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BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Weddings are one of the most popular industries where limousine service is a neccessity. Its very uncommon for a bride to ride to the church in the back seat of her moms Subaru. In most Weddings the Bride always arrives in a limo. Sometimes the guys will get their own ride to the church because nobody would be there to even see them when they arrive anyways. That is because the guys are supposed to be at the Church a minimum of 45 minutes early. Usually an hour early. After the ceremony, the limousine will usually take the wedding party to a local park for pictures. That last about an hour. After that, the limousine will take the wedding party to the reception. Many weddings will have 200-500 guest and depending on where most people are from, they will also need shuttle service to take the people to and from the reception from a local area hotel. 99% of Weddings are on a Saturday between 12 Noon and 630PM and cost approximatly $1000.00 - $1500.00 for their limousine transportation.

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Celebrity Limousine outbeat 500 companies and was picked Best Limo Service 2011 by the brides of The Knot Magazine.

PROS AND CONS

The Pro about a wedding is that a chauffeur usually makes more on a wedding than a night out. Also, right after the wedding i over, most companies will double the chauffeur down and give him a second wedding and/or send him straight to a night on the town. Weddings can also be a lot of fun to drive. All the girls are dressed up with their new makeover looking beautiful, the guys are together, having fun and have been drinking since 10AM and the girls are looking beautiful. Oh yeah, I just said that. The con is, if you are not on your A GAME, a simple error could really ruin a bride’s day. Only the BEST chauffeurs in a limousine company will have the privilege of chauffeuring a wedding.

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Smiles can be turned to tears and a large group of angry people real quick, if you ruin someones wedding.

THE LIABILITY OF CHAUFFEURING A WEDDING

Business meetings are important. Birthdays can be duplicated. A airline flight can be missed and another one can be booked within 2 hours. A Wedding cannot be rescheduled, re-done and it is a once in a lifetime event. Unless, of course, you have to divorce your wife because she doesn't like it when you go fishing with your buds. When chauffeuring a wedding, put a little more effort in. Go the extra mile. Your performance will be photographed all day and you will be on someone’s video/ DVD for the rest of their life. Your actions will be evaluated and reviewed. You will make new friends or gain new enemies. Bottom line = Know your job. Do it well. If you do, Weddings will be the next great thing to your Saturday afternoons. If you don't, well, your career at your current limo service might be over a little sooner than you thought.

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Neatly roll up your red carpet and place it somewhere in the limo that is out of the way and neat. Don't forget your champagne and (2) champagne glasses.

PREPARING

Your limo should be extra clean on a wedding. We will hit that point next. For now, prep up your limo accordingly.

#1, you will need your red carpet. We will talk about how to roll out a red carpet in the section below labeled ARRIVING THE CHURCH.

#2, you will need your chilled bottle of champagne and 2 glasses. Most limousine services will have glasses in stock for you and the champagne is usually the driver’s responsibility for you to buy and you can take the money out of the balance you collect at the pick up as an authorized expense. Here at Celebrity Limousine we require our chauffeurs to bring their own 2 champagne glasses. Here at Celebrity Limousine, we also offer a small bottle of Moet Champagne on most for our Weddings. We are the only limousine service in New England that offers Moet "complimentary". We have been voted # 1 over 25 times now. Our quality of champagne is just one of those reasons. Read our critics reviews here.

Other than the above two points, follwo your normal PRE TRIP GUIDELINES.

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Cleaning crews don't always do THE BEST job cleaning your limo before your trip. So, guess who might have to do a little extra labor?

CLEANLINESS

99% of Weddings are during the day. The sun will be shinning and guess where its beams will be shinning the most.... your limousine. So make sure it is absolutely spotless. Most limousine companies have their own detail crew that will clean your limousine for you. However, what do you do if you arrive your limo office and your limo is not is satisfactory condition? Well, you can put in a complaint with management, however, you still need it cleaned ASAP. Bottom line = Have a system down pat. Me, I used to always pull my limo forward by 25 feet, turn on all interior lights, open all doors and the trunk, set the radio tuning and pre-sets, blast the volume and then start inspecting the whole interior. If the interior bars are not cleaned to my satisfactory, which was always higher than the detail crews, it would take me 60 seconds to wipe the bars down, 2 minutes to do my windows for fingerprints, 2 minutes to do the brake dust on the tires and 2 minutes to spray and wipe the exterior if it wasn't obviously, a real mess. It became normality to bring my limo up to my own standard every single time a chauffeured a limo. My standards have always been high and when you are chauffeuring a wedding, you should be too. At the end of the day, mentally speaking, if you show up and your limo is filthy, "you" look unprofessional. After all, this school is for you, so don't just listen to my advice. Follow it.

