It seems an eternity since we said goodbye to Hank and sent him off for a full restoration and wedding make over. After seven long months, he is finally back and looking fabulous. With brand new paint thanks to West Coast and a brand new interior made by Rich, Hank is looking fab!

When thinking about his make over, we decided that we wanted to be able to provide our customers with a greater seating capacity. Therefore, we decided to remove his traditional camper interior (fridge, sink, cooker and units.. after all who wants a kitchen sink on their wedding photos). Hank was then giving a lovely cream interior and a upgraded sound system, ideal for your favourite tunes. We also wanted to choose a  new colour that would go with all colour schemes and match our existing cars.

Although Hank is now a wedding camper and no longer doing self drive holidays, we still wanted to maintain that beach laid back feel. Rich decided to put a nice hard wood floor down and make a beach affect unit to house the speakers. To top this off, we resprayed his retro cool box in the same matching colours, perfect for keeping bubbly or beers for the men cold.

We are so pleased with how Hank has turned out and his first debut wedding was a massive hit! Everyone fell in love with him. 

We were super excited when we were asked to drive Newquay Carnival Queen and her attendants through Newquay in our two convertible beetles; Bella and Miss Molly,

This years VIP carnival queen was Ellie Southwick who was the belle of the ball in a lovely dress provided by Country Cream Bridal shop. 

On the day of the carnival Bella was decorated in pink ribbons, bows, roses and balloons. Miss Molly was decorated in peach ribbons, bows and ivory balloons. 

I started to write this blog way back in May, however with one thing or another I never had time to publish it as we have been so busy.  On Tuesday 5th May Richard and I got married. This is our second time round, so we decided to keep it a small affair. So on Tuesday 5th May Rich and I got married in Truro registry office, followed by an intimate reception for immediate family at the Headland Hotel in Newquay.

On the morning of the wedding Rich left for the registry office in Bella and I went in Miss Molly. Since my wedding colours were yellow, Miss Molly was perfect. Over the last year, we have actually been very lucky for weather and Bella and Miss Molly have usually been able to have their roofs down for the brides and grooms. However, in typical fashion, we had to get married on a wet and windy day!! That meant the roofs had to be up! Never mind. 

During the ceremony, Rich was a tad naughty, saying his vows with a mischievous glint in his eye and a tone of voice that he knew would crack me up! And yes, it did! I had a fit of the giggles!

Following the ceremony, Rich drove us both back to the Headland Hotel, stopping off at Trenance Gardens for photos. We would have liked to have gone on the beach, but it was far too windy!

Rich and I had a lovely chilled day. A lovely lunch and fabulous wedding cake supplied by Newquay party cakes and a lovely evening meal in the Headland restaurant. At this point I have to give a massive thank you to Oliver Harris who did our photography. Oliver did a wonderful job! That evening Rich and I were spoiled, and my mum treated us to a night in the hotel. Bliss!

However, the celebrations weren't quite over. The following saturday we had a small reception for family and friends, Honey Bugs style! We decided to rent the BBQ lodge from Coastal Valley Campsite in Newquay and throw a BBQ party. Tanya and Andy from Coastal Valley were amazing!!! We were worried that the weather would be iffy, so they erected their huge marquee for us. I put on my dress again (with yellow pumps) and we filled the marquee with hay bales, blankets, bunting and lighting and it was perfect. We also took the Photo Bus down for our guests to use. Whats the point of having a really cool photo booth if you cant use it yourself!! The sun shone and the day was perfect. When the sun went down, the tea lights in jars and the light from the flickering flames around the fire pit, lit up the night sky. My huge jars of cocktails also gradually slowly went down (pimms, mystery green punch and my lovely paint stripper).

Rich knew I was a little disappointed that we had no first dance, so he made sure our song came on and he made sure we had a dance! :)

This may not have been your typical wedding. There were no speeches, no formality, but it was just us! I have done the big wedding and now I've done the small alternative wedding and I would say one thing, A wedding is more than a fancy cake, favours, hundreds of people and thousands of pounds A wedding is what you want it to be. Its more important to have the people who are dear to you there. In years to come it wont matter if you had pink or lilac sugared almonds or if you didn't quite have the weather you wanted. At the end of the day its about the people who were there and finding the right mr or mrs to share your life with.

