Many aspects of everyday life are related to culture including the most special day of your life ‘Your wedding day’. Providing the right wedding transport to meet cultural requirements is important. Many brides and grooms would love to marry in the tradition of their parents, follow the customs or at least introduce elements of a traditional wedding ceremony from their cultural backgrounds. These elements can be the venue, decorations, food, clothes & even the wedding vehicle. For example, the Indian culture like to have the most extravagant cars (preferably White in colour) such as the Rolls Royce Phantom as the groom’s arrival in particular can be most significant. In the Sikh culture, it is also possible for the Groom to arrive at the wedding on a horse.
Types of cultures, wedding traditions and customs
The Chinese wedding date is picked carefully according to astrological signs and birthdates, and the ceremony begins on the half hour to cement the couple’s good fortune. During the Greek reception, as the newlyweds dance, guests pin money onto the bride. After the celebration, dishes are smashed on the floor with choruses of “opa” for good luck! At a Scottish wedding as the bride walks out of the church, traditionally a toddler would hand a horseshoe to the bride for good luck, and the bride and groom would then scatter coins for the assembled children to collect, so that their kindness would be returned to them throughout their marriage.
Prior to a Turkish wedding, the respective families buy furniture and household goods for the young couple. Guests on the other hand would shower the bride, literally, with banknotes and coins. The Turkish community in London also tend to favour the Beauford style wedding car.On the day of a Sikh wedding, a ceremony called Sehra Bandi is performed by immediate family members of the groom at his home. Sehra (a heavy embroidery veil) is fixed onto the groom’s head which is then tied on to the turban. This moment is quite sentimental for the groom’s parents and sister as he becomes a mature and responsible man entering his new life.
A Hindu wedding day
The ceremonies are very colourful, and celebrations may extend for several days. On the day of the actual religious wedding it can be an early start when the groom is picked from his home and travels to the wedding venue in his modern wedding car, typically a Rolls Royce Phantom or a Bentley. The bride is already at the wedding venue ready & waiting for her husband to be, she may have chosen to travel in a ‘prettier’ car, most likely a vintage model or a Beauford. Guests will take great notice of the Groom’s wedding car as he arrives, singing & dancing will take place as the Groom is met at the entrance by the Bride’s mother where a small ceremony takes place which welcomes him. The groom is then taken to the Mandap, a platform structure with pillars, set up for religious ceremonies where another small ceremony takes place with the parents of the Bride & Groom.
The bride arrives and then the main wedding ceremony takes place which has several parts to it. After the ceremony, the married couple receive blessings from their family members who then say farewell to the Bride as she will be going away to the Groom’s house. A small ceremony will take place as the Bride gets into the wedding car, again with guests paying much interest to the car. When the married couple arrive to the groom’s house there is a small ceremony to welcome the Bride into the house & family. Many Hindu weddings then go onto celebrating at the evening wedding reception, this can be a very long day! Typically, the wedding car is hired out for the whole day & plays a very important role.
A traditional Christian wedding day
The Bride is excited but quietly nervous while getting ready & waiting for her Bridesmaid’s. The wedding car(s) arrive which could be anything from a traditional vintage or classic Rolls Royce for the Bride & her Father although a more quirky or American style of car is becoming increasingly popular. Among the more quirky type of vehicles are the VW Campervans, vintage Buses etc.
There is often a requirement for transporting the Bridesmaid’s and family, typically a larger car such as a Daimler or Austin Princess could be used.
The Groom, best man and ushers arrive at the ceremony earlier to welcome guests and ensure they have the ring!! Bridesmaids arrive at the ceremony, shortly after followed by the bride and her father just in time for the ceremony to begins After the ceremony, it is confetti & photo time and often the wedding car will be an integral part of the photo session.
If the wedding party is of a large number then a single or double deck Bus may be used, this is a convenient, practical and fun mode of transport for other family members and guests to travel to and from the wedding venue. The classic Routemaster is the most popular Bus used although there are some other stunning old Buses.
Increasingly, more weddings take place at ‘all in one’ venues as opposed to a church as the venue can also cater for the post wedding reception. Often there may be a requirement for late evening transport which is more suited to a modern car for the Bride & Groom or a more modern style coach for guests although the older Buses can sometimes cater for this if its not too late.
Multicultural Weddings
Regardless of your cultural or religious differences, it’s possible to throw a wedding that equally represents both of you. Often it is necessary to have two separate weddings where individual cultural traditions & customs are implemented. With having two separate weddings, two different styles of wedding cars can be arranged which are suitable to the traditional requirement’s.