If you are planning a destination wedding or traveling with your wedding dress, it is important that you properly prepare the dress for the journey. It is also equally important to ensure that it’s stored properly as you make your travel to avoid damage to the dress. There’s nothing worse than showing up the day before your wedding and discovering that your dress has been ruined or needs to be sent out for repair.
Mail Your Wedding Dress
The first option you have to safely get your wedding dress there in one piece is to mail it. Obviously, it may seem like a good idea to carry your dress with you as you travel. However, this opens up possibilities such improper handling or having the wedding dress lost in transit. With some careful planning in advance, you can mail your wedding dress using your favorite shipping company. Best of all, it will be waiting for you when you arrive in perfect order. Just make sure you have a receiving party at your destination. Usually, you can get your hotel to sign for it and hold it for a small fee.
Check It with Your Luggage
Another option is to pack the dress up carefully and check it at the airport with your other luggage. The upside is that the dress will be with you when you get off the plane (hopefully). However, you certainly run the risk of a misplaced or completely lost garment. If you choose this option, make sure you pack it up well because the luggage handlers are not likely treasure your wedding dress as much as you do. This is one of the riskier ways to transport it, and this is not just a pair of perfect wedding shoes. So, be sure you weigh your options carefully.
Buy an Additional Seat
While this may not be the most fiscally conservative way of traveling with your wedding dress, buying an additional seat on the plane is probably the best way to keep your dress under your complete control. This can be especially helpful if your wedding dress is large, heavy, or bulky by design. A word of warning; you’ll probably get a few strange or even nasty looks while you’re in flight. But if you invested thousands into your dress and a countless amount of money into the wedding yourself, this could be worth the extra investment; depending on how expensive another plane ticket will be.
Hang It Up
Rather than purchasing an additional seat, some airlines offer a “coat check” service. Ask your airline if there is room in their coat closet for your wedding dress. Unfortunately, some cannot accommodate this or charge and additional fee. The other downside is that these closets are not as spacious as you might hope. That means that you’ll need to buy a lightweight dress that can easily fit into a fairly tight space. Otherwise, it may be damaged or extremely wrinkled upon arrival. If you have a delicate garment, this probably isn’t a good choice for you.
Have Your Dress Shop Ship It
Occasionally, a reputable dress shop has branches in the area you are traveling to. As such, you can possibly have them ship it to one of their stores. The benefit here is that you can rest assured it will be 100% perfect when you arrive. However, they often charge a fee or won’t be able to offer this service. If it’s available, however; this is my personal favorite option.
Buy One When You Arrive
Lastly, you always have the option to shop when you arrive. If you are having a beach ceremony, this can actually be a really fun activity. However, you will also be limited to only the options they have nearby. Furthermore, some “tourist” areas charge very high prices for their apparel. If you are brave and have a nice budget, this option can be fantastic. However, if you are on a smaller budget, this can easily turn into a nightmare situation.
The bottom line is that you should come up with a plan on how you will be traveling with your wedding dress at least a few weeks in advance. Luckily, you actually have some great options; unlike trying to travel with wedding sparklers! This will give you plenty of time to make phone calls to the airline or get to the shipping store. This ensures the whole process goes smoothly so you can focus on some much needed (and deserved) relaxation on your journey.