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Say hello to Ray. Ray is the CEO of New England Bounces and a chauffeur for Celebrity Limousine. Ray knows how to dress like a professional chauffeur.

PROPER DRESS

When chauffeuring a Wedding, most companies will expect you to wear a black tuxedo, patent leather shoes, a tuxedo shirt and a bow tie. Here at Celebrity Limousine, our dress code is still jet black, however on a Wedding, it changes a little. The only change is that it is mandatory to wear a black button down shirt and a black tie with your black neatly pressed wool suit. Patent leather shoes look the best and a simple spray with pledge and your 4 year old shoes look in showroom condition all over again. On your wedding runs, look the part. It is a formal event, everyone will be in tuxedos and gowns. Look sharp. Iron your suit. Throw some cologne on. Pretend its your moms bday.

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Don't just be ON TIME for a Wedding. Be minimum 15 minutes early. No exceptions.

ON TIME

Don't just BE ON TIME. That's booooooring. Be in your driveway 15 minutes early. Sometimes your client’s clocks are off by 5-10 minutes. So in their eyes, your actually only 5-10 minutes early. If you want to be really impressive, be 30 minutes early. Just don't do what one of my chauffeurs did a long time ago. I won't say his name but I called him Dennis. Oh shit, i just revealed his name. Anyways, he showed up at a single ladies home, she was about 45 years old, and he parked in her driveway at 3AM for a 530AM pick up. He basically thought he was doing good because he was early. The bad thing is, he scared the hell out of her in his black car and she called 911. On a Wedding Day, show up early. Not an hour. A half hour is good. 15 minutes is perfect.

Again, Celebrity Limousine, voted BEST LIMO SERVICE over 25 times, has an ON TIME OR FREE guarantee that we honor when we put it on our Wedding reservations. If we are 30 seconds late, we give the client a full refund of the reservation in a gift certificate or cash back depending on the reservation.

There is no excuse when a limousine is late for a Wedding. As the President of Celebrity Limousine, I feel that some drivers know how to handle their time management and some don't. Some are always late and some are never late. You either know how to prioritize or your brain is too little and you can figure out the math.

Bottom line = If you know how to manage your time, chauffeur brides on their special day. Otherwise, don't ruin their special day.

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Most Weddings have the same basic structure.
Some may be funny, some cold, some romatic, however, they all have the same structure.

THE BASIC WEDDING TRIP

1. Pick up the dudes and take them to the ceremony one hour early.

2. Pick up the ladies and take them to the ceremony.

3. Take the whole wedding party together to wherever the pictures are going to be taken at.

4. Drop everyone off at the reception.

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Make sure to park in a spot, the best you can, that is photogenic for the bride and the photographer.

ARRIVING THE PICK UP FOR THE BRIDE

PARKING
Upon arrival of the bride house, park in the best spot possible. Remember, when she does come out, she will have the paparazzi following her, so don't park next to her trash cans or down the street 100 feet.

INTRODUCING YOURSELF
Walk up to the main door and knock on it. If you’re at a major hotel, go up to the main desk and tell the receptionist that you are here for the Tom Cruise/ Katie Holmes Wedding. The receptionist will then page the room and let the bride know. 99.99% of the time, the bride will be getting ready or she will be in the front of her hired photographer. Your closest access to her will probably be her maid of honor, mom or dad. (So no flirting with her)

HELP LOAD THE LIMO
One time I chauffeured a limo with another limo from another company. The other driver got out of his car and stood there. He never once walked up to the main door. A chauffeur is a servant. Walk up to your clients and offer your "service". Ask them if they would like for you to load the limo up with anything. Brides will often want you to carry the flowers to the limo along with coolers, bags, purses, cameras, food, alcohol and more.

