Destination Wedding - Traveling with the Dress

dgomez14

Hello,

Any advice from those that had to travel with a wedding dress? I just called Hawaiian Airlines and the person on the phone told me they did not have any closets I could use on the flight. I'd have to bring the dress and put it in an overhead or under my seat. Seriously??

Or I could check it. NO WAY!

One more thing to worry about now.

Looking for advice from anyone that has had to do this.

Thanks!

Kahalagurl

i think it depends on the flt attendants. the nice ones will stow it in the capt's locker which is a full length closet. Otherwise yeah, i would vote for overhead bins on top of people's luggage.  Im flying Hawaiian too, (FI's parents both work for them) keeping my fingers crossed

caiandcullen

not sure about hawaiian, but smile and be extra nice to flight attendants. the worker at the gate told me "yeah, sorry you're going to have to check that." 

i basically told him to F off and when i got on the plane, the flight attendant had the biggest smile on her face and asked me if i wanted her to hang it.

so hopefully you get someone nice too!

carrieoz_76

I put mine in an overhead compartment and laid it flat with nothing on top of it.  It was fine!  Or, I would have been fine with folding it in half in an overhead compartment.  I'd probably have had to have it steamed when we got it to HI if we'd done that, but I know people who've put it in the overhead compartment and it turned out fine.

misslol

Mine will be bundled up in a hand luggage travel case.  I'm planning to have mine steamed there.

AKWinterBride

I am taking mine on the plane if I have to wear it!!  I am hoping I can put it in the closet as most flight attendants are really nice and understand.  Otherwise, my FI's parents will probably fly first class and I will give it to them to take and put in the first class cabin - or worst case scenario - I will just have my family 'claim' one of the overhead bins (we are going to be over 1/4 of the plane) and I'll put it on top of their bags.  That's the good part about having so many people go on the same plane!

Gardenia11

I saw a girl on one of my flights recently who just laid her dress in the overhead on top of everything, it was fine.  I'm not going to stress about it since there's no other choice - I'm not checking it!  You may get lucky and have somewhere to hang it but I wouldn't count on it.

kaesha

I folded mine carefully in the overhead compartment too. It was fine when I got it out!

m_eblin

My friend works for an airline and he told me to bring the flight attendants candy...specifically gummy bears.  I flew American and honestly they were so excited and took my dress from me and it was fine....then when I gave them gummy bears they were like WOOOOHOOOO.  The inter-island flight I had to lay it across my husband, his mom and myself.  On the way back I folded it and put it under the seat

dgomez14

Thanks for the advice ladies! Feeling better about it already. Going to kill them with kindness and gummy bears! 

mocha beans

Mine ended up being folded in half in the overhead compartment from MSP to ORD, then it was in the closet from ORD to HNL.  It came out fine; I hung it out when we got to the hotel room for a few days and it dewrinkled itself, no steaming required.

On the way back, it's rolled up into a ball in our luggage.  lol  I don't care how wrinkly it gets now!

A.a.A.

I flew Hawaiian and didn't even have to ask.... the flight attendant saw the pink bag and just took it from me to hang it up in the first class cabin, no problem! The closet wasn't long enough for the dress, but that didn't matter.

I also firmly attached a luggage tag to it/the hanger. Hope that helps!

foolsthru

omg i'm STRESSING about that too!!
I still haven't decided what to do about it. I contacted United and they basically said 'Sorry we don't care figure it out yourself. And no, we cannot hang it for you." Sooo I don't quite know what I'm going to do yet either! But I guess I have about 4 months to decide!

sparklygoofan

I know this post is old but just wanted to add my two cents since I am a flight attendant.    If they have a closet on the plane, I don't see why they wouldn't hang it for you.  Some FAs are bitchy but most are not.  We're not allowed to hang anything in the actual cockpit since 9/11 so that's not an FA being mean, its just the law.

I fly on a plane that doesn't have any closets so my bags and the pilots bags have to go in the overhead bins too.  I would just lay it across the tops of bags in the overhead bin and it should be perfectly safe and wrinkle-free.  Good luck, I hope it goes smoothly for you!  I can't wait to stress about this myself next year!

hawaii91011

I just wanted to share something I learned from a local cleaner/preservation shop that specializes in bridal gowns. The rep said they can clean and/or steam the dress and package it in a preservation box that will fit in the overhead bin. The box is quite sturdy and is the size of a small suitcase that would normally be allowed as a carryon. When you arrive at your destination, just unpack, hang, and it should be wrinkle free. I'm considering this for my wedding next year. Hope this helps!