It’s hard to believe, but next year will be my 10th anniversary, meaning it’s true what they say about time and its avian habits. On my big day, my mode of transport was my ’65 Skylark–I never even thought of hiring a limo or party bus. What did you drive on the happiest day of your life?
With a sharp Skylark like that, you didn’t need any other car!
My best man’s girlfriend’s dad had a gold Model A two door sedan that my best man drove us in from the church to the reception. It was very original, but the lack of AC didn’t bother us even in July. His mastery of that car was decent, but not perfect. That car makes for some fun and vivid memories.
Our honeymoon rental in Las Vegas was supposed to be a ’93 Cadillac, but they substituted a white whale Caprice. My wife didn’t appreciate the style, but it was very comfortable driving around the desert Southwest.
Crusty old bachelor here, never been married. But getting to drive off into the sunset with that ’65 Skylark would sure be an inducement to get hitched.
We hired a limo, but after spending our wedding night at the hotel where our reception was held, we left the next morning in my ’85 Plymouth Turismo, which had been dropped off there before the ceremony. This was in 1994, so we’ll be hitting 20 years shortly. I was 23 years old at the time.
Not long after we got married, my wife’s cousin also did. For reasons that I don’t recall, she and her groom needed a ride from one place to another in the chain of locations they went to after the ceremony (in between the ceremony and the reception, they made at least one stop, for pictures), so we gave them a lift in the Turismo. That is the only time a woman wearing a wedding dress has ever been in any car I have owned.
Mrs. JPC and I actually rode in a horsedrawn carriage as a gift from some family members. I owned a Model A rumbleseat coupe at the time and suggested that we use it, but the future-Mrs. was not keen on climbing into a rumbleseat in a wedding gown.
Beautiful Skylark, also. You have quite the collection.
Another great thing about my bride is that she tolerates the old junkers! This weekend, she was on the driveway cleaning the Dart’s oily bellhousing with shop rags and a can of brake cleaner. I definitely married well.
She not only tolerates your old cars, she rolls up her sleeves and gets dirty! Lucky guy.
My wife tolerates my automotive obsession, but she’s the worst helper. Even if it’s just getting her to push the brake pedal while I’m bleeding the brakes, she radiates an “Are we done yet?” vibe that makes the job miserable.
To answer the original question, our wedding car was my ’66 Chrysler Windsor. The groomsmen and I showed up in it. I was in the passenger seat. One of the guys was driving. Another in the back seat was telling him, “Punch it! This is the only chance you’re going to get.”
Your statement prompted a memory…
In 1994 or 1995 I was best man in a friend’s wedding. I drove his ’89 Camaro IROC to the wedding, where my future wife and I decorated it with paper, bird seed, and various latex products. After the wedding, when he took the decorations off, I was driving it back to his house and not paying a lot of attention to my speed. It was a rural 2-lane road; I looked down and was doing 105 mph. I didn’t think I was pushing it, but the 350 in it was running rather strong that day.
My wife loves cars too but isn’t much of a helper. Her automotive skills are more inside the car, like the back seat. 🙂
Aaron, if your wife does that, she is in a category beyond “keeper”! My wife will do a lot, but cleaning beneath your car for you is truly amazing.
Oh, the bellhousing was out at the time…she was cleaning all the oil from the INSIDE of the bellhousing. No wonder the clutch was chattering…still amazing though. 🙂
Here was our weekend…
Now that’s a place for romance!
16 ago years for my wife and I. It was in my 1992 Saturn SL1. My best man had to drive it, since most of the people at the wedding couldn’t drive a manual, and apparently I was not supposed to drive myself around on my wedding day for some reason.
We traded that car later that year for a 1997 Chrysler Cirrus. It was a more “grown up” car for sure. I still miss that Saturn.
Mine was the one and only new car I’ve ever owned, a 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix GT coupe. I’d had the car about a year when I got married. Alas, the car (traded it for a low mileage ’96 Grand Cherokee the following year) and the marriage didn’t last.
