Wedding Car Decoration Rules, Explained: Confetti, Champagne and the Deposit

On the car	Yes or no	Why, in one line
Ribbon across the bonnet	yes	Tied at the mirrors or the grille, never taped. Off in ten seconds.
Magnet signs, clip-on florals, a sign inside the rear glass	yes	On a clean panel, on something structural, inside the glass. Nothing left behind.
Rice, dry paper confetti	no	Finds door shuts, seat rails, the boot channel and the fabric roof well.
Wet or dyed confetti, petals in the rain, silly string	no	Dye transfers to hot paint and pale leather; solvent string marks clear coat in an hour of sun.
Tape, vinyl, stickers, suction mounts	no	Residue on a dark car is a machine-polish job; vinyl leaves an outline after an August afternoon.
An open bottle in the cabin, smoking	no	Champagne in perforated leather is an upholstery job; the open container is also the law. Smoking carries a cleaning fee automatically.

The best exit photograph, and the worst confetti cabin Rolls-Royce Dawn Roof down, the couple’s heads above the beltline, and a fabric roof well that no vacuum reaches. Throw at the couple, shoot from the car’s side. Dates and rate →

What the deposit is, mechanically

Every wedding car page in Los Angeles shows a confetti exit and none of them mentions that a deposit exists. So the reader plans the shot in March and finds out the rule at the return inspection in July.

It is a hold, not a payment. At the start of the rental an amount is placed against the renter’s own credit card and sits there, reducing the available credit, until it is released; the Federal Trade Commission’s guide to renting a car explains the mechanic for the whole industry. The amount depends on the car, from $350 at the smaller end of the fleet to $2,000 on the flagships, and every car couples actually book for a wedding — the Rolls-Royces, the Bentley, the Lamborghini — sits at the top of that range.

The hold is released 5–7 business days after the car is returned in acceptable condition; not on the day, because the release is a bank process rather than a decision somebody makes at the kerb. Anything deducted is deducted against damage or cleaning that is itemised. The hold comes back once the car returns clean, and the four things on the no list below are the ones to keep off it.

The yes list, and the no list with what each one costs

Decoration is welcome and it photographs well. Ribbon across the bonnet, tied at the mirrors or the grille rather than taped, is the classic image and comes off in ten seconds. Magnet-backed signs on a clean steel panel — grit under a magnet is what scratches, so wipe the spot first. Clip-on or tied florals, coordinated with your florist, attached to something structural. A sign in the rear screen, inside the glass, where it cannot fly off at forty and cannot mark anything. Dried petals thrown at the couple rather than over the car, which is also the better photograph. Almost nothing on that list needs permission so much as it needs mentioning.

Rice and dry paper confetti: the problem is not the sweeping, it is where it goes — door shuts, seat rails, the boot channel and, on an open car, the fabric-lined roof well you cannot reach with a vacuum in twenty minutes. Wet or dyed confetti and petals in the rain: dye moves, coloured paper on a hot panel transfers, and pale leather takes dye out of a wet petal permanently. Silly string is solvent-based and marks clear coat when it bakes on a black panel for an hour, so the risk depends on how quickly somebody notices, and at a wedding nobody notices.

Adhesive of any kind leaves residue that is a machine-polish job on a dark car. An open bottle in the cabin is two problems: champagne in perforated leather goes sticky and then sour, an upholstery job rather than a wipe, and separately the California Vehicle Code treats an open container in a moving car as an offence for everyone in it. Smoking is not a judgement call: prohibited in every car, a cleaning fee automatically, including the cigar lit standing beside an open door.

The exit shot that works

The photograph everyone actually wants is a couple walking through something falling, with a car behind them. Note the geometry: the car is the background, not the target. So aim the throw at the couple and shoot from the car’s side of it. Use dried petals, hand-held ribbon wands, or paper streamers held rather than thrown. If it is sparklers, hold them clear of paint and away from the fabric roof — a spark on a convertible roof is a hole, not a mark.

Bubbles look wonderful and are soap, which dries to a film on black paint in the sun; a rinse fixes it and a rinse is not a deduction, but say so. And use an open car if you have one: a Dawn with the roof down puts the couple’s heads above the beltline and gives the confetti somewhere to be that is not in front of their faces, which is the actual reason open cars photograph better at an exit.

Put the decoration plan in writing, one paragraph at the time you book: what will be attached to the car, what will be thrown near it, and who is doing the attaching. We come back with a yes, or with the version of it that does not cost anybody money, and the plan is confirmed in five minutes. Choosing the car and where it waits for three hours are the other two conversations worth having in March.

What it costs, and how it reaches you

The deposit is the refundable hold above, by the car, back 5–7 business days after it returns; the Protection plan is priced per day off the same band and is a separate line from the hold. Delivery to the partner hotels in Beverly Hills is complimentary and collection from our lot on Robertson Boulevard is free; a venue address is quoted with the car, and a delivery is a handover, so name a receiver who is not the couple. The airport is $150 both ways standard or $300 both ways VIP if the car is meeting a flight, half that for one direction. The rest is in the terms, and the cars are on the wedding car rental in Los Angeles page.