The Fine Art of the Getaway Car

Think back to some of the earliest documentations of weddings. The image that immediately comes to my mind is a bride and groom side-by-side, being carried away into a blissful horizon by a vehicle that’s been lavishly decorated.

Since the 1950s, the wedding getaway car has been a popular tradition in weddings that span the globe. It’s a way to add one more element of excitement to the festivities, eliciting cheers and honks and claps from wedding guests and passersby alike, though in some cultures and entire fleet of cars is decorated to carry guests and the bridal party to and from the wedding venue. Traditionally, the task of decorating the happy couple’s car has fallen to the groomsmen, often coordinating with the bride’s mother to find the perfect moment to sneak away to adorn either the groom’s or best man’s car, but many couples buck tradition and take the task on themselves or have guests take part. The getaway car is the last little bit of celebration as friends and family wave off the happy couple… tin cans, streamers, “Just Hitched”…getaway cars can be decked out in anything and everything imaginable. With all the thought and planning that goes into the other decor aspects of a wedding, it can get tiring trying to have everything coordinate and feel cohesive. The thing I love about getaway cars is how fun and festive you can get with them, having the chance to fancy up a car in whatever way imaginable after all the hard work that goes into wedding planning can be a sweet creative release. In my opinion, the more colorful and intricate, the better!

With help from our display team, we got to play dress up with FP Carrie’s ’91 Volvo, Dreamboat Annie. To help inspire you all for when your big day arrives, we went ahead and created the ultimate FP wedding getaway car in celebration of FP Ever After. See how we did it below!

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Our display team is fortunate enough to make frequent trips overseas in order to source materials for our seasonal displays, so most of what we used are things they’ve brought back from recent travels. Colorful truck streamers and camel dressings from India are just a few things they used to dress up this car with color. When it comes to decorating your own car, feel free to get as creative with it as possible and use whatever your heart desires as decorations. Below are a few suggestions!

Suggested Materials:

Wire 

Scissors

Water soluble paint marker

Streamers

Colorful netting

Flower garland (silk or fresh)

Paper hearts

Ribbon/twine

Tin cans

Spray paint (for the decor, not the car)

Tapestries

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A trail of tin cans is a must on any getaway car… the display team collected a handful and spray painted them in a variety of colors. If you poke a hole in the bottom, you can feed a colorful trimming, strong ribbon, or twine through the hole and tie a large knot at the end to secure the can. In order to keep the car safe and free of damage, everything you see on the car was secured with bendable wire or zip ties. Stay away from hot glue!!

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A “Just Hitched” Or “Just Married” sign is essential.

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Don’t forget to decorate the antenna!!

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The ladies on our display team added in things here and there as they went along. Feel free to go all out with the decorations, and even add some to the interior. Draping tapestries over the seats and incorporating streamers to the inside are easy ways to add some spark to the interior. You can even cover the dash with some dried or fresh flowers — lavender works really well, and will add in a nice scent.

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How pretty do these tin cans look with the reflective tinsel? The sound they make is so classic…this was probably my favorite part of the car.

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Away we go!

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A big thanks to the FP Display and Studio teams, and to our stand in bride + groom!

+How would you decorate your getaway car? Let us know in the comments below! 

The bride is wearing: 

Shop FP Ever After.

Stay tuned all week for more wedding content on the blog in celebration of FP Ever After! 

Follow Jana on Instagram and Twitter.

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8 years ago

This is so fun! I’ve never actually seen one outside of movies, but this definitely makes me wish they were more common! I love the vibrant, non-traditional approach here, but my color scheme is definitely pastes with rich colors mixed through out. Love the use of “just hitched” too.

Warm Regards,
Alexandra
http://www.littlewildheart.com

8 years ago

Wow, this article actually changed my view about getaway cars. Before I was all about simplicity and thought it was somewhat silly when people would put so much elaboration and effort into a single night. (*cough* Kardashians *cough*) Anyways, I realized that it means so much more than that. The getaway car is almost like a colorful rocket shooting the couple out into a new and bright future ahead. I love the ideas here–the vividness, neon craziness of the colors and how well they couple with each other!

8 years ago

that. is. amazing.

8 years ago

Looking really beautiful there, love it.

7 years ago

That’s an epic wedding car! Amazing!

6 years ago

Great and innovative Ideas, I liked it can I share with my community?

5 years ago

Really mind blowing post specially images. Wedding is very precious moment for everyone thatch why all persons want it should be perfect and pleasurable as possible they could manage. i know exactly one company for perfect wedding transportation.
http://www.seattleexpressride.com/

5 years ago

I’m glad that you’ve enjoyed your wedding car decoration but I don’t fancy it.

5 years ago

Both look amazing! Love the creativity!