By far the wedding car I’m most envious of was the 1964 Chrysler 300K that my cousin Mike and his wife drove off in. Her family had owned a small town C-P dealership for many years and the 300 has been family owned since new. There was even a photo on display at the reception of her father and grandfather taking delivery of the car outside the old Jefferson Ave, plant in Detroit.
’73 Ford Galaxie 500. Don’t have the car or the wife anymore.
Sharp Skylark! I’ve always liked Buicks and had a 1985 Regal T-Type when I got married, but it was not very presentable. My wife and I were, however, in the unique situation of each owning a Prizm when we got married. Another friend also had a Prizm and another one had a Corolla, so we eschewed a limo and instead did a “Prizm Parade” for the bridal party from the church to the reception hall! Probably the only time I will ever have so many of the same car within my circle of friends on the road at the same time, so I had to take advantage of it. For better or worse (no pun intended) the Prizm/Corollas are pretty unremarkable cars, so 7 years later only one of the 4 is still around, and it has been sinking into the ground for the last 4 years or so.
First time, ’64 Galaxie two door hardtop. Lousy car, sweet girl. She is no longer with us and I assume that lousy Galaxie isn’t either.
Second time, ’67 Mustang coupe and then drove my wonderful wife’s new ’86 Z28 on the honeymoon. The last 2 days of the honeymoon we drove my Malibu to a car show. My dad said I was the only guy he knew who could get by with that.
When I got married back in 1969 I owned a 1963 Plymouth Sport Fury that I had put a modified 440 in. The thing rumbled and idled rough but that was the car I drove on our wedding day.
It was either that or the ratty 54 Nash Rambler she had that wouldn’t start half the time and when it did would stay running.
A red 1992 Geo Tracker.
Nice Buick ! .
When I got married in July 1976 Billy Bob drove us in his white Dodge Polara ex Metro Police car , it was white and still in pretty good shape .
Prior to that I had used my three tone 1954 Pontiac Super Chief Coupe to ferry my friends on wedding day .
For me the 1970’s were a shining time of clarity and great fun ~ for Weddings all I had to do was polish my engineer boots and choose a nearly new T – shirt and my best jeans to be properly dressed at weddings .
My old PanHead Harley or ’55 VW sun roof Beetle of course , were always spotless and highly polished , ready to go .
-Nate
Never married but if I did it would be a Panther Pink/Moulin Rouge Duster or 70 Superbee.Though I’m a Ford fan I love the pink early 70s Mopars,the right mix of tough and girly for me
1st time… 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (married in 1999) had the car all polished up and shinning.
2nd time… 2005 Pontiac Vibe (married in 2012) her car and the only “car” in our stable at the time. The only other choice would have been a 2004 F150.
20 years from now this might sound cool but right now it sounds pedestrian. My parents (married 1975) found a friend with a suicide door Thuderbird sedan to take them away from the church to the reception.
We left the church in my ’96 Thunderbird, the only car I’ve purchased new. It was black; I told my wife it was color coordinated with her hair.
For our honeymoon, we flew to Salt Lake City and rented a 400 mile ’98 Chrysler Sebring convertible. They had ran out of cars so I did well as it was supposed to be a Pontiac Grand Am.
The wife is still with me and it will be 16 years in July. She doesn’t believe me when I tell her she still looks to be 25.
The honeymoon car we got was a treat – a new white 1990 Mustang LX convertible with red interior and the 5.0 (no stick, though). We enjoyed the snot out of that little ragtop for the week we had it.
The Mustang would have been a lot of fun. Both would Provide sunburn on the old scalp. However a convertible is a great way to see Yellowstone.
January 1978: like everything else we tend to do, it was impulsive and quick, and got married 6 weeks after falling in love. Small wedding; ultra cheap, as I paid for everything. Which was next to nothing: a Catholic chapel in Westwood, and a reception at Stephanie’s mom’s house. She and her mom made the wedding dress. Biggest single expense: I had to buy a new suit!
