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Cinderella
for a day
From
pumpkin-shaped carriages to Rolls Royces, how to exit and
arrive at your ceremony in style
By
Ajla Grozdanic
for The Brooklyn
Papers
It’s a rare little girl who hasn’t dreamed of being
Cinderella — at least for a day.
The fantasy goes something like this: Her life is about to
change when she arrives at the grandiose ball in a pumpkin
carriage pulled by a set of beautiful, white horses. Her entrance
is announced by royal trumpeters. And inside the enchanted
palace, er, reception hall, Prince Charming awaits, ready
to sweep her off her feet and dance the night away.
No longer the stuff of childhood dreams, fairytales are becoming
reality for women of all ages in Brooklyn. Believe it or not,
there is a fairy godmother out there waiting to turn you into
a Cinderella for a day.
But she doesn’t work for free. You must supply the necessary
coin along with a healthy dose of imagination.
The other catch?
It’s BYOP. (Bring Your Own Prince.) And it would help
if the two of you were ready to get married.
“We get a lot of brides in their 30s and 40s, but 80
percent of the brides are in their 20s,” said Paula Valentine,
one of New York’s fairy godmothers and co-owner of the
Bronx-based Valentine Carriage, which specializes in storybook
weddings and other events.
For brides who want to live out their fantasy to the fullest,
Paula and her son, Richie Valentine, have added an enclosed,
transparent Cinderella pumpkin carriage to their fleet.
“The pumpkin carriage is getting more and more popular,”
Valentine told GO Brooklyn.
The carriage comes equipped with two white horses and two
coachmen dressed in elegant blue and silver attire (that’s
definitely not from this century). The fee of $1,500 will
get you the fairytale package for three hours. The full royal
treatment includes Richie announcing the bride’s parents
as the king and queen upon their arrival to the ceremony.
“We announce them as the royal family,” explained
Valentine.
She says the exact phrasing is changeable but usually goes
something like: “Her Royal Majesty, mother of the bride,
Queen — insert real name — and His Royal Majesty,
father of the bride, King Edward or Richard — or whatever
his name is — of Bensonhurst or Staten Island —
or wherever they are from.
“Fathers love it,” said Paula.
Richie also announces the bride as a princess. After the church
ceremony, he makes a final announcement, honoring the bride
and the groom for the first time together as prince and princess
of their home neighborhood.
The Valentines have helped thousands of blushing brides make
a fairytale entrance on their big day, rain or shine. Snow,
on the other hand, is a bit tougher on the horses.
Billy and Stormy, two 1,800-pound white draft horses, were
used in a Bath Beach Cinderella wedding in May. This breed,
commonly used in farm labor as well as to pull carriages,
is larger than the average horse. Adorned with feathers and
hearts, they were a crowd-pleasing attraction in their own
right, as they elegantly arrived at St. Finbar’s Roman
Catholic Church with the bride and her father in tow.
“We do hundreds of weddings a year,” said Paula.
“Sometimes three to four weddings in one day.”
Because of the growing demand, the Valentines recommend booking
the carriage six months to a year in advance. At present,
six white horses and six different carriages are available
for rental.
Transportation alternatives
For a less expensive fantasy, non-Cinderella types can choose
from Valentine Carriage’s selection of more conventional
open and enclosed coaches and carriages which, at $950 for
three hours, come with white horses and coachmen dressed in
top hats, tails, breeches and tall boots.
Brides who have outgrown the fairytale stage of their life
and would like to adapt their wedding to the 21st century,
have the option of making their grand entrance — and
exit — in a sharp-looking stretch limousine.
The classically elegant bride can make her mark in an always
chic Rolls Royce. The two-passenger Corniche is in the $600
to $720 price range, while the four-passenger Princess can
be booked at $450 for three hours at Excalibur Extravaganza
Limousine in Bay Ridge.
While some modern brides may opt for the standard Lincoln
Towncar, which seats 12 and costs $400 for three hours, other
contemporary brides’ needs might be met with a more SUV-style
vehicle. Excalibur’s 24-passenger Hummer ($900 for three
hours) or their newest addition, Infinity QX56 ($1000 for
three hours), are popular choices for large wedding parties.
Some brides rent two limos, one for the married couple and
the other for the bridal party, said Michael Mallia, owner
of Executive Stretch in Bensonhurst. A popular classical combination,
he said, is the company’s signature four-passenger 1933
Packard ($800 for three hours) for the bride and groom and
a 14-passenger Lincoln ($300 for three hours) for the wedding
party. A more hip couple, Mallia said, might opt for an eight-passenger
Jaguar ($700 for three hours) or Mercedes ($800 for three
hours) for themselves and an 18-passenger Cadillac Escalade
or a Hummer H2 (both $800 for three hours) for their party.
One of the newest trends, said Denise Bannard, one of Mallia’s
employees, is the limo bus ($700 for three hours). The 18-passenger
vehicle looks like a minibus on the outside, while its interior
resembles a high-tech entertainment room, complete with couches,
television screens and DVD players.
“Brides like it because you can stand up in it and walk
around,” said Bannard.
There seems to be a way for every bride to make an unforgettable
grand entrance, no matter how classically understated, cutting
edge or just plain extravagant her style may be.
“It was beautiful,” Valentine said of the Bath Beach
wedding. “People were waiting outside, she said, cheering
and clapping as the trumpet players announced the bride’s
arrival.
“She looked like a princess.”
The 20-something Midwood bride in question made her fairytale
complete with a band of four trumpeters from the Fanfare Brass
company. They played “Here Comes the Bride” and
other celebratory tunes as the bride arrived at the church
in the pumpkin carriage and, afterwards, as she rode off into
the sunset (to her reception hall in Coney Island) together
with her prince in a Mercedes limousine, followed by the bridal
party riding in a Lincoln Navigator and a Hummer stretch.
And although it does not come with an ever-after marriage
guarantee, a horse-drawn carriage plus the royal treatment,
will ensure that at least your wedding day feels like a fairytale.
Valentine Carriage
(88 South Durham Estate Rd., Acra, NY 12405) can be reached
at (800) 529-8819 or via their Web site, www.ValentineCarriage.com.
For more information about Fanfare Brass Costumed Trumpeters,
call (888) 423-6327 or visit their Web site www.fanfarebrass.com.
For information about limousine rentals, call Excalibur Extravaganza
Limousine (9307 Third Ave. at 93rd Street in Bay Ridge) at
(718) 745-3443 or visit their Web site at www.xlimo.com.
Or call Executive Stretch Co. (2342 West Seventh St. at 86th
Street in Gravesend) at (718) 351-3645 or (718) 449-2400 or
visit their Web site at www.executivestretch.com.
July
16, 2005 edition |. Read
more about Brooklyn Weddings
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