January 2018   |   41  

ADVENTURE

Going On 

the Ride of Your Life

Y

our wedding day is all about celebrating the fact that your 
union is becoming offi cial, taking that next step and vowing 
a lifetime of forever. Such an occasion is certainly a time to 
shine, from the dress to the venue to the…well, everything. 

Which includes the grand entrance…and, of course, the grand exit.

True, you could opt to take the simple route—literally, no pun 

intended—or you could do something much more memorable and far 
more worthy of the momentous occasion by hiring a service to take you 
to and from your ceremony or reception venue. Or why not go for broke 
and do both?

From hiring vintage cars to stepping onto Segways, couples have been 

using their arrivals and departures to make a scene, and Pensacola has 
a few tricks up its sleeve when it comes to great ways for transporting 
your Big Day to the stuff made of dreams.

And what little girl doesn’t have fairytale dreams for her wedding 

day? Perfect for those enchanted visions, Carriages of Pensacola 
offers horse-drawn carriage rides throughout the area, providing an 
undeniably magical experience that is unique, romantic, and unique. 
“There’s so much charm and beauty in the architecture of downtown 
Pensacola, so it couldn’t be more suited for weddings,” notes co-owner 
and operator Barb Righter, who started the company along with her 
daughter Brenda in 2013 after their family moved to the country so 
that they could have land for their horses. “Our carriage service can 
provide a magnifi cent way to make an entrance, travel between venues, 
entertain your guests, and exit the many fantastic wedding sites and 

accommodations in the area,” Righter goes on. 

And when you’re talking about ways to create magnifi cence, there’s 

nothing that can top a horse. “The view and the sound of our impressive 
1800-pound draught horses pulling our open Victorian carriage creates 
a head-turning moment and captivates guests’ attention even before 
the bride sets foot down the aisle,” explains Righter, whose husband 
Jim has found his niche in the family business as head carriage driver. 
“When the bride and groom get into the carriage, their guests can take 
all the cell phone pictures they like, and then we can take them away for 
a short, private ride so that they can have a moment to relax together 
for their fi rst time as a married couple on their wedding day—usually 
just around the square, but long enough that their guests move on to the 
reception and leave them to work on their post-ceremony photos. After 
that, we can transport the bride and groom to their reception venue 
for the grand entrance. At the end of the evening we can, of course, 
provide that dramatic exit amidst sparklers, or bubbles, or lavender 
and transport the newlyweds to most any local lodging for the evening. 
Our service dovetails perfectly with the character and architecture of 
Pensacola. We also have a horse and carriage that are well suited for the 
country feel of a barn wedding.”

Not everyone’s dreams align with the whole horse and carriage thing, 

however, but they’re defi nitely not without other options that offer 
nostalgic charm. Offering a nod to Pensacola’s old trolley transportation 
system downtown is Beach Bum Trolley, LLC, which has been running 
routes since 1998, when Tom McKean established the company to 

photo 

pr

ovided 

by

 654-LIMO

story by

 Liesel Schmidt

41-42 AdventureOut - wedding transportation.indd   1

12/26/17   4:30 PM