And the vehicle we drove up in at the Church, and then off into the desert in? My 1968 Dodge A-100. Quite the fancy wedding car. But it didn’t seem to affect the longevity of this long-term experiment 🙂
So I’m confused… do you want to what I drove for my wedding day, or what I drove on the happiest day of my life?
🙂
OK, baby if you read this I am just kidding!
My sentiments exactly. Except for the “…baby…just kidding!” part.
’57 Chevy. My daily transportation in 1982.
The 265 that replaced the No-Flame 6 a couple years earlier was tired to begin with, I’d swapped it for a 307 someone had kicking around their back yard.
You can kinda see where this is going, right?
20 miles from home returning from our honeymoon…the 307 threw a rod. I not only limped it home, I actually tried limping it to work the next day…somewhere along I-81 coming into Syracuse, the rod jammed into the cam, breaking it in half.
It finally got a 283 from a machine shop…
When we got married in 1977, my best man drove us in his mom’s 1976 Nova sedan.
In retrospect, it would have been more interesting if he had driven his 1975 Chevy LWB windowless van. The shag carpeting would have made a fun ride to the reception!
For our honeymoon, we drove her 1970 Mustang 302 auto convertible. That was fun.
Got married in 1997 on a tight budget, my FIL the Ford sales guy was very proud to provide the wedding car, so we got driven around (by Pa) in a white 97 Lincoln TownCar. An insignificant detail of the day, I don’t even have a photo of it. At any rate the marriage has lasted, so no regrets there.
The most interesting wedding car I ever drove was when I was best man, I drove the maid of honor around in a 71 Chevy Nova, 350 4 speed, manual everything, big block spings up front & huge shackles in the back. The car was hard to drive, with a tiny grant wheel & manual steering. My passenger said “blow the horn” but I knew the metal horn button was hot & would give me a shock so I explained this and said “you can blow the horn if you want. She didn’t blow the horn. The car was gone within a year, and the marriage was gone within 5.
So the lesson I took from all this is the more boring and cheap your wedding car is, the better it bodes for your actual marriage.
+1!
Our wedding car was my wife’s 1986 Celebrity wagon, purchased for all of $1,500 just a couple of months prior. Saw daily driver service until 2001. The car, not the bride.
Our honeymoon car was my ’89 Beretta. Made for a wonderful trip from Columbus OH to Niagara Falls, Ontario & back.
Our 19th anniversary is coming up soon.
I drove my bride away from our reception in my 1936 Chevy woodie wagon. October 1983. Still happily living with both bride and car, although the latter lives a life of comfortable retirement. It’s good that one of us can do that!
My soon to be ex-wife’s ’92 Skylark. My Dodge Diplomat was sidelined with some mechanical malady, so the Buick was it. I wasn’t impressed with that car on a normal day, and definitely not on my wedding day. Between the water leaks and weak defroster (Married on 12/28), it made for a miserable ride.
I was also married on 12/28, which is also my birthday so no excuse for not remembering the anniversary. We used my ’84 Mustang GT to go to the church and the reception, and then switched to her Nissan 300ZX for the honeymoon. Both cars are long since gone but the marriage is still going strong, married 28 years as of last December.
In June of 1979, a ’72 Datsun 510, resprayed in Kermit the Frog green.
We drove it forthwith on a one-way honeymoon from Syracuse to my new job in Seattle.
Hit the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg museum in Indiana and the Ford museum in Deer Lodge, Montana among other attractions on the way out.
A 1976 Alfa Romeo Spider 23 years ago.
Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead.
1979 Lincoln Continental.
Love the Skylark!
A new 1977 Corvette ( still have a 1967 Coupe )
Since our wedding was 1500 miles from home, we rode a late 80s Lincoln Town Car limo to the airport.
The honeymoon featured a slightly more interesting ride, a 1993 Fiat Tipo 1.4 rental car.
