Travel to & from your venue with all the romance of a bygone era…
- Each carriage does one wedding a day:
- Arriving in plenty of time to take the bridesmaids and the bride's mother to the church.
- Returning for the bride and her father leaving sufficient time for photographs of the wedding party.
- After the wedding party photographs the bride and groom are carried to the reception.
- Even if the reception venue is too far to travel by horse-drawn carriage, many couples just travel a few miles from the church by horse-drawn carriage, with the remainder of the journey being travelled by car.
- If your reception is at the same location as the ceremony, the bride and groom can take instead take a celebratory carriage drive instead.
- The Landau is an original 1885 Victorian Carriage in deep Balmoral green, with double leather black hoods that can be used open or closed. So is adaptable for all weather conditions, just in case the sun doesn't shine on your big day!
- Comfortably carries four people and is able to be at your location for up to four hours.
- A single or pair of bay horses accompanies each carriage.
- The horses and carriages will be dressed with white bows, but if you require bows to match the wedding outfits we will be happy to assist.
- Our horses travel approximately 6/7 miles an hour, so bear this in mind in regard to distance!
- The price of the carriage turnout depends on how far away your wedding location is from us and as a guide, prices start from £450.00.
- We drive our horses up to 10 -15 road miles from Englefield Green.
- Greater than 10 -15 miles & we will require the cost of lorry hire to be included.
- We are happy to go further if the client pays for transport, hotel fees for the two staff and stabling for the horses.
- If you wish to proceed with a booking, please telephone 01784 435983 to confirm date availability and book early to avoid disappointment.
- Once a completed booking form and deposit is received the carriage is booked for your special day! Our Wedding Carriage History: The Landau … over 100 years in Windsor! This carriage was built by Marsons of Birmingham in 1860. Bought new by Sir Daniel Gooch, Bart CE of Clewer Park, Windsor, who laid the first transatlantic telephone cable in July 1866, using Brunel's 'Great Eastern' for which he received his baronetcy. His son Sir Daniel Fulthorpe Gooch sold the Landau to Mr Chapman of Windsor in 1910, who first used it on the hackney carriage rank outside Windsor Central Station. The Victorian Grade II Railway Station was built in 1851 when the Great Western railway arrived in Windsor. The tradition continued with each new owner continuing to use it as a Hackney Carriage in Windsor. Mr Chapman sold the landau to Joby Copper of Windsor in the 1930's and after the Second World War it was sold to George Paget of Eton Wick (near Windsor) who once again used it on the hackney rank in Windsor. Finally, John Seear bought the Landau in 1986, who first rode in the carriage as a child with George Paget in 1949! In 1997 the new Central Windsor Station shopping development required the hackney carriage rank to move and is now found located on the High Street and Castle Hill Junction by the Queen Victoria Statue. In 1949 the fare to the "Copper Horse" and back was fifteen shillings…75p!! This was the start of the present owners driving career. John Seear had the Landau re licensed as a hackney carriage in 1987, its yellow hackney carriage plate registered as "86" still used today. It continued to work on the taxi rank on Windsor High Street regularly until the 1990's when it was decided the Landau should be preserved for special occasions. However, as an annual tradition this carriage is taken once a year to where it all started and so the Landau has now been serving Windsor as a public vehicle for over 100 years!! Our Horses: Our chosen breed of horse to work with is the bay "welsh cob" due to their intelligence, willingness, kind nature and hardiness. All are fit and trained for many years to a high standard. They are all checked annually by a Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead local government authority vet to ensure they are sound and well. Their quiet, calm temperament ensures they are comfortable with traffic and crowds and confident in any environment! (We do ask that guests are considerate, especially to keep a close eye on all small children.) Their most important feature is that they are all magnificent in motion or when patiently posing for your photos! Full brothers, Minos and Hector are our most experienced cobs along with our newest addition to the team, Sam, who is now working hard to catch them up!!
Our driver & footman:
Our wedding carriage has a liveried /formally attired driver and footman dressed in black silk top hats, black livery coats, cream shirt, cream cravat, cream breeches and long leather black, mahogany topped boots. (In wet weather conditions Balmoral green raincoats to match the carriage are worn)
Fully insured:
We are covered by a Public liability policy of £1,000,000 ~ Hackney Carriage policy covering all activities with our carriages (Activities Included: Weddings, Funerals, Fetes, Film Work, Promotional Work, Tourist Rides and Hackney Carriage Rides under license)
Customer Feedback:
We are proud of our customer service record and have received many letters, cards and emails from satisfied clients, here is a selection;
"Thank you so very much for the wonderful experiences of riding in the Landau on our wedding day…The horses are absolutely beautiful, and it was truly a very special part of our day…our sincere thanks for being such a special and memorable part of our wedding day."
Mr & Mrs Roncato
"…The carriage looked magnificent…the thank you so much for making such as effort with the decoration and livery. It was prefect…. we wish you many years of making other couples' wedding day such a wonderful experience."
Mr & Mrs Trechot
"Thank you for your services…timed to perfect and arriving in such grandeur, you indeed made this truly a day to remember. Your driver and groom were both, very considerate, patient and attentive throughout and made us feel very special. A big thank you for the two fine and lovely horses who looked magnificent."
Mrs O'Regan
"We want to express our sincere thanks… The arrangements went very smoothly and we were delighted with the turn out of the carriage and the horses. It was all excellent and it made a valuable and especially memorable contribution to the success of the day."
Mr and Mrs Garrod
"…It was personal and perfect…it was a dream come true…"
Mr and Mrs Fisher
"Thank you for making my daughter's wedding so perfect and beautiful."
Mrs Corner
"We would like to thank you for the fabulous job you did for us on our wedding day… we had such a wonderful day…Landau looked superb…super job!"
Mr & Mrs Clarke
We would like to thank you for adding such a lovely touch tour wedding day. Our drivers were absolutely the friendliest, most pleasant please and the horses were very well behaved…you were the absolute highlight of my day."
Mr & Mrs Christopher