REVIEWING YOUR PAPERWORK
As far as going over your paperwork, your finances and the itinerary on your job, follow the basic guidelines as found in the section DURING YOUR TRIP. The only difference is you will need to communicate with whoever is in charge of the contract terms on your reservation about your "limo must be cleared by" time and a few questions about your itinerary.

LIMO MIST BE CLEARED BY
On most limo company reservations there is a time that states what time the clients can have the limo until. On a Saturday night, most limousines will be re-booked around 7 or 8 PM, so you must inform your clients that there is a very special little spot on their contract that says, "LIMO MUST BE CLEARED BY..."

If you don't, then they will forget about this clause and they will take their sweet old time at the Ceremony and while taking their pictures at the park. By the time you get to your final drop -off at the reception it will be too late and you will guaranteed be late for your next trip.

A professional chauffeur does not just drive people around to their destinations like a tool. A tool is a non-human device that needs someone to operate it. Like a screw driver. You are a hired and trained servant who communicates with his clients about OVERITIME PENALTIES and CLEAR TIMES and ROUTES and DIRECT ORDERS and SPECIAL REQUEST.

This is a huge problem in the limousine industry. Chauffeurs do not communicate with their clients.

I do not care how busy the day is and how busy your clients are, if you work for me, and you put my limousine into drive and do not go over your full itinerary, times, rates, and reservation information with my clients first, you will be fired.

Showing up late for your next trip could result in your clients missing their cruise ship out of Boston, their concert, VIP at their club etc...

Before departure, you make your clients initial your contract right where it states "Limo must be cleared by 6PM".

Maybe you think this point is still not as extreme as I am making it. As a chauffeur, I have literally left my clients behind at the park where they were doing their pictures because they would not leave the park after several warnings. I promise you, if your next pick up is VIP CLIENTS of mine, you have a LIMO MUST BE CLEARED TIME on your contract and your clients will not leave their destination to head to their final destination, take one guess who will not be arriving their reception in "my limo"...

SET UP THE AMBIANCE' IN THE LIMO
This is not a night out with a bunch of people in a limo heading to a strip club. This is some bride’s special day that she has been waiting for 25 years!!!! For her husband, he just wants to get back home to finish playing Call of Duty. For her though, set up the ambiance in the limo and make it perfect. Ask the bridal party if they have any of her favorite CD's that she would like to have playing. If it's cold out, get that A/C cranking. Keep the doors closed and windows up. If it cold out, warm that back up. Make sure your champagne looks perfect over the ice. Make sure the interior of the limo looks perfect.

ASSISTING THE BRIDE
When the bride is ready to walk to the car, her bridesmaids or maid of honor usually help her with her dress. You should offer your assistance. Help her get into the limo very carefully. Her train should never go anywhere near the ground or your tires. Either one of those two areas touches her dress and her dress could get stained for life. Once she gets into the vehicle assist in helping her properly place the dress so she does not wrinkle it. Once she is situated in, she usually does not move until she gets to the ceremony.

COMMUNICATE WITH THE OTHER WEDDING SERVICE PROVIDERS
Stay in full communication with the photographer, the wedding planner, the videographer and anyone else helping the Bride get through her day. No, I’m not saying go get buddy buddy with her shrink. I’m saying, if she has a hired photographer, videographer and/or wedding planner who will be in your face all day, work with them from the start. Work as a team. You all have special jobs. Exchange cell phone numbers, follow each other on the road. Work together. This will help you help the bride as her personal chauffeur.

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Arrive the ceremony with your hazard lights on, unless, of course, your ceremonny is in the back of your limo.

ARRIVING THE CEREMONY

You are a quarter mile away, the Church is approaching, your hazard lights are blinking and you are creeping up at a very, very slow speed because you are driving the world's most popular girl on the best day of her life. You look for the stairs because you know she will be walking up them so you park the rear of your limo door in the exact center of the steps. You stop.

SLOW THINGS DOWN
Immediately walk to the back of the door and tell the bride to hange tight just for a few minutes and that you are going to talk to the guys and the photographer and make sure everyone is all set for her to get out of the car. Then explain to her, the next step is to take some formal pictures on the red carpet of Dad helping her out. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO SLOW THINGS DOWN. You are a part of a very big formal event that has been in the planning for a very long time.

