PHANTOM HIRE'S BLOG

Why do the wedding car ribbons matter and what do they symbolise? The wedding car is the first thing you see on the way to your wedding and the last thing you see as you travel into your future as a newly married couple, as well as often featuring in photographs throughout the wedding day, and a well-chosen ribbon for a wedding car can add cohesion to the imagery presented throughout the day.

Use of the wedding ribbons for cars has historically been used as a symbol of tradition, either religious or cultural, with the colours signifying festivity, celebration and sometimes even warding off bad luck, thus making the vehicle an expansion of your wedding theme and personal style, whether it’s a rural wedding featuring a Land Rover with large bows adorning the side, or a modern urban wedding that adopts the Rolls Royce Phantom 8 with a V-shaped ribbon on the front.

When planning the layout and look of your wedding day, the sheer variety of choice that you get from the car wedding ribbon is so useful to your day, with styles to reflect your personality and wedding theme. Gone are the days of a choice between off-white or ivory.

Choosing the Perfect Colour for Your Wedding Car Ribbon

After all the rigmarole of wedding planning and setting your theme, making sure everything from the venue to your wedding dress is ideal for your big day, so why should the wedding ribbon for a car and the rest of your decorations be any different? Your wedding car is going to be a focal point of the day, and the ribbon for wedding cars is going to be at the forefront, ensuring through its colour and design that your journey is “on brand”.

But, how do you choose the right colour for your wedding car ribbon?

There are many things to take into account when looking at the colour for your wedding car, and the ribbons adorning them. Of course, the overall wedding theme is something you should take into consideration, as well as the venue. Some aspects of the venue are going to be inescapable — they may have large wooden beams or arches of a certain colour that you may want to incorporate into your wedding theme to make a more cohesive look.

The season in which your wedding is taking place is often one people look at when deciding their ribbon for wedding cars, with the idea to match the wedding car to the backdrop in which it’s driving. A Tuscan Sun Dawn might not look completely on theme in the spring, but will work amazingly for an autumn wedding. Earnshill House in Somerset, has a large and sweeping countryside and combined with a rich brick exterior, that matches the colours you get from autumnal ribbon choices such as orange, deep red, or gold.

There can also be cultural or religious factors to affect the ribbons for wedding cars, with certain ceremonies historically leaning into certain colour schemes. A traditionally Christian wedding, for example, typically uses white ribbon for wedding cars to represent purity and new beginnings, also using blue for faith and gold for wealth and prosperity. A stately yet romantic venue like Chapel House Estate in Kent is the perfect place for this, especially with cars like the Phantom.

A Hindu celebration can lean into colours like red to symbolise love and passion, as well as gold for prosperity, and green, white and yellow for harmony, purity and joy respectively. The Georgian elegance of Cornwell Manor in Oxfordshire, with beautiful gardens and a visually pleasing outside, that pairs great with the deep and beautiful colours like crimson red or saffron gold on the wedding car.

Similarly, a Sikh ceremony often uses red to symbolise good luck and pink for the groom. There is an onus on vibrant and joyous colours to reflect the mood of the day. Wasing Park in Berkshire, with its mix of barn settings and woodland vibe makes the venue versatile, where colourful car ribbons can enhance both indoor and outdoor spaces.

On the theme of rich and vibrant colour schemes, a Muslim wedding ceremony will traditionally use rich and vibrant colours like red, gold and green, symbolising love, wealth and growth, as well as blue to represent serenity. That would look stunning at a venue with fantastic architectural and outdoor space, making the Manor by The Lake a great choice.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, wedding car white ribbons may just be the linking factor between most wedding themes and cultural links. However, it’s your big day, so the choice is ultimately yours, and the only factor that really matters is your personal preference — white, black, gold, red and beyond, the choice is yours.

Does Ribbon Size Matter?

The answer to the question of how many meters of ribbon for a wedding car is very much like asking how long is a piece of string. The length of your wedding ribbon is completely dependent on the size of your wedding car. The standard ribbon length is between 5 to 7 meters.

Obviously, the ribbon layout can impact that — a simple V-shape across the bonnet is going to require less material than something more elaborate like a large bow adorning the front — but ultimately the length of the bonnet is a large factor.