Married last May… Morning of the wedding, I ran some last-minute errands in my ’97 Crown Victoria. The wedding itself was on the beach across from where we stayed so no car involved there…had a Lincoln Town Car stretch to take us from the reception to the hotel. I’d really wanted something more exciting…my vision of leaving the reception after the wedding had always involved either a Rolls Silver Cloud or a 60’s Cadillac convertible…but on the island where we were married, there were no rental options for classics within 100 miles in any direction. It was the Town Car or nothing.
For the honeymoon, our rental was a yellow ’13 Camaro convertible. Definitely a good car for top-down driving through the Florida Keys on the way to Key West.
New 1977 Corvette (have a ’67 Coupe now)
Timely question as our 26th anniversary is in two days… We left the wedding in my Grandmother’s 1983 Mercury Marquis; 4-door white with blue vinyl roof and turbine wheels. Honeymooned in my ’87 Suzuki Samurai in St. Augustine, FL.
We honeymooned in St. Augustine as well! We seem to have been there almost exactly two years behind you, as our 24th anniversary is 5/5.
First wedding, 1980, it would have been my ’79 Monza Kammback.
Second wedding, 2000, 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport.
Upcoming wedding, 2015, we’re debating between the Solstice, or my ’88 Harley FXR.
We were married in June 1962; the wedding car was my best man’s father’s 1958 Edsel Citation 2-door hardtop. My well-worn 1950 Ford convertible, which became ours, was stashed in a garage a few blocks from the church. Our honeymoon was mostly at her parents’ cabin at Mason Lake.
Our daughter and her husband had the rather unusual experience of riding to and from her wedding two years ago in a Toyota Hi-Ace; they were married on the beach at sunset a few miles down the coast from the Costa Rica resort most of us stayed at. Most of the wedding party followed suit although a few of the wealthier in-laws had rental cars.
This a great question considering I just got married (again!) this Saturday.
Our getaway car this weekend is my 2005 Ford Escape XLS with 16″wheels from my cousin’s soon to be disposed of ’04 XLT model. Not too shabby a wedding gift.
The first time down the aisle was June 1995 in a ’95 Geo Prism purchased brand new 3 months prior. We used my dilapidated ’84 Chevy Celebrity as trade.
We hired some 1970s Rolls Royce. It broke down and had to be jump-started
Mine was just my company car at the time, a 2010 Nissan Maxima. We got married had the reception and stayed the night at the same place, so no need for transport beyond getting out there.
I sent the wife and her bridesmaids in a limo, a 1956 Armstrong Siddely Sapphire, which was built for the Queen Mother to use on her tour of Australia. It was really nice, shame I didn’t get to ride in it!
We took my beloved brand-new 2003 Mustang GT.
Left the church in a very nice Bentley R-Type. Left the reception in a bog-standard Vauxhall Carlton (company car).
FX16 GT-S.
I drove my 1965 SS Impala. What a sweet ride she was.I mean both, 🙂
We were married in 2000. A friend of my wife’s sister had just bought a ’54 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe from an old widow. It had belonged to her late husband and was in showroom condition with only 38,000 miles. He paid $7000 cash for it – her kids were arguing over it and she just wanted to be rid of it because she hated his old cars! His wedding gift to us was to do all of the driving for our wedding – driving my wife and her sisters to my in-laws house, and then driving my wife and I, our best man and maid of honor to the reception. What a nice, smooth ride. I also took some great shots of it for my own collection. After the reception, we were the last to leave and my brother-in-law was supposed to drive us to the trailer where we were spending our wedding night. It was pouring rain, and when he turned the key on his Eagle Vision, there was a loud bang from under the hood – the battery blew up! Just then another friend of my wife’s sister came to the rescue in her Dodge mini-van and we made it to the trailer high and dry. (There seem to be a lot of Mopars involved here – we also had a 1990 Dodge Shadow at the time.).