GATHER THE CREW
You close her door. It’s now time to find the Wedding Planner, the Photographer, the Videographer and the most important man of the hour, DAD. Do not just let her out of the car and into the Church. We out-beat 550 companies this year and won BEST of Weddings by The Knot Magazine because we know what we are doing. This is our game. I have done over 10,000 successful weddings and am sold out almost every single Saturday from Spring to Fall. Dad and the paparazzi will not be hard to find. Believe me. It's 2PM. It's Showtime baby. Let’s do it.

READY? LETS GO
Your soldiers are at the back door. Cameras are rolling and you open the door. The very first thing you want to do is let everyone out except the bride. So explain to the crew, "Ladies, Can have your attention please? The first thing we are going to do is let you all out. Once you are out, I am then going to put down the red carpet for the bride and we can begin." To re-read what the proper way is to assist ladies in getting out of a limo see the Chauffeur Guidelines in the section. DURING TRIP - Part II.

ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET
The bridesmaids are all out. Dad is outside by the back door. I then tell the bride, "I am going to go pop the trunk and I'll be right out to put the red carpet down." I then quickly walk to the front of my limo and pop the trunk. Then I walk very quickly back to the trunk, pull out the red carpet and I walk over to her door. If you’re wondering, why I didn’t' pop the trunk earlier and save myself the trip, the reason is because while letting the bridesmaids out, most of the time there is 10 cameras going off. The limousine does not look classy in photo-shoots with the trunk open, so that is why I pop the trunk and its only open for 10 seconds.

Watch the video to see the proper way to roll out a red carpet. Play Now

Once you are done rolling out the red carpet, tell Dad to come over and hold her hand as she gets out. When Dad does this the photographer will then make them pause and he/she will take a few photo shots.

HOLDING HER DRESS
Once the bride gets out and is ready to walk toward the Church, you should then offer to help her with her dress. If she says to you, "My maid of honor said she would help me then you should very quickly say, "If you would like her to that is OK with me, but she is supposed to be in front of you at the beginning of the aisle waiting for you to come down. When you get there, it is her job is to do your dress. You don't want her walking behind you, that’s your chauffeur’s job."

WALKING HER INSIDE
I know what you’re thinking already. You’re getting nervous. You don’t want to be inside the Church because he professional chauffeur never leaves his car unattended. :) Nice try. You will be nervous at first, but trust me, you will get over it. If this helps you out, "Everyone" will be looking at the bride, not you.

When you get her inside, she will be very nervous. Do not talk to her. Let her talk to her Dad or whoever is giving her away. She does not want you flirting with her or telling her jokes. You should also make sure that she is not in sight of any of her guest. She should be out of sight when the Church doors open.

FLUFFING OUT HER DRESS
Once the music begins, the bridesmaids start to walk. Then the music will usually stop and the doors close when the last bridesmaid walks. When the music changes to the famous "Da da da da.....” that is the key for the doors to open and the bride to walk. At this point, she should be standing in the middle of the doors with Dad to her left. You should be directly in back of her still holding her dress. Tell her as soon as she starts to walk, you will fluff the dress out as she moves forward. I usually will fluff her dress when she passes the first seat. As soon as I am done, I immediately merge into the crowd so I am not all over her videos and pictures.

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PREP YOUR LIMO AGIAIN
Once the ceremony begins I make a quick escape. I go back to my limo and no, I do not go for a coffee run. I stay right there on location and I re-clean my whole entire limo for a second time. Remember, when you are cleaning your interior do not just open the door and chill inside the limo. Keep your trunk open and both rear doors open. Unless it’s raining of course.

Start out by wiping down all your counters, emptying all the trash, fold your clients clothes, re-organize all their items and purses, pick up all the flower petals off the floor and then brush your floors clean. Re-look at your temperature settings, make sure your radio is set accordingly and make sure the exterior look is clean.

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Never leave your clients just because they are inside the Church for 45 minutes.

