How to Hire a Wedding Car in Los Angeles, Explained
Send four things and you will have a quote the same day: the date, the venue addresses in order, the time the photographer wants the car in shot, and roughly when you expect to leave. That is enough to hold a car. Everything else — who drives, what goes on the paint, which gate the car waits behind — is settled afterwards and none of it changes the price of holding the date.
The day is the unit, not the hour. A self-drive wedding car is booked as a day and delivered to your schedule, so the car is yours from the morning through the exit rather than metered against a clock. Book as early as the venue is confirmed: there is one of each car and one of each date, and the two book against each other.
| What you send | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| The date | The only thing that cannot be worked around. One car, one calendar. |
| Venue addresses, in order | Getting ready, ceremony, reception. Sets the delivery and the collection. |
| The photographer’s call time | The car should be in place before the shot, not arriving during it. |
| Roughly when you leave | Decides whether one car covers the day or the exit wants its own. |
| Anything unusual about access | A gate code, a gravel drive, a private road, a valet-only forecourt. |
What to send, and what comes back
People often open with the car and apologise for not knowing the rest. It is the other way round: send the day and we will tell you which cars are free for it.
The date does the most work, because a wedding car is not a category booking. You are reserving one specific vehicle with its own calendar, in its own colour, and the photographs on its page are of that car rather than of one like it. So the first useful answer is which cars are actually free on your Saturday, and that answer takes a date to produce.
After that, the addresses in order. A wedding day is a sequence of places, and the car’s job is defined by that sequence: where it is delivered, where it waits during the ceremony, and where it is collected. Venues differ enormously on this — some have a forecourt made for the shot and some have a locked gate and a gravel approach — and venue access and where the car waits covers what to check with yours.
What comes back is the car or cars that are free, the day rate for each, the delivery for your addresses, and the Protection plan line, which is part of every quote rather than an extra to decline. If you want to see a car in person before you decide, say so when you enquire and we will tell you what can be arranged around its calendar — the cars are collected from the Robertson office when they are not out.
How many hours a wedding car is booked for
This is where wedding-car hire in Los Angeles differs from what the phrase suggests elsewhere. There is no three-hour package and no hourly meter on a self-drive booking: the shortest booking is one day, and one day covers a wedding comfortably. The car arrives when your schedule says and goes back when the day is done.
That matters most in the middle of the day, when the car has nothing to do for three hours between the ceremony and the reception. Booked by the hour, that gap is money. Booked by the day, it is simply part of the day, and the car can sit exactly where the photographer wants it.
A second day is worth booking when the morning and the evening are genuinely separate events — a welcome dinner the night before, or a next-day brunch with photographs. And two cars on one date are simply two bookings, each delivered to its own time, which is how a couple arrives in one car and leaves in another.
If the day wants a driver rather than keys, the arithmetic changes shape: a chauffeured booking is taken from two hours, with the driver charged from $100 an hour on top of the car’s own rate, and no security deposit at all. For a couple who want the ceremony and the exit covered without anyone in the wedding party driving, that is often the tidier answer — who is allowed to drive has the conditions every named driver has to meet.
Any combination you like, including two cars
There is no formula here and no package to fit into. A Rolls-Royce arriving at the ceremony and a different one leaving the reception is a normal booking. One car for the whole day is equally normal. So is a Cullinan in and a Dawn out, which is the combination people ask about most, because the closed car suits a dress on the way there and the open one suits the photographs on the way out.
Mechanically, two cars on one date are two one-day rentals. Each is delivered to its own time and place, each carries its own delivery, and they need not be the same marque or the same shape. If you want the whole shelf compared before you decide, choosing the wedding car matches the car to the dress and the venue, and what separates the Rolls-Royce bodies is the version for couples who have already decided on the marque.
When to book
As soon as the venue and the date are fixed. The reasoning is simple arithmetic rather than urgency: there is one of each car, and a Saturday in the summer is the single most requested kind of date there is. Couples who book at the point the venue is confirmed get the car they pictured.
Later than that is worth asking about rather than assuming. Dates move, plans change, and a Friday or a Sunday behaves quite differently from a Saturday even in peak season — so send the date and find out rather than deciding for yourself that it is gone. If the first choice is taken, the shelf is deep at this end and the alternatives are not consolation prizes.
Two practical notes for the calendar. Delivery is arranged to a time rather than a window, so the car is in place before the photographer needs it. And changing the date later is free and can be done as many times as you need, up until the final day before the booking starts — the full wording lives on the terms page.
The deposit, and whose card it sits on
A self-drive booking carries a refundable hold on a credit card in the renter’s own name, taken at the handover rather than at booking, and released after the car comes back — 5–7 business days on a clean return. The deposit page has the figure for each car and the mechanics.