Anyway, the Dodge is long gone, and we’re in a place where we don’t really need a car anymore. Most of the stores and restaurants we frequent are within walking distance. We have a transit stop in front of our building, and when the weather’s fine I bike to work. Nowadays we just rent a car when we need one. Some of them are kind of dull, but occasionally we get something we really like, and it’s great to drive a new vehicle for a few days without a salesman in the shotgun seat.
Both my wife and I would LOVE that old Skylark.
I didn’t drive. I was driven. From my fiancee’s home to church in a 1982 Ford Escort wagon, and back again. We had an open-house reception and were driven to the airport hotel in a Subaru. Next day we left town in a McDonnell Douglas MD-82. The first car I drove as a married man was my 1976 Dodge Aspen sedan which I kept ans and very few problems with, until 1998.
MD-82: Nothing says riding in style like a Mad Dog!
My dad’s 1931 Model A Tudor Deluxe. He restored it when I was about 5, (I’m 35 now) and still has it. Both my brother and sister left their wedding in it as well. Turned into a family tradition.
’86 Mazda 323 DX hatchback. It was cute all decked out with flowers.
1939 Packard V-12 Convertible Sedan, from the Cofer Collection in Tucker, GA. Used in the premier of Gone With The Wind. We were married in May 1995.
Last Packard V-12 to come off the line. A magnificent automobile. If you want to bring Atlanta traffic to a dead stop, roll down Peachtree St. In this monster.
See it here: http://www.thecofercollection.com/1939-packard.html
Found a pic from my wedding (2005). Our wedding photographer used film, and it seems nobody else took pics of me with my Chrysler. I just took a picture of the picture, so image quality isn’t the best.
My father once counseled me, “If you ever get married, let me know afterwards.” That, combined with the horror instilled in me by “The Catered Affair” with Ernest Borgnine and Bette Davis, led my wife and me to elope. The venue of choice was the Jubal T. Early, the last operating cable ferry in the US running from White’s Ferry, MD, across the Potomac to the Virginia shore. The Jubal T. was able to make the crossing in just under two and a half minutes, so we had the ferry operator stop in mid-stream for the ceremony performed by a Methodist minister that had be a fellow student with my wife in college. The only people invited to the wedding were two couples who were our best friends. The trunk of my 128 served well as our alter. My wife and I both wore brand spanking new Levis. At the Virginia landing my wife and I drove off on our honeymoon and our wedding party returned to Maryland. To this day, 37 years later, we are both convinced that we did the right thing in all respects.
Great story! I believe I’ve been on that ferry… Is it north of DC?? A friend and I took it once to go to a festival or something in Maryland, we were in Chantilly VA at the time. Such a neat experience but it was crazy busy thanks to the festival. What made you choose that particular “venue”?
And after attending too many weddings, some bargain priced and some horribly overpriced, I still think tiny elopement-style weddings are the way to go. My wife and I slipped off the the Bahamas and came back hitched. No cars needed though, we walked down the beach. For the cost of my sisters wedding they could have paid for the entire wedding party to go to the Bahamas with them and had a much better time! You definitely made the right choice.
1998 Chevy Cavalier sedan
Rode to the church in my uncle’s Mercedes W126 sedan, driven by my brother and sister in law. My wife came over in a Panther (Lincoln TC) stretch limo hired by her sister in law. After the wedding stuff, drove off in my then new 2000 Nissan Maxima GLE sedan.
Married in 2000 our wedding car was my MIL’s new Chrysler LHS. Our honeymoon vehicle was my ’72 Fargo Power Wagon long box.
The transfer case was divorced from the transmission in 72 with a little ~12″ drive shaft (really just a pair of u-joint yokes joined by a splined shaft slider). About a 100 kilometres from anywhere on the third day of your trip the nut holding the yolk to the rear of the transmission fell off preventing forward motion. Repaired it on the side of the road (in the middle of road work) with a hose clamp tightened on the shaft because while the nut was long gone the drive shaft was retained by a crossmember. Drove it like that for the rest of our trip until my father mailed me a replacement nut off my spare transmission.