NEVER LEAVE THE CHURCH
Once the ceremony is over, the Church bell usually rings. Most ceremonies are 45 minutes long. Again, just because I stated the ceremony is going to be 45 minutes that doesn’t mean it will so "do not leave the Church". Stay on location. Sometimes ceremony services are quick.

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For a nice touch on your Champagne Toast, chill your glasses first.

PERFORMING A CHAMPAGNE TOAST
When the ceremony is over you should be by the back door of your limousine waiting for your clients to come out. You should be standing in a professional stance. Almost like you’re a marine at attention. Before my clients go inside I usually ask them if they would like to do the champagne toast right after the ceremony or wait until we go to the park where the pictures are going to be done. They usually say they prefer after the ceremony. It is important to ask because some churches get very offended when you are popping champagne or having open alcohol on church grounds.

To do a toast is pretty simple. 5 minutes before the toast I go inside my limo and grab the bottle of champagne out of the cooler. Do not forget to chill your bottle when you are prepping your limo before your job. I used to bring a small cooler and keep it up front with me. In it I not only had it filled with ice, but I would put my champagne glasses in the ice too and chill them. When the glasses are chilled in the ice it creates a nice frost around them that looks very classy when pouring the champagne.

To perform your champagne toast simply hand the bride her chilled champagne glass, then give one to the groom. Take your white cloth serving napkin as described in the Chauffeur Requirements section and place it around your arm, then open the bottle and pop the cork into the big blue sky. Pour the bride her champagne first, then the groom. Once you are done say "Congratulations from THE NAME OF YOUR LIMO COMPANY". The photographer will step in from here and assist in the posing of the bride and groom for some professional shots.

Just a few things to remember:

1. Some bottles are easy to open and some not. If you are not sure ask the Liquor Store you bought your champagne from or the person who gave it to you.

2. Never under the wire that holds the cork down until you are straight ready to pop the bottle.

3. Never point the bottle in any direction of another person. That would be a great way to take their eye straight out and yo momma would not be pleased.

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Most Weddings will go to a park after the ceremony to take professional pictures.

PICTURES
After the ceremony 99% of Weddings will go to a local park or a park on the way to the reception. In the winter or cold months most weddings will do the pictures inside the reception or at another place with enclosed doors. Whatever your situation is make sure to ask the clients right before you take off, where it is that they want to go. Often, clients change their minds. When you do arrive the place where you will be doing your pictures, you should remind the clients what time they are paid in full until. Do not surprise them and tell them after their pictures are done that they owe you an extra $250.00. Nobody wants a $250 surprise on their Wedding Day.

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Always wish your clients good luck and say good bye with a professional hand shake.

DROPPING OFF AT THE RECEPTION
When you arrive the reception hall, make sure follow a few things. Your job is almost over.

1. Help them out of the Limo.
2. Double check the whole entire limo very carefully. Clients often leave articles behind.
3. Review the financial status of your contract.
4. Collect your overtime charges if there are any.
5. Confirm with them whether or not they have a limo scheduled to pick them up at the end of the night. If they do, it should be recorded on your limo contract. If they say they have one scheduled but it doesn’t say so on your contract, call the office immediately. If you don't, the odds of leaving them stranded are very high.
6. Wish them good luck and shake their hand goodbye.
7. Send office a text that states you are cleared.

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Most Weddings will go to a park after the ceremony to take professional pictures.

BE ON POINT.
Previously (above) we talked about what time the limo "must be cleared by". Make sure that you have been managing your client’s time for them. If you don't and they end up at the park doing pictures for an extra hour, you will never make it to Newport and then get to your next pick up in Boston within the next 60 minutes. It’s all about TIME MANAGEMENT.

In some restaurants some waitresses can handle 5 tables and some 20. The ones who can handle 20, obviously, make the most. In this business, some chauffeurs can handle back to back jobs and some can't. If you want to get 2-4 limo runs in the same day, manage your time accordingly. If you don't you might ruin someone’s wedding and someone else’s night out.

Be ON POINT if you are going to chauffeur weddings. Prepare in advance. Communicate with your clients and don't just hope things go by smooth, make sure they do. You are the bride and grooms chauffeur. Their driver and their servant. Don't follow. Lead. You are in control.