We will be more than happy to serve chilled champagne to the Bride & Groom for a celebratory toast on the trip between the ceremony and reception venues. Should you wish this additional service it can be requested on the reservation form or if you have already made your booking please let us know well in advance of your wedding day.
Please note that some vehicle owners/chauffeurs with very rare or very high value interior furnishings may not permit champagne and/or any other drinks to be consumed when inside the vehicle because of possible spillage/damage. Regretfully this decision had to be made due to some earlier unfortunate mishaps and we feel sure the client will understand. Plain mineral water is usually the exception.
If the vehicle you choose falls into this category whereby drinks are not permitted to be consumed inside the vehicle the chauffeur will be happy to make a stop en-route not only for additional photographic opportunities but this will also afford the ability to enjoy the champagne when outside of the vehicle.
Regretfully not – We are not licenced to provide and/or purchase any type of Alcohol even for Free. It will constitute a breach of the UK Law Licencing Act. As a professional wedding car hire company and for the protection of many hundreds of couples who book our services we are unable to buy, sell or give champagne free or any other type of alcohol to those making a booking.
The good news is, although we are unable to provide the champagne [even if free] the law will allow wedding car companies to serve champagne provided by you, the client.
As per the Alcohol Licencing Act, the provision of alcohol is subject to UK licensing laws as such wedding car companies are not allowed by law to provide alcohol unless they have a special licence. Even if a wedding car company provides champagne on a complimentary basis, in other words ‘Free’, a special licence is still required as the law considers it as an ‘indirect sale’. Any person found guilty is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months and/or a fine not exceeding twenty thousand pounds.
Naturally a professional wedding car company would not wish to risk a fine or imprisonment and that is why many can no longer legally provide this additional service.
Not unless the company you are booking holds a UK Licence to provide alcohol. The companies which are more likely to hold this Specific Licence are ‘Private Hire’ car companies who have Stretched Limousines, Hummers with onboard bars as they are likely to hire their stretched limousines for other types of events such as Stag and Hen Parties, Birthdays, Airport trips etc … .
Your Chauffeur will be more than happy to open it for you when the Happy Couple are seated in the car after the ceremony. All you need to do is have this ready for the chauffeur to collect on his arrival at the collection address, he will then ensure it is safely stowed in the car before the first passengers board. In some ways this situation is much better for the client as the client can purchase the exact brand they prefer rather than relying on a wedding car company to provide it, which may be a lower cost un-chilled free ‘Bubbly’, or the same ‘bubbly’ provided but charged at champagne prices. ‘Bubbly’ as we all know is not Champagne. .
Should you wish to provide your own chilled champagne for the celebratory toast please let us know in advance. You will also have to ascertain whether the chauffeur of the vehicle you choose can provide glasses and a cool box otherwise you may also need to provide these. You can tell us nearer the time when we go through the itinerary details with you one last time. Please note that pink champagnes and other tinted wines may not be acceptable due to the possibility of accidental spillage and staining. Best always check before you purchase it.
It goes without saying, you should never decide to book a car just because the company says it will provide free champagne. It is against the law, and the authorities are now cracking down hard on this and without the appropriate liquor licence that company could well be forced out of business due to the very heavy fine or imprisonment, or worse because of this leaving you with no car by the time your wedding day approaches and no way of recovering your payment. Always choose a professional wedding car company that abides by the law. Whether or not Champagne is legally provided by the wedding car company or you choose to provide the champagne for the car journey yourself, we are sure there will also be plenty of champagne nicely chilling at the reception venue awaiting the arrival of the happy couple.
