3N Wedding Cars

The world’s earliest wedding car

Experts believe the 1903 photo of a veteran Daimler shows the first time a motor vehicle was used in a wedding. Now 110 years on, newlyweds can recreate the retro look by having snaps onboard the 1897 classic at the Haynes Motor Museum, near Yeovil, Somerset.

Staff at the museum delved into the car’s history after it was donated by Bristol Museum. They found it was used at the wedding of James Andrews and Miss Rosa Gough in Weston-super-Mare in 1903 – and were able to track down the original photo to relatives in New Zealand.

The museum’s Mike Penn said: “We believe it to depict the first documented use of a wedding car.” The Daimler Wagonette dates from a time when cars were still known as “horseless carriages”. With a top speed of 11.6mph, it could get brides to the church on time – as long as they set off early enough.