How to Travel with a Wedding Dress

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With the trend of destination weddings on the rise, it makes sense why more brides are concerned about traveling with their bridal dresses. The fear of ruining your pretty gown during transit might compel you to look for a viable strategy.

Those full flights, cramped spaces, and grumpy passengers may keep you at your wits’ end. You want to do everything to find the best way to take your dress on the flight. If you are lucky, your plane may have accommodating flight attendants and an onboard closet. If not, you may have no other option but to use the overhead compartment for the dress.

How to Travel with a Wedding Dress

Taking necessary measures beforehand always helps. We have rounded up some of the best tips you can follow to travel with a wedding dress without any worries!

Inform the Airline

Sometimes, talking to the airline before you book a flight may help. So, it is best to call the airline and discuss your concern. The airline may have a policy of dealing with the passengers who travel with delicate or bulky items. Even if they don’t have a good policy for dealing with these concerns, you will have more information when you get done with the call.

Find the Right Garment Bag

When you buy your dress from a bridal store, they’ll typically give you your dress in a garment bag. However, it’s helpful if you have a higher-quality bag when carrying your dress on an airline. It should be secure enough to keep the gown safe and covered.

A quality garment bag is made of plastic or any other thick materials. Don’t mistake packing them in the flimsy ones as they won’t provide enough security. Besides this, you should also ensure that the bag is long enough to cover the whole dress. A zipper bag from top to bottom is your best shot.

Apart from covering the dress, this zipper should also have small cases to store a veil, headpiece, and other bridal accessories. It would help if you took the following measures when you pack the dress in the garment bag:

Take the hanger of the dress from the top of the garment bag
Hang this at a higher point so you can fit the dress inside the bag
Take left and right sides of the gown, fold them inside each other, and pull them towards the center
Pick the bottom of the trail and roll until the whole fabric is pulled inside the bag
Zip it up carefully

When the dress is neatly placed in the bag, you should keep it on a flat surface. Then, roll the bag in a loose trifold. Some bags may have a hook or a snap to make it easy. Now your dress is good to be kept in an overhead compartment. It would be best if you were careful not to place anything on the top of the garment bag as this will wrinkle the dress inside.

Check If the Gown Fits Hand Carry Requirements

No bride would prefer watching her dress getting chugged into the luggage. It is essential to maintain and carry the dress in its proper shape. Make sure that you have connected with the airline rules before booking with them. They inform you about the process of carrying a dress and tell if it is permissible.

Ensure that you have gone through the size and weight guidelines of the airline before you purchase a ticket with them.

Pack Your Wedding Dress In A Suitcase

Keeping your dress in a suitcase is the safest option as it will not be exposed to the external environment. A hard cover suitcase will help prevent wrinkles and dust.

A method of folding the wedding dress in a suitcase is as follows:

Remove the dress from its hanger and turn it inside out
Lay it on a flat surface like a bed or clean floor
Fold the widest parts of the skirt and roll the dress from top to bottom
Place this dress in a large plastic bag to keep it safe in case of any spills
Put the dress in your suitcase

Make sure you take the dress out of its suitcase once you have arrived at your hotel. Take it out and hang it in a cupboard or a wardrobe space.

Baggage inspection is a ritual at the airport that you will dread when you are about to board. It would help if you prepared for this by talking to the management. Let them know beforehand about the contents of the case. Consider keeping a note in the suitcase for TSA agents. Inform them about the dress and request them to be careful during the inspection.

Buy a Plane Ticket for Your Dress

One way to get a safe spot for your dress on a plane is to purchase a ticket specifically for it. It may seem absurd to some people, but a lady’s gotta do what she has to. Right?

Some brides purchase plane tickets for their dresses to ensure it doesn’t get wrinkled or damaged on the flight. A one-way ticket for your lovely wedding dress could be included in your wedding budget.

As a bonus, your dress will get a luggage space too. This will allow you to carry additional items, such as gifts for the loved ones waiting at the other end.

Look for Empty Seats

Try your luck finding an extra seat for your dress. When the plane is not fully occupied, you may come across a vacant seat on the plane. You can seek permission from the plane attendants to use this to keep your dress. Further, you can also swap the seat with the person sitting beside you to ensure your dress stays close to you.

Bring a Portable Steamer

As your dress will be traveling a long distance, the chances of it getting wrinkles are pretty high. Take measures to combat this issue by packing a portable steamer to use on your dress. This will allow you to get your dress back to its original beauty once you have arrived at your destination.