Smart Ways to Prep for Your Destination Wedding Trip

Ever seen Bridezilla at the airport? Her dress is three times bigger than a linebacker and she wants to take it as hand luggage. Not going to happen! The key to low-stress wedding travel and avoiding a ‘no-show’ dress is to plan ahead. Use these tips to help ensure a worry-free journey.

By Jill Browne

Packing and Prepping for the Flight

Your travel wardrobe has two parts: your wedding formal wear, and all the rest. ‘All the rest’ is replaceable. Check it. Focus on exactly how to transport the wedding gear, for both men and women.

Brides and experts agree: carry-on is best, if possible. Checked luggage might be damaged, lost or delayed. There was a time when deference may have been shown to couples getting married but increasingly, to the airlines, a wedding dress is just another bag. There’s no extra allowance made for your impending nuptials!

An agent with Sunwing Vacations tells brides to double-bag their wedding dresses and put them in the overhead bin, as there are no closets. Kerry Sharpe, a spokesperson for Thomas Cook Canada, also warns that on Skyservice and Air Transat, a wedding dress may be allowed in the cabin only if it “fits in a carry-on size box or bag, otherwise the dress has to go into the luggage hold, checked as normal luggage.”

Find out exactly what the carry-on luggage allowance is for your airline, by size and weight, and review this as the date gets closer, in case the rules change. Will you pass through airports or international borders with special rules? Will you change planes? Talk to your travel agent and the airline directly. Plan, based on the size, weight and delicacy of your garments. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. The travel agent can look for direct f lights, advise on luggage allowances, insurance, customs, and help you select a wedding- friendly package.

Make Cool Clothing Choices

Every bride is unique and ultimately the dress style you choose will be up to your individual preferences. However, brides who opt for a destination wedding should consider the impracticality of choosing a Scarlet O’Hara ball gown, both for transport and for comfort in a hot locale. Helen Smeaton, a former UK ladies fashion director who runs www.cheap-wedding- secrets.com recommends simple, cool fabrics for tropical weddings. No hot, heavy dresses with beading. For the groom, a pale colored linen suit with or without a jacket is a lightweight alternative to the usual black tux.

For the rest of your wardrobe, think ‘packability’. Susan Foster, author of Smart Packing for Today’s Traveler advises to choose goodlooking synthetic fibres or blends and soft, knit fabrics for fewer wrinkles. Consider colours that are interchangeable so you can mix and match, getting more mileage out of fewer items. Pick outfits that are right for the weather and for travelling comfortably. Remember to label everything – carry-on and checked baggage – with your name and the destination.

Packing for Checked Luggage or a Courier Service

If carry-on for the formal wear won’t work, our experts recommend that you use a reputable courier service to ship the dress to the wedding destination at least a week early. Make sure that the hotel is aware of and expecting the delivery!

Again, packing is important. Julie Johnson- Murray, creative director of Her New York and a New York city wedding planner since 2002, says to pack meticulously, using a sturdy, lofty box. When you are done, the front of the dress should be facing you. Use unbleached muslin or white acid-free tissue between the layers, to line the box and as filler, including filling the bows, sleeves and bodice. Wrap the box in plastic after sealing it. Make sure the courier provides a tracking service that you can follow, and buy full insurance. Don’t forget to label everything.

At the Destination

Remember to take a simple sewing kit for any last-minute or emergency repairs. Once unpacked, the dress will probably have some wrinkles. These may fall out simply with hanging the dress in a clean, dry place.

Don’t assume there will be an on-site cleaner who specializes in formal attire. Arrange in advance for a professional to give your garments a refreshing treatment upon arrival. Allow enough time to have the clothes spot-cleaned, steamed or repaired if necessary. Check with the wedding coordinator. Some resorts prepare the wedding dress as part of the package.

Johnson-Murray says to use a commercial cleaner only if you have a recommendation from the hotel or the resort’s wedding coordinator. If you decide to prepare the dress yourself, press out any stubborn wrinkles with an iron on the lowest setting on the wrong side of the fabric. If using a portable steamer, cover the head with a towel to avoid water spots.

Foster warns that the irons and steamers available for resort guests can be dirty. Don’t risk it! If you bring your own appliances, find out whether you also need plug adapters and power converters.

Follow the fabric care instructions from the bridal shop before using an iron or steamer, so as not to burn or get water marks on the fabric. Always test on a clean cloth, away from the dress. For delicate fabrics, an ironing cloth (a clean white cloth placed between the iron and the dress) may be recommended.

Planning Ahead - Extras

Signature Vacations’ website has a detailed planning guide and packing list in their Wedding section. Your travel agent and tour operator may offer something similar.

Depending on your chosen destination and hotel, products and services may not be as readily available as they are at home. For example, some Caribbean countries like Cuba or the Dominican Republic do not have professional quality makeup or salons, so make sure you bring your own cosmetics and makeup assistant, unless you are comfortable enough to DIY!

Ordinary champagne isn’t hard to find, but better quality champagne might need to be ordered and/or shipped in advance. Trying to carry it cross-country in your luggage is not worth the trouble.

The same goes for gifts. Tactfully make sure your guests know you don’t want to carry gifts home. It’s nicer (and safer, for fragile gifts) to receive a beautiful card with a handwritten note describing the gift. You can then collect it after the honeymoon.

PHOTO, T.H. JACKSON HUANG/IKONICA