With limousines of any ilk, you would be surprised how short the bonnet is, meaning you may need fewer ribbons than you initially thought, with the average limo bonnet ranging between 1.2 and 1.8 meters, with the Range Rover and Audi Q7 limousines being on the higher range, and the Chrysler 300 and Ferrari F1 limo on the shorter side.

The Hummers we offer all sit at 2 meters for a bonnet, so a ribbon length of 5–6 meters is advisable. But at the top end of car sizes, with a bonnet length starting at 1.6 meters for the Rolls-Royce Dawn and going up to a whopping 2.5 meters for the Rolls-Royce Phantom 8, as you can see it is important to discuss the ribbon length with your consultant, as there is such a vast range of lengths for a ribbon for a wedding car.

The width of the wedding car ribbon can impact the look and professionalism of the wedding car ribbons. Typically, the width of the ribbon for a wedding car provided is between 38–50 mm, wide enough to make the colour prominent on the front of the car without being too long as to take focus away from the car itself.

Of course, the final thing to take into account is the additions. Whether that is a desire for bow arrangements and extra trimmings — your classic V-shape will take up less space, but if you were inclined to have a large central bow (typically attached to the wing mirrors), it will require more material. Similarly, if you were looking to include ribbon streamers, draping off the sides or trailing down the front of the car, there will be another increase in material used.

What Type of Ribbon is Best for Wedding Cars?

Ribbons for wedding cars can come in a wide range of materials, from the smooth and elegant satin ribbons that look great and are useful for shorter trips with plenty of stops for photoshoots. There are also options that include organza, grosgrain and chiffon, which all have their benefits, but ultimately either lack in structure or can sometimes seem muted or lacking in shine.

We typically opt for a poly ribbon, which is made from plastic polymers. It’s a durable, waterproof ribbon that still looks great. The colours pop and they sit naturally on the car — slightly soft, flat and thin, with a beautiful sheen — making for vibrant colours that really stand out, and the more muted colours shine.

But when you are considering what type of ribbon is used for wedding cars, it is important to do research into the different styles, looks and availability that different materials come in. Due to the nature of where your wedding is taking place, the weather conditions can be… erratic, so if your journey includes long drives through windy coastal regions, you may want to pick something sturdy like the poly ribbon, as heavier ribbons may droop or fray in the poor conditions.

Styling the wedding ribbon is something to take into account. If you are planning to create weird and wonderfully intricate designed wedding ribbons, then you need something that will allow you to do so. Or if you are aiming for a soft, more flowing aesthetic for an idyllic romantic wedding, then a lighter wedding ribbon is something to consider.

It ultimately comes down to your wedding theme and location, and what wedding ribbon and bow will fit in the most natural way, which is why so many couples leave it to the wedding car hire service so that every aspect of the journey, including the wedding decorations, is taken care of so you just need to worry about picking the colours.

Fixing Your Wedding Car Ribbons

The most common ribbon arrangement is the typical V-shape across the bonnet, but you may be wondering, how exactly do you tie a wedding ribbon on a car? Hopefully, if you are using a wedding car service, this is something that would be taken care of for you. But if you are a fan of the crafts and you want to take care of that yourself, then there are a few different bows, ribbons and styles you can look into.

The classic V-shape ribbon on the bonnet stretches from the corners of the windscreen and down the front of the grille. However, with some cars like the Rolls-Royce, you do also have the opportunity to attach it to the “Spirit of Ecstasy.” It all depends on what aspect of the wedding car you want to show off, but initially, you want to thread the ribbon under the hood or use some magnetic clips to secure. Then create a taut V-shape connecting to the top corners of the windscreen or on the wing mirrors.

Moving into the more bespoke bow and ribbon shapes, that can get quite tricky, so it is always useful to get a professional opinion or look at more in-depth guides on how to put a ribbon on a wedding car! If you are looking at a florist-style bow, you want to hang the ribbon off the door handles or wing mirrors, cut multiple loops of ribbon, stack them in an X-pattern, cinch tightly in the middle using thin ribbons and fluff out the loops to form a round, voluptuous bow.

There are plenty of other ribbon types, from Tiffany bows — requiring you to wrap the ribbon around either the handles, trunk or grille, with cross ends making a single loop on each side, much like tying your shoelaces — to the more elaborate bow like the rosette, attaching it to the centre of the bonnet or the back of the car, with 6–8 loops needing to be created, holding it in the centre and fanning the loops out in a circular motion. And if you are feeling brave, it can be layered for extra volume.

