I wanted to share my experience in the final weeks before picking up the truck and all the fun times along the way on our way home with Tappo. It’s been a wild ride to say the least…
I messaged Ken our Piaggio Ape guru back in May letting him know that we were booking up and events were creeping up fast. We were in quite the time crunch and I swear Ken thought I was crazy a lot of time. Side note: If you’re new here, do yourself a favour and go read part one to four to learn all about Ken! We chatted on the phone almost every day and discussed where we were at and what he got done in the truck each day. The intricacies of our champagne truck are amazing and every thought out detail from lighting to countertops, to mouldings, handles, and the vinyl material that went into the cabin of the truck, was all picked specially. My thought process was “what is going to stand out at a wedding?” and “what is going to make smiles light up at every event?”. I had questions like that, that ran through my head constantly in those final weeks. Endless conversations that lead to big final decisions. It was definitely a nerve racking time choosing something materials and praying that it was the right choice. If I’m being honest, it was a very stressful time and a lot of over-thinking happened in those final weeks of finishing the truck. The one thing that kept me sane was knowing that Ken was the man for the job and that he would make sure my vision would come to life. In those final weeks, Ken was also finishing up an ice cream truck for a company called @sochill.hamilton based in Hamilton, Ontario. Needless to say, Ken was working around the clock to make sure both of them got done in time.
On May 20th, I went and had a visit with Ken. He had finished the finer details on the truck such as the white shiplap inside the box of the truck, the countertops were added in and light fixtures were hung. It was starting to look so good and just two weeks after that, I would be heading home with it. It was crazy to see the cosmetic things come together because it had been such a long process for the refurbishing of the truck that the rest seemed to come together so quickly. Here are a few pictures of what I saw during that visit:
In that final month, believe it or not but I was still looking for a trailer that would carry Tappo to each event. The vehicle and trailer shortage in Ontario right now is crazy and I was starting to panic when I couldn’t source one anywhere in Eastern Ontario. It seemed that trailer companies had none in stock or they couldn’t have one built for months. I had family members searching, coworkers searching and even Ken was making phone calls for me. Finally, Ken located a trailer dealership in Listowel Ontario which is about 7 hours from where I’m located but only an hour away from where I would be picking up the champagne truck at the end of the month. They had my ideal trailer available and the salesman seemed to have been extremely surprised that he could have it done by May 28th. Maybe it was pure luck but I truly think it was meant to be. Keep in mind, I started speaking with this dealership only on May 6th.
June 2nd, I took off at approximately 5 o’clock in the morning and drove straight to Listowel to pick up the trailer and then would head straight to Ken’s for training on the truck. When I got to the dealership, I went in and signed some paperwork and the salesman told me to head to the back to hook up the trailer. I walked up to a trailer thinking “wow this is big I’m really going to have to take my time” and then the guy helping me said “No that’s not yours, this one is yours” and pointed to the one next to it that was twice as big. I really wish I had a picture of the look on my face. You could tell it was my first time ever driving a trailer because it took me twice as long to get to Ken’s.
I arrived at Ken’s around 2:30 and he had Tappo sitting right in the backyard ready for me. I still remember this surreal moment when I realized that this was the start to a huge dream of. I cried as I walked up to it seeing it all together for the first time; a moment I won’t ever forget. I think the smiles on our faces say it all.
Not long after, we got straight to training on how to drive the truck. Luckily, I knew how to drive standard so learning how to drive this 2 cylinder 4 speed transmission car wasn’t too difficult. Ken had me drive all around the neighbourhood which I’m sure was entertaining for all his neighbours. Surprisingly this little Piaggio Ape can go pretty fast. After a successful day of mastering driving, it was time for Ken and I to have our usual dinner and wine. He surprised me and cooked two really nice steaks and of course we paired it with red wine. It was a celebration of everything leading up till that day. Hard work, sleepless nights, and a lot of heart put into it.
The following morning, we were up early and a gentleman by the name of Dan was there to teach me the keg system and tap work. If you don’t know this, there are five taps in total on our truck. One for white and rose wine and sangria, another for red wine, one for bubbly, and two on the back for beer or cider. Each with it’s own important instructions. It was a full day of learning and practicing and as soon as I knew it, it was time for me to drive back home. A quick trip, a lot of information crammed in two days but I was ready to embark this new journey. I packed my bags, loaded Tappo in the trailer, and said my very sad goodbye to Ken.
I got home quite late but was ready to get up early again for a photoshoot in Ottawa the next day with @greyloftstudio and @greyloftvideo. Luc and Bethany from Grey Loft were obviously amazing and captured the excitement and adrenaline from picking up our truck. This was the perfect ending to a very crazy week.
PS: How gorgeous are these florals from @wearepollennation !! xo
It blows my mind that at some point in my life, I was sitting on my couch and dreaming of this day and it was nothing but a thought. I’ve said it before but if you have something that you’ve been dreaming about, something that sparks your creativity, something that you are passionate about… do the damn thing! The feeling of joy that comes with doing something that you love will change your life. With that said, we’ll be continuing to share all our champagne truck events through our blog and keeping you up to date on all the fun we’re having!