The practical consequence on a wedding day: the card has to belong to whoever is named as the renter, and that person has to be present at the handover with their licence. If the parents are paying and the couple is driving, the couple are the renters and the parents are simply settling the invoice. A chauffeured booking sidesteps the question entirely, because no deposit is taken when the driver has the keys.
Who pays for what
Tradition puts the wedding-party transport with whoever is hosting — historically the bride’s family, with the groom’s side covering the groom and the best man, which is roughly where The Knot’s breakdown of who pays for what still puts it. In practice it is now usually whoever is paying for the reception. The couple’s own car, the one in the photographs, is more often the couple’s own line, and the getaway car is frequently a gift from a parent or from the wedding party.
None of that is a rule, and the only part that matters to the booking is the one above: the person named on the agreement is the person whose card carries the deposit and whose licence is shown at the handover. Everything else is an invoice question, and a single booking can be paid for by someone who never touches the car.
Guest transport is a separate question from the couple’s car and usually a separate booking — a seven-seater or a chauffeured SUV moving the wedding party between venues, rather than anything anyone is going to be photographed in. The wedding page is where both sides of that are arranged.
The short version
Send the date, the addresses in order, the photographer’s call time and roughly when you are leaving. That is a quote. Book it when the venue is confirmed, because one car and one date book against each other and a summer Saturday is the most asked-for date there is.
Then stop optimising the logistics. The day is the unit, any combination of cars is allowed, and the only thing that has to be got right on the morning is that the person named on the agreement is there with their licence and their card.
Cars in this guide
More on this: Which car for the occasion — every article on the topic, and where to book.
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Frequently asked questions
How do I hire a car for a wedding in Los Angeles?
Send four things and you will have a quote the same day: the date, the venue addresses in order, the time the photographer wants the car in shot, and roughly when you expect to leave. That is enough to hold a car. Who drives, what may go on the paint and where the car waits during the ceremony are all settled afterwards, and none of them changes the price of holding the date.
How many hours do I need a wedding car for?
A self-drive wedding car is booked by the day rather than the hour, and one day covers a wedding comfortably — the car arrives when your schedule says and goes back when the day is done. That matters most in the three-hour gap between the ceremony and the reception: booked by the hour that gap is money, booked by the day it is simply part of the day, and the car can sit exactly where the photographer wants it. A chauffeured booking works differently and is taken from two hours.
When should I book my wedding transportation?
As soon as the venue and the date are fixed. The reason is arithmetic rather than urgency: there is one of each car and one of each date, and a summer Saturday is the most requested kind of date there is, so couples who book when the venue is confirmed get the car they pictured. If your date is closer than that, send it and ask — a Friday or a Sunday behaves quite differently from a Saturday even in peak season.
Who pays for the wedding transportation?
Traditionally the host — historically the bride's family, with the groom's side covering the groom and the best man. In practice it is now usually whoever is paying for the reception, and the couple's own car is more often their own line, with the getaway car frequently a gift from a parent or the wedding party. The only part that affects the booking is that the person named on the agreement is the one whose card carries the deposit and whose licence is shown at the handover; someone else can settle the invoice.
Can I have one car to the ceremony and a different one leaving?
Yes, and it is a normal booking rather than a special request. Any combination the couple likes works: a Cullinan in and a Dawn out is the one people ask about most, because the closed car suits a dress on the way there and the open one suits the photographs on the way out. Mechanically, two cars on one date are two one-day rentals, each delivered to its own time and place, and they need not be the same marque or the same shape.
Should I see the wedding car before booking it?
You are booking one specific vehicle rather than a category, in its own colour, and the photographs on its page are of that car rather than of one like it — which answers most of what a viewing would. If you would still like to see it in person, say so when you enquire and we will tell you what can be arranged around that car's calendar; the cars are collected from the Robertson office when they are not out.
Does a wedding car booking need a deposit, and whose card?
A self-drive booking carries a refundable hold on a credit card in the renter's own name, taken at the handover rather than at booking and released after the car comes back — 5–7 business days on a clean return. The card has to belong to whoever is named as the renter, and that person has to be at the handover with their licence. If the parents are paying and the couple is driving, the couple are the renters and the parents are settling the invoice. A chauffeured booking takes no deposit at all, because the driver has the keys.
What if our plans change after we book?
Changing the date is free and can be done as many times as you need, up until the final day before the booking starts — the full wording is on the terms page. Venue changes are simply new addresses for the delivery and the collection, and adding a second car for the exit is a second one-day booking rather than a change to the first.