Classic and vintage buses are the most popular mode of wedding transport and therefore booking as far in advance as possible is definitely a good idea to ensure that (a) you have a bus secured in the first place and (b) that you have the type/style of bus that you need.
BOOKING A WEDDING BUS
On average we are taking bookings for vintage and classic
buses a year in advance of the wedding date although in some cases it is 18
months to two years.
Traditionally many people will try to to book their wedding
transport early in the year they are getting married, for example they may look to book in January or February if they are getting married that Summer.
However, the first two months of the year are always the busiest in terms or
people enquiring and booking wedding vehicles and so there is a chance that your first choice bus may not be available or worse still that you really
struggle to get a bus at all if it is left too late.
Although we do have a huge range of vintage and classic
buses around the country, they are so popular that if you did not try and book until say just a couple of months before the wedding there is every chance that there may not be availability for exactly what you require.
Booking well in advance means that not only have you managed to secure the type and style of bus that you prefer but also you can rest easy that transport for your wedding guests is all sorted meaning that you can now focus on everything else that comes with a wedding!
DIFFERENT TYPES OF BUSES
Basically, buses or indeed coaches can be split into three
categories; vintage buses (or coaches), classic and modern. Not everybody though knows the
distinction between vintage and classic and sometimes these categories do
overlap somewhat.
For example, the traditional Red London Buses aka the
Routemasters are generally quite well known and recognised and people will refer to them as vintage or classic buses. There are also a range of
other double deck buses in varying colours that are great alternatives to a
Routemaster and in many cases a more preferred option as are the quaint single deck buses which really do fall into the vintage category.
Most of the time a person will have an image in their mind of what they are trying to book and the way that we categorise buses when we are discussing requirements with a client as well as our expertise in these matters hopefully helps.
CLASSIC LONDON BUS – THE ROUTEMASTER
If you are not a connoisseur of buses then think of a double
deck Red London Bus and that will be a Routemaster. These are the most
popular and sought after wedding buses, not just in London but throughout the country probably as they are such an iconic British vehicle.
The Routemasters tend to take numbers from 56 – 72 passengers and the vast majority will have no standing capacity for insurance purposes, it is rare that 72 seats is not enough for a wedding unless there are a lot more passengers in which case more than one bus would be needed.
CLASSIC BUSES
As well as the Routemasters there are a range of other beautiful classic buses for wedding hire. Makes such as Leyland, Bristol and Bedford to name but a few mean that there is a really wide choice of buses out there in a variety of colours and capacity sizes.
VINTAGE SINGLE DECK BUSES & COACHES
If your preferred option is a single deck vintage bus then you are looking at something completely different from the Routemasters and classic buses.
The vintage single deckers first of all will take less passengers, anything from 8 – 49 with 28-29 passengers being a very common number/capacity size.
These types of buses are viewed as quaint, pretty buses and
with smaller numbers of guests on board they can be more intimate but often it
is purely the look and variety of colours of the buses that is most attractive,
again you can book multiple buses should you need to
Another massive advantage the single deckers have is their accessibility to places that the larger buses may not be able to get to. For example, if you are getting married in the countryside where there may be low tree branches, narrow roads or bridges then a single deck bus may be the obvious choice for you.
MODERN COACHES
Modern executive coaches are not necessarily a more cost effective option (perhaps slightly) but they can be more convenient and have the advantage of luxury, i.e. heating and air conditioning. Where the modern coaches are really useful is for late night collections. Due to the nature of the vehicles the vast majority of classic and vintage buses will not come out in the late evening, a modern coach is much more suitable.
