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With the dreaded C finally feeling like it’s out of the way a lot more brides are now preparing for their weddings abroad which is super exciting! I have lot of brides in fittings at the moment who are getting married all over the world and the most asked question of them all…”How do I pack my wedding dress to take it abroad with me”. Well, do not worry ladies, I’ve got you back and because this question has been ask so much I’ve even filmed everything you need to know about this topic.
What my video on how to pack your wedding dress for your wedding abroad below:
How To Pack Your Wedding Dress for Your Wedding Abroad - First Things First
Before you even get on the flight there’s a few things that you should definitely check out both with your venue and with your airline.
Although I’m explaining in this video and blog how to pack your wedding dress for your wedding abroad it’s always good to check in with your airline to see if they have any specific recommendations. It won’t hurt to find out what they’d advise and may give you a bit more of a helping hand when getting everything ready for your wedding.
Also something that I’ve not mentioned in this video but that you should definitely check out is if your travel and or wedding insurance covers taking your dress abroad. I’m sure you’ve already ticked that off your to do list but just in case, this is your reminder.
Next is to check in with your venue about steaming your wedding dress. When you collect your dress from me on your final collection appointment. This is when all of your alterations have been completed and your dress fits you absolutely perfectly. I will have steamed your dress prior to you collecting it. This is all part of the service and makes sure that your dress is utter perfection when it’s leaving the boutique. However, once you have to travel with your dress, the chances of it creasing in transit increase. This will totally depend on the fabric. For example a crepe, satin or mikado wedding dress is going to crease much more and much more easily than a tulle or heavy lace dress. If it were me, I’d say regardless of the fabric, I’d be following these next steps to get my dress steamed when you arrive at your venue. Some venues will provide a steaming service for you, but be warned you will have to book these in advance so make sure you do. Some venues will be able to provide a steamer but won’t do it for you. This is a great options but please be careful with this as sometimes if they’re old steamers or the water is particularly hard you can leave water marks and residue on your dress. The best thing to do is to test the steamer out on something first and always steam from the inside out, that way if there are any marks, it’ll be on the inside and no one will see. Your final option if your venue cannot provide any of the above is for you to buy yourself a steamer and take it with you. I obviously use a professional steamer in the boutique by Propress and I have great news for you girls, they’ve bought out a handheld steamer! It’s called the Propress Mini and I can 100% recommend it. I use this all the time if I have a dress that needs a bit of a touch up or out on shoots. Its super compact, perfect for traveling with, it’s really easy to use and it does a great job.
How To Pack Your Wedding Dress for Your Wedding Abroad - What You’ll Need
A hard shell suitcase
Your wedding dress
Protective dress bag
Acid free tissue paper (optional)
I’d highly recommend using a hard shell suitcase, that way (although your dress is going to have to be a bit squished) it won’t get squished any more than it needs to. I also find that they’re much more durable.
Obviously you’ll need your dress to pack! Make sure that she’s top of your list. The last thing we want is you turning up in Ibiza, all ready for the wedding of the year, and you’ve forgotten your wedding dress.
When you come to pick up your dress, I’ll give it to you in a protective dress bag. This is a breathable bag that you can keep your dress in. Please always remember, my normal rules apply, keep your dress out of direct sunlight and nowhere damp. I’ve written a whole other blog post on how to store a wedding dress for any further info that you need.
You can put acid free, tissue paper in between all of the folds if you’d like. People say that this is to prevent it front creasing, personally, I don’t think it makes much difference but that’s entirely your call. Just make sure that it’s acid free. If it’s not, your going to end up with yellow marks on your wedding dress that you may not even notice to begin with but they can develop over time.
How To Pack Your Wedding Dress for Your Wedding Abroad - Folding Your Dress
As you can see in the video, for the purposes of display, I’ve used a larger dress but this technique can be applied to any type of dress.
Get your dress and lie it down on a flat surface.
I’ve used the floor as it’s a big dress and I need a big area but I also know how clean my floor is so please make sure you do have a clean floor before you lay it out in the kitchen tiles only to find there’s a bit of last nights pasta that you dropped! You're going to want to pull your skirt and train out so that it’s all flat. Once everything is laid out nicely. Gently fold the sides of the dress in so that you have one straight line from top to bottom.
If you have a long train just fold that over and in on itself.
At this next fold you’re going to want to make sure that it’s a similar size to the case that you’re packing it into.
Fold over and over until you get to the bodice, finally fold the bodice back over so that it’s laid facing out with the rest of your wedding dress folded underneath it.
At this point I would then pop your dress inside the dress bag.
Then this next bit will take a little squishing but your dress should now be folded into a shape that can fit, near enough, into your carry on case. Pop your dress inside the case, folder over the other side and carefully zip around the edges, being careful not to get any of your dress caught in the zip.
Hey presto, your dress is all ready to go and you now know how to pack your wedding dress for your wedding abroad.
Please make sure that you take your dress on the flight with you. DO NOT check it into the hold. Keep eyes on that baby at all times.
When you get onto the plane make sure that the case with your bag in is stored above your head. If a member of cabin crew asks to move it politely let them know that this case needs to stay where it is. Some airlines will offer to hang your dress for you during the flight. Personally I would not recommend using this service. Firstly because you’ve then got to get the dress back into your case at some point and you now know how much space you need to do that. But mostly because you don’t know where it will be hung and who or what could be brushing up against it. Keep it close, keep it in your suitcase and you’ll have no problems at all.
I hope this blog post has helped you with how to pack your wedding dress for your wedding abroad. If you need any further information, just give me shout.
If you’re getting married abroad and you don’t have your wedding dress yet, I’d love to welcome you into the boutique to help you find your dream wedding dress. You can book your appointment through my online booking.
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