I can tell! Now if you do have a Wedding Planner then listen to their advice, if not then please ask in the forums for recommendations. It shouldn’t be a difficult decision, whether you put your hands in your pocket a little deeper for the reputable company you’ve had recommended. Or you spend fifty euros less and end up with an old minibus from a friend of the local barman rather than the luxury wheels you were promised. It’s not worth the risk.
One of my worst experiences as a Wedding Planner (you like reading about these right?!) was when clients of ours decided not to go with either of the companies we had recommended, they said the quotes we had found were too expensive and they had found their own alternative company, and booked all the minibuses for the day.
Now picture this, a very hot summers day at Senhora Da Rocha (which is a beautiful clifftop with no shade but a wonderful view), the couple have gone off for their pictures, it’s one hour after the ceremony and little old me has 140 sweaty and uncomfortable guests giving me the death stare, wondering why I still haven’t got coaches there to whisk them off to the luxury villa for the champagne reception as they’d all kill for a canapé, another thirty minutes and I feel they might take a bite out of me.
Of course I called the contact number the newlyweds had given me, again and again, and again, and again…
When I finally got through to someone the lady said “Oh that wedding, well we gave the couple two quotes, one with the return journey and one just the single trip to Senhora Da Rocha and they went with the cheaper option. Sorry we have nothing booked for them”
Haha, and you thought being a Wedding Planner was a glamorous job right? You just walk around with a headset on and watch the magic unfold. Jennifer Lopez sold you the airbrushed filtered job role don’t be fooled.
By chance this was the one day I’d asked Jane to swap locations with me so I could see the ceremony, ohh I was very envious of her doing the set up back at the villa believe me! The best the transport company could do was send me two coaches so I still had a lot of people on my hands, I called every taxi company in the area and asked them to send all available vehicles.
Now I didn’t mention the location of the villa did I? It’s the most beautiful, secluded, river side villa, which of course can only be accessed down a bumpy dirt track with very tight bends, the large coaches couldn’t get anywhere near to it. This meant Jane had to be on standby at the villa with her trusty Ford Fiesta to shuttle guests up and down, not the most glamorous of entrances but we got everyone there.
Do learn from us, if you’re going to be taking your car to a wedding always get it valeted first, you never know who might be climbing in there.
That’s a lesson that if you plan things well you’ll have a smooth ride on the day. But even with all the preparation in the world there are some things you have no control over.
I remember another day on the way to a wedding with my right hand decor girl, when a car crashed into the back of our vehicle at a roundabout. The driver was looking the wrong way and thought I’d already crossed to the exit, but sadly for him I drive a Land Rover and not a Ferrari so speed isn’t our forté. Luckily I had so much decor in the jeep that day, that I’d done an extra special Tetris packing job and the stuff in there hardly moved. I prayed and prayed and when we got to Os Agostos was relieved to see luck was on our side and the only damage was to one tea light that didn’t survive the collision.
Another memorable day in the jeep I was in my usual happy fairy mode, travelling down the motorway to a wedding set up when I got a puncture. I’m ashamed to admit I can’t change a tyre, one of my failings I know but nobody’s perfect. Of course I always have a Plan B, my assistant flew down the motorway in her trusty little orange car and we did a little Chuckle Brothers to me to you on the hard shoulder to ensure everything got to Carvoeiro and set up on time. These stories hopefully don’t worry you, they should just emphasise that if you hire professionals, no matter what challenges they face they will jump over all obstacles to ensure they deliver a top class service. It probably also emphasises I’m pretty unlucky around vehicles but don’t worry I have plan C’S D’S E’s…so I have all bases covered ha!
Bearing that in mind an important tip for you is to have a back up driver/car if you’re doing the drive to the ceremony or venue with family and friends. Also if this is the case, try not to choose the driver as someone who is really close to you, if they have to move the car mid ceremony (often the case if outside a church as parking can be a nightmare) then they’ll miss a chunk of the ceremony.
At a recent wedding I did decor for it was the Priest himself that couldn’t get near the Church, he got stuck in a huge traffic queue due to a serious crash and was almost an hour away with time ticking. The Wedding Planner calmly told me she’d called all the local Priests and had three making their way there from different parts of the Algarve, to ensure all went ahead on time. It did, and it was fabulous.
That my dears is what you pay for when you get a Wedding Planner, if they do a good job you won’t know all the small mishaps that go on behind the scenes. Even on the most perfect of wedding days it’s likely there have been a few tiny bumps in the road. If you don’t have a Planner, then of course you will not only know about the mishaps you may have the pleasure of witnessing them too, but look on the bright side, they will be funny stories to tell the grandkids, or to tell the world if you send them on to me I’m always open to new blog material.
Top Tip
Algarve Classic Cars are a fabulous company to work with, Luis has been chauffeuring newlyweds around for years. Then of course the other beauty pictured up there is Bluebell the VW camper, definitely one to be booked by the boho brides!