Of course, when securing ribbons and bows, the safety of the vehicle and everyone is paramount, with the driver’s view needing to be completely clear, and ensuring that the ribbons don’t interfere with wipers, mirrors or the indicators, and making sure the ribbons are fastened securely so there is no chance of accidental slipping while the chauffeur takes you to your venue.

Should You Have a Professional Design Your Wedding Car Ribbon

So, when looking at wedding ribbons for cars, the first thing you might want to think about is whether you want to create and implement the design yourself, or if you want a professional wedding car company to do it for you. There are pros and cons for both options — from price to ease of use. Wedding car ribbons and bows come in all shapes and sizes, so it is important to decide on the wedding ribbon you are choosing before deciding whether or not to call in the cavalry to help.

If you do decide to fix the wedding car ribbons and bows yourself, while most companies will include the price of a simple V-shape ribbon with the wedding car hire, the more elaborate bow shapes and sizes may come with an additional cost. So a DIY job can be a frugal option, and some do come with a wedding car ribbon kit.

It’s not all rosy, as when you do something like this yourself, there are some risks and downsides. It can be quite time-consuming, especially from the place of an amateur — someone that doesn’t know what they are doing. It may be logistically tricky and, once complete, it may not be as secure or as symmetrical as if you were to use a professional service.

Some benefits of using a professional wedding car hire service for the car ribbon and bow for weddings is the guarantee of quality and security. You will be safe in the knowledge that your ribbon is going to look fantastic as well as tied properly. You will also have more access to fancier and more premium ribbons and bows for weddings that you may have previously seen as out of your skill set or reach.

If the cost is something that was particularly worrying for you, then you can rest assured that most wedding car services do include a ribbon in a simple V-shape, the colour of your choice included in the price. If you did need something a bit more elaborate, you can always discuss that with the company, as they may be willing to include that in the cost of your wedding car.

Styling Inspiration and Finishing Touches

When considering the wedding car ribbons and bows, most people have a ribbon and/or bow on the bonnet and that is the extent of their decorations for the wedding car, which is fantastic, and if you are happy, then that is all that matters — after all, the wedding car is the focal point of your journey.

However, if you do get the creative bug and want to look into decorating more than just the bonnet, there are plenty of options out there for you to look into, with decorative options for the side mirrors and handles, and boot area all having ample space for ribbons, bows and everything in between.

Matching the ribbons to the flowers or custom number plate is a great touch that you can add to your wedding day. The decorations, like flowers, can add such a wonderful pop of colour and elegance to your day, and matching the colour to your wedding ribbon adds to the luxury of the wedding theme. Included in your package is often a custom number plate with a message, typically “Mr and Mrs” followed by the surname, so picking a ribbon that looks good when paired with the number plate will help make your wedding day travel options special.

If you are celebrating a wedding day that needs lots of wedding cars, it can be important to have a matching theme for all of the wedding cars. Usually, the cars couples choose do have similarities, either in style or in colour scheme, so to take that into account when selecting your ribbon bows for wedding cars can make the world of difference.

There are also giant wedding car ribbons and bows for pictures on the day. Obviously, the larger the bow, the less practical it is, with some being too large to drive with. These bows are purely for aesthetics, with most people holding them at the venue to take in and out for those all-important wedding day photos.

Final Tips Before the Big Day

There are a few things you can do before the big day in relation to your wedding ribbon on the car. Obviously, if you have gone down the DIY route, then practising or preparing the wedding ribbon before the big day is always advisable, as well as leaving time in the day should anything go wrong — whether that is just a quick adjustment or if it needs to be fitted again. Of course, to avoid this, you can leave it to the wedding car hire service for them to complete for you.

The weather is going to be something that could impact your wedding ribbon and bows. Depending on the choice of ribbon material, if the weather is being particularly frightful that day, with powerful wind and rain, then it is a good idea to consider how that may impact your wedding ribbon choice.

At the end of the day, your wedding car and the decorations you adorn the car in are more than just a way of getting to your wedding venue — it’s part of the wedding journey, the visual representation of your wedding celebrations. A well-chosen wedding ribbon that links your wedding theme and adds a bit of your personality to the day is a fantastic way to achieve a smooth and stylish arrival on your big day.