Well despite multiple weather warnings, several feet of snow and two hours of digging to get Penelope on the road, ‘Operation Winter Wedding’ was on. Chris and Anna’s wonderful winter wedding was going ahead followed by a reception nestled deep in the Dales.

My decision to drive whilst wearing wellies may have been sartorially poor but it was perfectly practical and at least they were black.  I was happy trudging through the sludge on the steps of the registry office as we tried to save Anna’s dress.

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Yet again I’m between a rock and a hard place…I want it to snow. I don’t want it to snow.  There are few things in life that get me more excited than the prospect of wintery weather. I’m a snow obsessive. Oh and just in case you’re thinking of saying ‘It’s too cold to snow’…Don’t bother. You’ll be sorry. It’s one of my pet hates, along with Beaufords (tacky faux vintage wedding cars) but that’s for another blog…

The problem is I’ve got winter bookings. It supposed to be out of season but that hasn’t stopped a bevvie of brides-to-be going for midwinter marriage. Last year, I didn’t do the winter wedding season because I  was still working  my ‘day-job’ but now that I’m a super-chauffeur It’s full steam ahead and almost as busy as the summer. I was so caught up in thinking how lovely winter weddings would be, all mulled wine and cinnamon , reds and greens and furs and frost…for the first time I forgot all about the snow and more importantly I forgot what cars do in the snow.

Now, the XJ6 is a graceful marque. Penelope, Lavender and Lucille  waft around, showing off their good breeding and impeccable manners,  dignified and refined at all times.

Except, for when it snows.

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My partners Mum and Dad have a second home in Arkansas in America, and last night his Mum called with a great business idea for me. It seems that our transatlantic cousins enjoy celebrating divorce with gusto and ‘Divorce parties’ are as popular and acceptable as the original wedding that started it all.

The suggestion that I jump in and cut myself a slice of this new cake while it’s hot is intriguing. I could be the first to offer a service for the newly ‘unwed’. Think 80’s VW ad, anyone remember that?

As a chauffeur, I work in wedding world which is an optimistic and happy place, so the prospect of pimping my girls out for decree absolute celebrations might seem as wrong as a pet shop offering homemade rabbit stew or a coffin maker with a sideline in christening gowns.

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This is normally the time of year when everyone starts to wind down, the clocks have gone back the nights are drawing in and well, that’s just boring! So to liven things up a little at Lady Penelope HQ we decided to expand our family and welcome a crazy new addition.

At  11.30 last night after a long train journey and a 250 mile drive back I brought the new girl home. She’s an eye popping candy pink Jaguar XJ6 series 3.  She’s just like Penelope, only she’s as pink as coconut ice and twice as sweet. Can you tell I’m a little bit smitten?

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Despite working in wedding world I’ve got a little cynical streak so when I recently met Leanne, a friend of a friend who happens to be a ‘Wedding Planner’  I went a bit Jeremy Clarkson on her. Hey, I work with cars you know…I’m entitled. I’d formulated the opinion that ‘Wedding Planners’ were for celebs and madmen. Perhaps it’s because deep down I’m a just a frugal and sensible Yorkshire lass.

‘Oh, and what sort of clients do you have?’ I said, when what I secretly wanted to say was ‘Do you work with lunatics who enjoy setting fire to wads of cash?’

But it’s quite the opposite it seems. Using a wedding planner can save you cash… She told me that after her fees she’d saved her last client the princely sum of £1200 .  On the subject of fees, how much do you think it costs to hire a planner? Personally I didn’t have a clue.

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At 10 past 10 on the 10^th of the 10^th 2010 while I was wrapping a chilled bottle of champagne and getting Penelope ready for a Sunday wedding, numerologists the world over were having a ball and up and down the country couples were tying the knot on this most auspicious of dates. Although all of this had escaped my attention as I was totally preoccupied with my champagne until I ran into Lucy the photographer from the Telegraph and Argus who was there to cover the  wedding and to feature it in the paper.

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I’m a confirmed fan of all things vintage and not just cars, so when Caroline Brown, Vintage Queen and the owner of The House of Rose and Brown Vintage in Saltaire got in touch to see if I’d like to take part in a photoshoot to promote the upcoming Vintage Fashion show at Victoria Hall,  I was rather well chuffed, and I said Yes!

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Despite the monsoon raging across the county, today’s wedding at Leeds Town Hall was, unbelievably, dry! I got up at 7 to start work on Penelope and it looked like someone was throwing buckets of water at the window. After drying Penelope down 3 times I was getting chamois blisters from ringing out the leather so many times. It wasn’t a good start. It really breaks my heart when Penelope gets wet because it spoils the effect of all my hard work, all the polishing and decorating. I love it when I pull up and everyone goes ‘ooh isn’t she lovely’. but that old rain really does for the ‘ooh’ factor. So I can’t imagine how doubly disappointing it must be to the poor bride!

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Penelope and I had a crazy busy Saturday with two super weddings in one day. I was particularly excited about the second wedding of the day between ‘Helen’ and ‘Dougy’ because it was our first Pagan Wedding. What could have been a normal Saturday afternoon wedding became a very different affair….

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Yesterday was absolutely brilliant! We took Penelope to appear in the Bradford Classic car show and she spent all day being showered with compliments, not to mention a fair bit of rain, which couldn’t dampen our spirits no matter how hard it tried.

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