Just Married via Jalopnik

Hooniverse Asks: What was your wedding chariot?

Ross Ballot

/comment

Comments

The week of my wedding is finally here. After endless planning throughout an 16-month engagement, the event itself is this coming Saturday. My fiancé (not for long…) and I are ecstatic. The feeling is surreal. This time next week I’ll be a married man, and we a married couple.

A few days ago while discussing the wedding I told my fiancé that it’s close enough now to be all-consuming, that it has taken over the entirety of my thoughts. Jokingly, and without hesitation, she asked, “what is, cars?”

For a long while marriage was only a novel concept to me, a distant “thing adults do” that always seemed out of reach. Not having gone to many weddings in my life probably had something to do with it. As such, the large majority of my exposure to weddings was through television and movies. And so, we, as car enthusiasts, always think: What should we leave our wedding in?

The “Just Married” vehicle that carries you away from your wedding is perpetually romanticized. Much to the chagrin of my fantasies, our wedding has a hotel-to-venue-and-back shuttle so I won’t technically be driving away in something on my own. But transportation on our two-day mini-moon following the weekend will come courtesy of my 5th gen 4Runner. Not exactly the vintage convertible with streamers and white flowers that you dream of, but a vehicle we’re happy to have taking us on our first adventure as a married couple.

So how about you? What was your wedding chariot?

About

Ross Ballot

Ross Ballot

4WD and four-wheeling enthusiast and shamelessly self-proclaimed expert. Off the Road Again Podcast host, Formula 1 fanatic, and Writer for Hooniverse, AutoGuide, and ATV.com. Former contributor to Everyday Driver, ATVRider, and UTVDriver. Can usually be found getting a vehicle stuck in the mud or on the rocks and loving every second of it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 64 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here

30 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What was your wedding chariot?”

  1. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    Nice, is it going to be a big party of the Hollywood kind? I have called her my “wife” for ages, but my better half and I will only get married this summer. The weekend after our 10 year anniversary, and 8½ years after our engagement in Paris, of all places. We will get married on a mountain behind our house and walk back home to a party here from there. So no prestigious car ride either, even though my neighbour’s Mercedes 170 has been offered as a ride.

    Reply
  2. onrails Avatar
    onrails

    I’ll back up the story a little bit. While my wife and I were dating in our late teens/early 20’s, I had a mid 1970’s era Buick with all of 105 thundering horses (well, kind of noisy Shetland ponies) under the hood. The end of my (now) in-law’s driveway was bit sandy and exited onto a fairly busy road. So nearly every time I left their house there was a bit of tire noise. And nearly every time I came back, I was informed by eventual mother-in-law to stop burning rubber in front of their house. Now… an open diff and sandy tires was the ONLY way that car ever broke traction, so I may have indulged from time to time. But I dutifully said yes ma’am and kept on doing it anyway. My future father-in-law stayed quiet, but gave me a ‘Really? The old Buick? That all you got, kid?’ look from time to time.

    Fast forward to the wedding… I was lucky enough to borrow a back C5 Corvette for the occasion with pre-arranged permission for some shenanigans as needed. One of the groomsmen had an Impala SS and was right behind us. The in-laws house was between the church and the reception with her side of the family enjoying drinks and hors-d’oeuvres on the front lawn. So we smiled, waved, and in a show of impeccable taste and high class, did a burnout along the length of the property. The contrast between my mother-in-law’s complete disgust in her daughter’s choice and my father-in-law’s poorly hidden amusement at the whole thing was pretty funny.

    Congrats, and good luck!

    Reply
  3. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    We had four cars at our wedding. One my wife drove to get ready with the bridesmaids, one I filled with stuff that had to get to the reception, one I drove to the wedding and we were photographed riding to the reception in, and the old F100 we were photographed leaving the reception in.

    The wedding-to-reception car was a Cadillac convertible purchased a few months before the wedding. It wasn’t ONLY for the wedding, but that definitely played a major role in justifying the purchase.

    Reply
  4. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    We drove off in my 1966 Mercury Monterey. I regret selling it, but after marriage came kids, and their stuff displaced it from the garage.

    https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7925/40548864963_f4e26bccae_k.jpg

    Reply
  5. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    Our wedding venue had both the ceremony and reception at the same site (and was in our neighbourhood), so no need for any wedding car (just our sad little Hyundai to get home the next day). Although, one of the pictures we saw of our reception room before booking was of it being used for some BMW event in the late 80s, with the room filled with E30’s and E24s and such, so that was neat (I don’t even think I tried to convince my wife that a vintage BMW would have been good decoration for the room though).
    Also, preliminary congrats!

