A pre-wedding photoshoot with a car: choosing it and timing the day

With a pastel dress and a linen suit, pick something round and old-fashioned. With a ball gown and black tie, take a Rolls-Royce. A supercar works only if the whole shoot leans that way, from the location to the poses. So choose the pre-wedding photoshoot car after the outfits and the photographer's style are settled, and let the car you've always wanted to drive wait for another day.

Check one thing first: Grandpride hasn't published its terms for photoshoots in rental cars CHECK: are pre-wedding photoshoots allowed in self-drive rentals, and on what terms?, so confirm your shoot is fine when you book.

The car for the look

• Vintage. The Mitsuoka Rock Star at RM 1,900 a day is a modern roadster built to look like a 1960s sports car, with chrome, round lamps and an open top. For a vintage car pre-wedding shoot, it's the obvious pick. The Mercedes-Benz 300SL is the other classic shape in the fleet, but it's listed as wedding only CHECK: can the 300SL be booked for a pre-wedding shoot?. Our guide to classic car rental in KL explains what each one is.
• Formal. The Rolls-Royce Ghost at RM 12,100 a day or the Wraith at RM 9,900. The Bentley Continental GT, at RM 4,400, is the slightly less stately option and photographs well side-on.
• Open air. With the roof down, both faces are in the frame and lit by the sky. The Mercedes-Benz SLK 250 is RM 1,000 a day and the BMW Z4 RM 1,500; the rest are on the convertible list.
• Modern and minimal. A Porsche Taycan at RM 3,900 a day suits clean city backdrops and night shots under street lights.

Colour matters as much as the model. A white car disappears against white buildings and a black one into a night street, so choose the location first, then the car. Our photoshoot car guide has more on reflections and light.

A shoot day, timed around the light

In Kuala Lumpur the sun rises at around 7 am all year and sets between about 7 pm and 7.30 pm, so the soft light comes in two windows: the first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset. Plan the day around those and spend the middle of it somewhere shaded.

This is one way to run it.

• The day before. The car is delivered or collected. Delivery is free within 10 km of Grandpride's Petaling Jaya showroom and RM 100 elsewhere in the Klang Valley, and someone else can collect it from the store if you add their details. Having the car the night before means no waiting for a delivery at 5 am.
• 5.30 am. Hair and make-up.
• 6.30 am. Drive to the first location. Only the named renter may drive a Grandpride self-drive car, so book in the name of whoever will drive between locations. Shots of the groom "driving" with the car parked are fine; the moving shots need the renter at the wheel.
• 7 am to 8.30 am. The first location, in the morning light. Parks and city streets are at their quietest.
• 9 am to 4 pm. Midday sun is hard on faces and on paint. Change outfits, shoot indoors or in deep shade, and park the car in the shade too, because dark leather gets very hot in the sun.
• 4.30 pm. Drive to the second location. If it's further out, Sekinchan's paddy fields for example, check the distance: every rental includes 120 km a day, and you can add +50 km, +100 km or unlimited a day when you book; unlimited costs less per kilometre than paying for the extra afterwards. Our Sekinchan guide has the route.
• 6.15 pm to 7.30 pm. Golden hour, then sunset. Turn the headlights on as the light drops; lit lamps look good in dusk shots.
• After dark. City lights, if you have the energy. A convertible with the roof down under street lights is worth one more outfit change.
• Next day. The car goes back with the same fuel level it left with.

Permissions at the locations

The car being yours for the day doesn't make every location yours. Several parks and campuses around KL charge a fee for photoshoots or need a booking in advance, and some places don't allow photography inside at all. Kuala Lumpur City Hall has also been enforcing against unlicensed commercial photography in public areas around KLCC. Ask your photographer which locations need a booking, and settle it before the shoot day; the car can't help you if a guard sends you away.

Things that save a shoot

1. Pack a microfibre cloth. Hands on glossy paint leave prints, and every print shows in a close-up.
2. Don't sit on the bonnet or stand on the sills. Bodywork dents more easily than it looks.
3. Watch the dress around low cars. A long train and a door sill don't mix, so get in seat first, then lift the dress in.
4. Keep rings and belt buckles off the paint during posed shots.
5. Bring a plan B for rain. A Rolls-Royce or a Taycan with the doors open under a porch still works; a roadster with the roof down doesn't.
6. Think about protection. With a crew, lights and props around the car, Grandpride Protection+ brings the excess on damage to zero, glass and tyres included.

If the shoot is a few weeks before the wedding, you may want to book the wedding car at the same time. Our guide to wedding car rental in Kuala Lumpur covers the day itself.