Have you heard about the Wedding Alliance Cornwall? The Alliance contains some of Cornwall's best wedding suppliers. The Alliance only allows businesses that are known for supplying a trust worthy and top quality service for their customers. Before a business can join, it has to meet certain criteror and is assessed by a panel. I am pleased to say that Honey Bugs is a member of the Alliance!

The Alliance has its own website where suppliers offer exclusive promotions for couples that sign up as a bridal member. They are given a membership number which when quoted, will allow brides/grooms the ability to use these discounts.

Today was the fist Alliance wedding fayre at the Atlantic Hotel in Newquay and boy was it a success! It was so lovely to see that this was a wedding fayre with a difference! All the suppliers were fully energised and put on a great show! With interactive stands and freebies, ques of people lined up to register for an Alliance membership number. Honey Bugs were offering 10% off Bella bookings and took three confirmed booking for campers and beetles during the day. I love days like today! There is no better feeling than being able to meet new couples and talk about our cars (of which I am very proud). Roll on the next one.

If you would like to sign up for exclusive Wedding Alliance discounts, please visit
 www.wedding-alliance.co.uk/

We are very excited and proud to introduce you to the Cornwall Photo Bus. 

The Photo Bus belongs to our sister company Fistral Bays and is a mobile photo booth in a retro VW camper van. 
Unlike many camper photo booths (which usually contain a digital camera and a few props), the Photo Bus is a permanent photo booth and  is fitted out with state of the art technology with studio lighting, instant print facilities and green screen capabilities! 

The Photo Bus comes complete with a range of fun photo props to keep your guests in fits of giggles and with optional red carpet your guests will feel like a VIP.

The Photo Bus camper booth will be available for weddings, corporate events, charity and social events, private parties. If you are having a themed party or event, the range of photo props can be tailored to suit your requirements. 

Although the new Photo Bus website is still under construction, Honey Bugs customers will automatically be offered an exclusive discount for the hire of the Photo Bus photo booth when booking wedding transport with us.

So what are you waiting for? Book the Photo Bus, grab a prob, strike a pose and SMILE!

For prices and further details please contact me (Sarah).

It feels like its taken an age, but I'm glad I can finally say that the rickshaw restoration is finally underway!

We bought the 1970's rickshaw back in 2013 with the intention of restoring it and turning it into quirky and alternative wedding transport for Cornwall weddings. With one thing or another, the poor rickshaw got overlooked! For almost a year it sat in the corner of the garage in pieces waiting to be reassembled and done up.

Over the last few weeks, the rickshaw frame has been rubbed down and resprayed white. Whilst Rich gets on with re-upholstering the seats, I have been painting underneath the frame in black (to give it a little protection from the elements). One thing we have noticed and chuckled at, is just how original it is! Back in the 1970's this little rickshaw was hand made in Indonesia. All the mud guards and parts of the frame have been fabricated and beaten by hand! Its hard to imagine where this little rickshaw has been and all the passengers it has ferried.

Rich has now put the frame and bike back together, so next stop is to get the somewhat rusty wheels re-spoked! The wheels are the original 1970's wheels and are not easily replaced, so you can imagine our panic when we thought we had lost one during the re-build! Don't worry, we've found it now!

One thing we did notice as we began to put the frame back together, was just how long it actually is! Having been in pieces over the year, we had forgotten its size. Rich and I looked at each other and in the in the famous words immortalised by Jaws we agreed "we're gonna need a bigger boat", or in our case a bigger van to deliver the rickshaw. With all the best will in the world, I cant see Rich wearing a crash helmet and goggles and cycling up and down the  A30 to delivery i!t

Over the next two weeks the plan is to finish off the painting, rebuilding the side panels and getting the new upholstery completed. Watch this space for for rickshaw updates.  

Here are a couple of pictures of the rickshaw, before it was bolted back together.

Richard and I are always trying to improve our Honey Bug service to ensure our couples receive the best possible customer service, value for money and the best wedding day ever (well at least the bit with the cars).

