While I was in San Francisco recently for training, some of the locals showed us around the city to see some of the sights, and we rode on a super cute retro street car to the Embarcadero for dinner and drinks. I remembered reading about some weddings in San Francisco where the bride and groom commission a street car or cable car to transport their guests from the ceremony to the reception. How fun does that sound?!
An old trolley car used in a San Francisco wedding…how fun!! Photo by Leo Patrone / Image via Snippet & Ink.
We don’t really have that kind of public transportation option in Houston. Also, our ceremony will be held at the same place as our reception, so we don’t need transportation for all of our guests. That did get me thinking about the Wallaby getaway vehicle, though.
The thing is, we don’t really have a getaway vehicle. Not a fancy rental car or borrowed vintage car or anything like that. We didn’t have room in the budget to rent any kind of vehicle, so we nixed that idea. We also thought about riding away on a tandem bike—Mr. Wallaby and I have ridden in several long-distance bike competitions together!—but our venue is about ten miles from our hotel, and I don’t think we can make it that far after all of the excitement of the wedding (and after a few glasses of champagne). So, we’ve decided to drive off in Mr. W’s car! I don’t have any pictures of it—he just bought it a month ago—but it’s a sporty new Kia Optima with some of the coolest features I’ve ever heard of (including air conditioned seats!). I know that car has lots of long road-trips, errands around town, date nights out, and all kinds of other trips in store for it, and since Mr. W bought it so close to the wedding, it’s really the new vehicle for our new little family.
The only thing left to do is leave the groomsmen with some instructions to decorate the car however they like. Of course, being a romantic old soul, I love simple old-fashioned getaway cars decorated like this:
Photo by Amy Carroll Photography / Image via Elizabeth Anne Designs.
Photo via The Wedding Studio.
But these guys are goofballs, so it could turn out more like this:
Photo via Travelternopil.
Photo via Wedinator.
Photo via Wedding Christian.
What vehicle are you planning as your get-away car? Would you give your groomsmen free reign over decorating your vehicle?
We didn’t have a getaway vehicle. We just walked back to our hotel. Actually, we walked back separately! I had to get stuff from my parents’ hotel, so I left with my best friend and he left with his brother. haha It was pretty funny walking around downtown Chicago in my wedding dress on my wedding night without my new husband.
We used my DH’s 2002 Subaru Outback Impreza Sport.
We gave the groomsmen free reign on the decorating and what they came up with was hilarious. They tied fake mini pumpkins to the back, wrote on the windows with window chalk, tied white streamers to the roof rack, and filled the entire inside of the car with white balloons.
I was so surprised when I opened the door and all of the balloons came rolling out. We have a couple of great pictures of DH and I cracking up because we had to pop a bunch of the balloons before we could even get into the car.
Hopefully the groomsmen will decorate the car before the reception is in full swing, otherwise the decorations could get very interesting 
That’s the thing with hotel weddings, we just get to take elevator up to our room! I was so excited when we first started planning to put 0 dollars in the transportation budget! Love the cute old car photos though!
We’re either borrowing a BMW or his dad’s Mustang. Neither will be decorated because his dad would freak and I’m not letting them destroy a rental. Good luck on the decorations though!
We are renting a vehicle rather than paying for a limo or something, It ends up so much cheaper and we get it for 4 days for cheaper than the price of 2 hours!
Air conditioned seats? I am so jealous!
My FH’s groomsmen will be decorating our car too and I am just praying that it doesn’t wind up covered in spray-painted-penises haha.
Mrs. Wallaby, Houston Age and Occupation: 24, Environmental Engineer Engagement Date: January 1, 2012 Wedding Date: November 2012 Venue: Oak Tree Manor About Me: I'm a free-spirited, adventurous girl who loves anything active, reading, traveling, cooking up new dishes for my fiancé, and working on my budding garden. My fiancé is an athletic, intellectual, animal-loving guy with an obsession with basketball and who treats me with the deepest compassion and respect. We are both engineers, and we met at our workplace. Together we complement one another and make a great team, and we are excitedly counting down the days until our outdoor wedding in Houston in November. We're planning a green wedding with lots of Persian cultural touches, and I can't wait to share all of the before-and-after details of our special day
Latest Gallery Pics