Decorating Cars: Is It Back?

Jan 21, 2013 | Weddings

When I was a kid, you always knew someone had gotten married around town by the sound of the tin cans being dragged down the street behind the car.  There were always “Just Married” signs on the car and sometimes streamers, balloons, soap writing on the windows, and every other form of decoration.

And then all that seemed to stop.  For a couple of decades, that sort of thing was out of fashion.  Even the first few years that I was planning weddings, I never saw a decorated car.  But in the past three or four years, that seems to be changing.

Friends decorated the car for these newlyweds. Photo by Magical Moments Photography.

First, there was this one.  The friends of the bride and groom (with the knowledge of the bridal pair) attached streamers and cans, and filled the interior with balloons.

Surprise! The interior was filled with balloons. Photo by Magical Moments Photography.

The bride and groom didn’t know about the balloons….

This past summer, my mother-in-law got re-married and someone put a “Just married” sign on their car after the wedding, too.

And two other weddings I coordinated this past fall had a decorated car.  The first one had some decorous soap writing on the windows.  But the second….

The sign says, "Long live the newlyweds."

Signs, balloons, streamers, paper flowers: the style was different but the idea was the same.  I don’t think these are flukes.  Look for more decorated cars after weddings.  I do love to hear that sound of tin cans coming down the street!