Prom LimosThe beginning of the summer signals the season for what has become one of the biggest social events in the life of nearly every sixteen year old throughout Britain, namely the school prom. Although school proms have only really taken off over here in the last decade or so they began as far back as the early 1900's in the USA. The word prom is an abbreviation of promenade which is really the group of guests officially gathered at the beginning of a formal ball. And so the idea of the early proms in the elite colleges of north east America was to introduce the traditions and values of social etiquette to its youngsters. However, in the 1920's and 1930's they gathered momentum and by the time the 1950's arrived American high school proms had become expensive, stylish and elaborate events where there was a real rivalry between the boys and girls to be seen with the "best" prom date. Thirty years later teen movies helped the American prom take on cult status, the ultimate coming-of-age event, which remains today. At the same time stretch limos really started to take off in the USA when they were employed by the movie industry in the 1930's. There became an inevitable link between the two as high school kids wanted to travel to their proms in ultimate style. And so prom limos became big business. Needless to say the kids in the UK were only too happy to embrace the idea of prom limos, so much so that there are not enough to go round during this busy period. In fact groups who are able to secure prom limos at the end of June are very lucky indeed. Due to the forces of supply and demand prom limos are rarely discounted and so it's important that parents make sure they get value for money. The first thing to ensure is that they fill their limo up so that the limo hire is split as many ways as possible. Eight seater prom limos typically cost £400 for the evening. So eight people paying £50 each has got to be better than four people paying £100. Although you can keep the costs down by hiring prom limos one way into the school prom you are still liable for all the set up costs, ie cleaning, preparation, minimum chauffeur charges and, mainly, the finance behind supplying and running an expensive American limo in the first place. So this might still work out near the £300 mark. You might be pleasantly surprised, however, to find that the whole evening's hire might work out at only £75 to £100 more than the one way hire which basically covers the additional chauffeur costs. Although it's more money it could only be about a tenner each which saves each set of parents having to collect their kids at the end of the evening - a scenario which is not really ideal for the kids or the parents. Also it finishes the evening off nicely for the kids returning home in the limo they didn't really want to get out of in the first place ! If you feel you still want or only need the one way hire, you can get some additional value by requesting that your prom limos include a thirty to sixty minute cruise around the area first. This is really good fun where the kids can bring their own music mixes, spot people out the windows and even join the limo cruising circuit for their school prom, interacting with all the other prom limos. They can then make sure they're dropped off at precisely the right time so that when they disembark from their prom limos everybody's watching them make the maximum statement. Another useful tip is that everybody should try to gather at one place for collection by their prom limos if possible. That way the whole party can be together for photos and it's actually an excuse for the parents who might have their own little party going on. This can often be very emotional for the parents too as they often see their kids looking really grown upfor the first time. And it's a great way for the kids to give something back just for that half an hour to thank their parents for everything they have done and paid for on the night. This avoids all sorts of possible last minute hitches and rightfully puts pressure on everybody to be on time. Also it saves the prom limos running around collecting other kids, tediously stopping and starting which can use up a lot of their valuable cruising time. It's worth bearing in mind that the more dialogue you have with your limo operator the better. That way, you should be able to establish that he is fully licensed and that you're not only getting the service you'd expect but, crucially, the limo that you ordered. Nowadays limo companies have really pushed the boat out so prom limos come in all shapes, sizes and colours from the eight seater Lincoln Town Car limos and Baby Bentley limos (which are really Chrysler 300's but look like stretched Bentleys) right through to the larger Ford Expedition and Excursion limos, not to mention the extremely popular Hummer limos. If you're not lucky enough to find any prom limos for your school prom you'll need to think laterally. For the girls how about one of those fire engine limos manned by some good looking firemen ? For the boys there's even the odd tank limo around - awesome ! Ask your parents. They might know someone who has a really cool car to take you in. Good examples might be an American classic car such as a Chevrolet or Dodge Truck, or even a supercar such as a Ferrari or Lamorghini. If you are lucky enough to find prom limos available on your school prom night you'll need to move quickly before someone else snaps them up. Then you'll be in for the time of your life. |
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