Our wedding and honeymoon car was my 1972 MGB Roadster.
I’ve still got the car, and our 20th anniversary is this September…
A 1984 S-10 Blazer 4WD. Gold with white center panels. Drove it over 100k and had to rebuild with an RV-2 cam and porting. I put a 80K more miles on that thing
After 21 years, 4 months, 11 days and 35 minutes of marriage, we divorced.
I drove away in my VR6 and burned rubber in first and second.
THAT was the happiest day of my life.
My wife and I rode from the church to the reception in a Bentley Arnage.
When my bride and I got married June 1, 1992, we had two kids: My broughamy ’78 Monarch and her ’91 Mazda-made Escort wagon. Neither was good for the long haul.
When my wife and I were married 32 years ago, she owned a ’72 Monte Carlo that wasn’t mechanically dependable, and my ’66 Impala convertible had a leaky roof, so we went with my white Mazda B1800, which became known as the “ice cream truck”.
My 95 850 t5. One of the few times that car was truly spotless. We had a cabin up in the mountains(hills really) that the brochure said was smooth driving. The car was lowered on HD bilsteins with ipd springs. Needless to say the muffler did make it to the cabin.
My ’97 Accord. Had a leaking head gasket at the time…had to put coolant in just to get out of the parking lot.
My wife and I got married at the town hall…
We eloped to Annapolis, MD (no waiting period in Maryland, dontcha know). Our ride from the hotel to the courthouse was a three-wheeled bicycle cab. Our “driver” felt compelled to show us the sites on the way, which made us a bit nervous as the courthouse was due to close for the day.
We walked back.
Still together going on 26 years.
My bright yellow 79 Camaro in 1979. The car is long gone, but the bride is still the same.
Married October 2013.
2013 Fleetwood Discovery 44′ motorhome, better than any limo with bathroom, directTV, and full size fridge stocked with beer, and assorted vegetables and meat/cheese.
They shuttled us to the hotel after the reception, where I drove home my 2009 Impala 2LT the next day.
2013 Ford Fiesta sedan as a rental on our honeymoon in Puerto Rico.
Our wedding car was my 9 year old ’63 Impala 230 six with 3 on the tree. I went to the airport to pick up my best man/brother the night before and some one stole my 8 track player by jambing open the vent window. Six months later we bought the ’63 LeSabre that we still have. About a year later my brother got married and I drove his ’56 Buick Super.
We were married in 2012 and my husband surprise me when he brings a Chrysler 300c stretch limousines. That was a amazing and unforgettable moment. Limo hire company “Lucky 8 Limousines” made it more classic by giving it such royal touch Red carpet, ribbons, refreshments, flower shower and more.
1957 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud.
My to-be inlaws offered to rent us a limo, but I have a visceral aversion to stretch limos… in my personal opinion, they are the embodiment of gauche. I wanted something a) classic, and b) something I’d never ridden in before. The Rolls ticked both of those boxes.
Here’s the one thing I can say about a 55-plus year old Rolls: that car had, without exception, the best air conditioning of any vehicle I have ever been in. It was a hot June day in Portland, and all afternoon it was on the verge of raining (though thankfully it didn’t!) It was HUMID. We were pretty sticky and miserable by the time we left our reception, but the driver cranked the AC; there were these huge vents behind the rear headrests that BLASTED cold air on us with the force of a jet engine. It was glorious, and definitely helped us relax after a hot, hectic day.
One more thing: if you want to get a lot of thumbs up and smiles from people on the street, definitely go for a classic Rolls!
Consider me officially jealous. That was exactly what I wanted, a series I or II Silver Cloud. A company in the city I used to live ran a white Silver Cloud as a wedding car and I thought I’d hire that out if I got married in town. As it happened, my lovely wife had her heart set on a beach wedding in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and we went with that–beautiful setting, great memories and a lot of fun–but no one who rented out anything other than the usual Lincoln Town Car limos in the area. It was that or a taxicab. Oh well…