.jpg)
This picture was taken in 1987 at a Rose Festival event that was held every year at a huge nursery that shipped plants nationwide. The occupants are the Rose Queen (middle) and her two runner up Rose Princesses, and that's me driving. What I wouldn't give to be that skinny stick shaped girl again! While many things have not, twenty six years later that is one thing that has indeed changed.
The carriage is my own Amish made by Victor Raber from Montgomery Indiana and was the very first commercial carriage that Victor had ever built. His brother Paul had been building them for some years already and Victor wanted to give it a try. He did an awesome job I must say. Both brothers still build carriages today. While admittedly twice the price to buy than the cheaper and more common Canadian imported carriages you just can not compare those to the workmanship of an Amish carriage. The paint, the wheels, the pin stripes done by hand, the construction and their attention to detail is second to none.
All these years later we still only use the very best top of the line American made carriages. Sure they cost us a lot more, but we think you are worth it! In fact we think you are worth a lot of extra effort as well as the extra expense. The Princess's Carriage service just does not cut corners. Not on our horses care, not on our carriages or on our upkeep of them, not on our attire, or our diligent respect for our industry and it's well known accepted safety protocols.
For instance, you will never catch us with passengers in our carriages and no driver or attendant with our horse. To be frank about it, this is one of the biggest safety breaches a carriage company can commit. The fact is you will never see us here at The Princess's Carriage with an unattended horse, period, ever. Common sense would tell most people to do something like that is obviously foolhardy and dangerous without explaining it. However, if you have questions about this unfortunately sometimes observed practice, or anything else you see that you question, I would encourage you to contact CONA (Carriage operators of North America) and ask them about it.
We always provide: Custom silk floral's in your desired colors added to our carriages to make your pictures uniquely yours. Appropriately attired driver and footman. A clean and meticulously detailed carriage, always a shampooed clean horse, and a long standing company always mindful of staying safe. Especially for special events the added expense of a footman as well as a driver adds a layer of safety that just can not be achieved without one. Keep in mind our white horse's are a lot harder to bathe, keep clean, and glowing to add that extra "pow" to your pictures than one that is naturally the color of the ground dirt. While we may not be the cheapest service out there, do know...It's the not so little things that make the big difference.