    Reply
  6. GTXcellent Avatar
    GTXcellent

    This one right here
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/db7d4b658f841ff0641e24a1cd79ae02693572ab20ab7c83f69054325a2c87cb.png
    and congrats on the upcoming nuptials

    Reply
  7. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar
    Peter Tanshanomi

    1992 Buick LeSabre Limited, my wife’s car — for both our wedding day, and our honeymoon road trip.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b60d66f7ad06d6383c90737ba8693034fe4a409768a166026db852c19f14c0e4.jpg

    Reply
    1. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      My wife and her high school friend served as each other’s Maid of Honor; the weddings were six weeks apart. The friend’s wedding was about a 90 mile drive from the airport, and our hotel was a town or two away from the wedding hotel, so we rented a car. It was a Le Sabre.

      I think I felt more “married” by picking a Buick rental car than I felt by going through the whole tuxedo and ring thing.

      Reply
  8. Professor BananaHot Avatar
    Professor BananaHot

    Prices for limousines were absurd so I used Turo (whatever Turo was called five years ago, I forgot) to rent this MINI convertible for $80 or so.
    A nice nod to my wife’s hardtop car, and great for photos.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a5148118f0a1982f83f1ddec58c08ec4f8dfd26359099fa2df24c453ef75392d.jpg

    And it was pretty dang fun to drive, too.

    Reply
  9. nanoop Avatar
    nanoop

    https://farm9.static.flickr.com/8360/8269390303_d80cf2ea5d_b.jpg

    Reply
    1. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      Did just the two of you have it, or did you have to hire a driver?

      Reply
      1. nanoop Avatar
        nanoop

        Worst of two worlds: we rented the bus, hired a driver and had all these people on board, what were they called… ahya, “family.” They enjoyed the sight-seeing tour quite a lot, or was it the bubbly wine? We should have opted for regular public transportation, much cheaper.

        Reply
        1. 0A5599 Avatar
          0A5599

          Pretty cool. Did the wedding also take place aboard the bus?

          I was in a parade last December that celebrated not only Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa but also other life events. They had a couple walk the whole route, and they said their I Do’s at a designated intersection, pre-staffed by clergy.

          https://c8.alamy.com/comp/B8593G/herbie-rides-again-year-1974-usa-director-robert-stevenson-ken-berry-B8593G.jpg

          Reply
          1. nanoop Avatar
            nanoop

            No, wedding in the regular “wedding villa” – a city-owned, 100yo mansion that is just perfect for that. The bus was rented for commuting to the party venue, and included a stop for champagne.

          2. nanoop Avatar
            nanoop

            No, wedding in the regular “wedding villa” – a city-owned, 100yo mansion that is just perfect for that. The bus was rented for commuting to the party venue, and included a stop for champagne.

  10. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    A sweet ’95 Windstar in teal.

    Reply
    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      And the Internet Commentariat Coolness award goes to …

      Reply
      1. dead_elvis, inc. Avatar
        dead_elvis, inc.

        Something not covered in teal paint.

        Reply
        1. Alff Avatar
          Alff

          From Ford’s unfortunate “what were we thinking” era.

          Reply
      2. Alff Avatar
        Alff

        Had I known that would be the first of a half dozen minivans to come, I might have reconsidered…

        Reply
  11. Spin Avatar
    Spin

    A Ford Econoline 24 passenger bus (for everyone but me) and a Ford Transit High Roof for me.

    Bus was for everyone staying at the hotel, but my band played at my wedding, which meant someone had to bring the equipment. Since I was staying on site post party, I did it.

    Reply
  12. onrails Avatar
    onrails

    I’ll back up the story a little bit. While my wife and I were dating in our late teens/early 20’s, I had a mid 1970’s era Buick with all of 105 thundering horses (well, kind of noisy Shetland ponies) under the hood. The end of my (now) in-law’s driveway was bit sandy and exited onto a fairly busy road. So nearly every time I left their house there was a bit of tire noise. And nearly every time I came back, I was informed by eventual mother-in-law to stop burning rubber in front of their house. Now… an open diff and sandy tires was the ONLY way that car ever broke traction, so I may have indulged from time to time. But I dutifully said yes ma’am and kept on doing it anyway. My future father-in-law stayed quiet, but gave me a ‘Really? The old Buick? That all you got, kid?’ look from time to time.

