I understand that but like I said originally I'm not looking for a freebie, I am willing to pay for time and fuel, just wanted something special for my little brother. Thanks anyway.
I should point out that my comments were not just aimed at this OP, but at the general trend we've seen lately of people coming on here for no other reason than to get the favour done, either free or cheap. Also, if you notice, I did actually give the legal position very clearly so if somebody was willing to help out, they know they can actually do it and not fall foul of vosa or councils, etc.
As for cutting your neighbour's grass etc, nothing to do with this, as I too have done many many favours and have hardly ever asked one of anybody! I give my time freely in many places/times including this forum.
A local wedding up here is nearer the £300 and I'm £100 cheaper than another business who does weddings and only weddings full time, so i guess what they ask is what we should all be asking. As Darren said above, cars need to be cleaned, the day set aside, yes the day, as no weddings are ever at 7am and for only 20 mins where the rest of the day is free!!! When you run an old car like mine and do wedding hire, IF you are customer orientated and proud of not letting people down, then you LOSE the use of the car for personal use in case it breaks down. I would hate myself if I let a bride down on her big day. When you're hiring a '57 Chevy, you are hiring it as something special and with no backup around like, say, if it was a silver or white Rolls or something more commonly available, then the bride is let down if the car breaks. I tell all my hirers that it's an old car and can break and to be aware of that fact, BUT I would hate for it to actually happen. Therefore, you also can't take bookings for every week, 'cause if it does break, you can then ruin multiple weddings, so, there is a limit to how many per year you can do in an old car, and if that car is used exclusively for weddings, it has to be paid for. Not trying to do anything here other than show where the costs come from, and unfortunately, if you're on low earnings, that is not the fault of the wedding hire company, their costs don't get lower becasue the hirers wages are low. If I was still driving petrol tankers on the Shell contract, I don't know what a Saturday would pay now, but when I left 3 1/2 years ago, a Saturday or Sunday overtime was £262.50, so, better not to bother with the weddings in that case..... And people working in the refinery up here were on £500 per day if it was an overtime shift....not so now, that's been curtailed. I don't earn anything like that nowadays, but with the amount of new BMWs, Mercs, etc I see on the roads, then clearly a lot of people are making good money. Personally, as a business, I have no regular income, hence why I drive tankers part time, and my missus is on basic minimum wage. So matey, that £300 I take for a wedding may well be my total earnings for that week with overheads, fuel, wages etc all to be taken from that pot........................
to finish, I am not doing weddings after this season, because for the sake of a handful of weddings, I haven't been able to go to runs, shows or use the cars as I like to use them, so for next year I'll be heading south to several events. I'm sick at the fact that i can't go to the '57 Chevy bash at Shaky, but I have my last wedding the week after, so I wont take the risk.