Next year Richard and I are getting married, I will no longer be Sarah Turner, I will be Sarah Honey. Like most brides I spend my time browsing the bridal magazines and pinterest. I've spent hours upon hours of looking at amazing photos and photos shoots thinking, 'Id love to do that', or 'wouldn't it be great if we could have one of those'. I look at the photos of the couples with their thank you plaques or Mr and Mrs bits and pieces, but then actually, I start to think 'well where am i going to keep them?' Then I think, its too much hassle, so I wont bother.

After considering these little details and my own wedding, it made me think about improving our wedding car service. It then struck me that we should include and carry these small additional items in our cars. At most weddings the bride and groom often go off for photos alone (just them, the photographer and our car). If it was my wedding day I would love to have the option of adding a bit of fun to my photos with the use of props in the car. So that's what we have done! All our 2015 bookings now come with several small photo props and signs you can use with your photographer. Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to, but its nice to have the option.

Over the last few weeks, I have begun collecting bits and pieces to include with the campers and beetles. The latest has been a just marred parasol. During our last wedding fayre at Tregenna Castle in St. Ives, the organisers and photographer loved it so much, they used it during one of their shoots! Yay!

The wedding industry is a very small place and we love meeting and working with new suppliers. 

Today we had the pleasure of working with Darren from Cornwall VW Wedding Hire. The bride and groom (Jocelyn and Gary) hired Bella as the main bridal car and Juliet the camper  (driven by Damian)  for the bridesmaids. Prior to the wedding we liaised with Darren to coordinate timings, ribbon colour and even try and match the drivers' suits!

On the day of the wedding Rich met Damian in the morning to  ribbon up their vehicles before setting off for the wedding.  As Bella is white and a blank canvas, she will match any vehicle, even vehicles hired from other companies. 
During the course of the day, Bella and Juliet received many admiring glances from passers by, and the white paint on Juliet's roof went perfectly with Bella's own body work! :)
We look forward to working with with Darren, Damian and Juliet again in the future.

A massive congratulations to David and Sarah who got married in St Agnes on the 16th August.  Its been a long old summer for Nell. As you know, Nell is one of the self drive campers that belongs to our sister company Fistral Bays and as a very popular old gal (she rarely gets any time off to do weddings in the summer). However, today was different!

During the morning I set to work preparing Nell for the wedding. This involved hoovering, cleaning the windows and upholstery and decorating her in ribbons and bunting. I always like to explore new decoration ideas and with the wedding being a country feel marquee wedding I thought the boho  flower look on the front bumper may be a nice idea.

Once the fizz and glasses along with the wedding playlist were loaded into the camper, Richard set off to St. Agnes to collect the bridesmaids followed by Sarah the bride and her dad and delivered them all safely to the church in St. Agnes. Being peak season and a honey pot for tourism, you can imagine how busy St. Agnes was. As Nell slowly drove through the narrow village, passers by all stopped and waited to catch a glimpse of the bride as she arrived at the church. Sarah's dad became a fan of the wedding play list and as we approached the church, clearly one of his favourite songs (Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl) came on. Instantly Rich was instructed to turn it right up and keep it playing to accompany the bride getting out of Nell and to play as she walked down the path to the church door (much to the amusement of people sat outside the St. Agnes Hotel).

After the ceremony, the music fired up again to meet the bride and groom (this time Nina Simone). Traffic backed up as the entire street filled up with guests pouring out of the church. Whilst everyone grabbed a quick drink from the St. Agnes Hotel, Rich drove Sarah and David off to a quiet spot near the Beacon for photos.

After photos' back at the reception marquee, Laura the photographer spent some time taking photos of the bridesmaids and bridal party with the camper. Our aim is to make you day as memorable and  fun as possible. With this in mind, Rich suggested that the couple may like to have some quirkier and memorable photos by posing on top of the van and other fun photos. This went down a storm and everyone relaxed and enjoyed themselves. Nell also attracted much attention from the wedding guests who also came over to have their photos taken with the van and in the van itself. Once again my notorious play list blasted out, much to the enjoyment of everyone in the area. 

Finally, Rich suggested that David and Sarah may like to have a little drive of Nell themselves (being on private land). Both bumped into the front seats and David took Nell for a little spin around the field with his new wife. Who knows, maybe they will come back next year to take her out for a self drive anniversary!

I'm so glad David and Sarah had a wonderful day! And I hope their afternoon and evening continued to be full of smiles and laughter just like those they shared with Nell!