    Fast forward to the wedding… I was lucky enough to borrow a back C5 Corvette for the occasion with pre-arranged permission for some shenanigans as needed. One of the groomsmen had an Impala SS and was right behind us. The in-laws house was between the church and the reception with her side of the family enjoying drinks and hors-d’oeuvres on the front lawn. So we smiled, waved, and in a show of impeccable taste and high class, did a burnout along the length of the property. The contrast between my mother-in-law’s complete disgust in her daughter’s choice and my father-in-law’s poorly hidden amusement at the whole thing was pretty funny.

    Congrats, and good luck!

    Reply
  13. crank_case Avatar
    crank_case

    Pretty low key, we used a friend Lexus GS. A part of me wanted something old and cool, a big old 50s/60s American car, a Bentley R-Type (I think that’s what it’s called, the swoopy 50s saloon, not the incredibly hard Arcade shooter) or a Citroen GS, but at the end of the day it’s barely seen on the day and ridden in for 20 minutes and my wife being the sensible person she is, and not really worried about impressing people just reckoned it was a waste of time and organizational time. Better to spend cash on looking after our guests, not to mention your better of spending your gearhead indulgence pass post wedding. No regrets.

    That said, I’ve got to hand it to the legend I met through an Irish enthusiast forum (backroads.ie, feel free to pop in and say hi.) who managed to persuade his fiance that rather than hiring the usual 70s Rolls Royce, it are sense to buy one instead because classic investment an MAN MATHS!!

    Reply
  14. rovingardener Avatar
    rovingardener

    Ah, yes. The 1986 Ford Tempo of Doom, with all wheel drive. If you selected the 4WD it was stuck on forever. Alas, it suffered a cruel death at an intersection with someone who turned blindly into oncoming traffic. I can’t say that I or anyone in my family miss it either.

    Reply
  15. danleym Avatar
    danleym

    My parents wanted to pay for a Limo. My wife insisted on my beat up 88 K5 Blazer.

    Yep, she’s a keeper.

    Reply
  16. I_Borgward Avatar
    I_Borgward

    In the back, thousands of dollars and several years of sanity.
    I eventually got out and walked.

    PS: Captcha is the evil spawn of Satan. Just saying.

    Reply
  17. SlowJoeCrow Avatar
    SlowJoeCrow

    Our wedding was several states away so the journey involved arriving in Kansas City in a tow truck after the alternator in my car seized its bearings. Flying to the DC area, getting to the wedding venue in something forgettable, then a stretch limo from the wedding to a different airport for our honeymoon, then towing the car to a shop in KC to get it fixed to drive home.

    Reply
  18. salguod Avatar
    salguod

    In 1991 I drove my sister from their wedding to their reception (across the street) in the 1960 Thunderbird that’s in my garage. It was then my grandfather’s.

    In 1962 Mom & Dad drove away from their wedding, I believe, in the 1957 Eldorado that’s now in his garage. It was also then my grandfather’s. It may have been their 1960 Dart convertible.

    In 1993 A friend drove my wife and I from our wedding in a turquoise Ford Tempo. We wanted to driven and we didn’t want anyone to know what car we were using to avoid the streamers and nonsense. We had stashed my 1988 Pulsar NX SE at the hotel.

    Reply
  19. neight428 Avatar
    neight428

    At the time, my single cab Chevy looked like a fleet buyer’s reject and the interior of my bride’s 10 year old Camry had some kind of decaying plastic chemical funk that stuck to your clothes. Apparently the aesthetics of weddings are important to some people, so we rented a Town Car for the occasion. Can’t go wrong with a panther chassis Ford.

    Reply
  20. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    I was on vacation last week and just now catching up. This was the one part of my wedding that I didn’t mind splurging on. For not that much more than a standard Lincoln limo, we got a Rolls Royce Phantom II Town Car (1934 I believe). https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a095414fae78feb684a48be7f5ebd6026fbec4ccb844e0171c6829be4c9e79db.jpg
    Best picture I could find online.

    Reply