Sending wedding items ahead of time?

FSForever · June 2011

FH says that I am out of control and we are going to have to buy extra plane tickets for our wedding week favors. LOL Last week I bought collapsible ice chest totes for each family, a bunch of white shells, and glass jars. I had coupons and all of the items were 50% to 75% off before my coupons. My grandmother always sends things ahead to the post office and has them hold it but I was thinking of asking the WC if I can send a few boxes to her or the condo site office. Have any of you done this or thought of this?

AKWinterBride · June 2011

We are not sending ours ahead of time, but are taking them on the plane with us. With the rates of the shipping companies, we would not save any money by sending them ahead of time, and I simply don't trust that all of our stuff would get there in time and in tact. So - I bought some super tough Rubbermaid totes and I will bring 2 of them with us on the plane (checked in the regular baggage area). So I will have my suitcase and 1 tote and my FI will have the same.

sparklegirl84 · June 2011

Shipping to HI is expensive & im kicking myself for getting 20 beach mats for our OOT bags, they will get their own suitcase along with decor.

fabutan · June 2011

OMG, I can't stress how IMPORTANT this topic is!!!

I also had a lot of DIY items and decor to bring. One lesson to learn - don't skimp on shipping!! And the USPS postal service are LIARS when it comes to estimated shipping times! (not joking!) They will estimate a few days shipping time, but it almost always takes longer than that. Hawaii is an exception and it takes longer to ship there. If you're limited on time, always ship either UPS or FedEx. They provide a guarantee and are more reliable. They cost much more though.

I was "this" close to trusting USPS and shipping it regular post. SO GLAD I DIDN'T!! In the end, we did what AKWinterBride is going to do and we brought all the luggage with us on the plane. We were prepared to pay the fees, but because I had airline status and the check-in desk also made a mistake, we only paid $50 for an extra 4 pieces! This saved us a huge bundle and everything arrived with us and on time.

There are so many cases of brides shipping DIY items to Hawaii and not making it in time for their wedding! If you've put so much effort into these items, don't skimp on mailing them! Here's a blog entry by a Maui coordinator on this topic:

http://theperfectweddingmaui.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/shipping-to-maui/

fabutan · June 2011

P.S. Something else we did was off-load a bunch of stuff with other guests going to Maui. We paid them back for any extra baggage fees incurred (if any). I got some friends and family to hand-carry fragile items too. This was cost-saving and got everything there on time.

For shipping items BACK from Maui to home, there are flat rate boxes available from the post office. Very economical, although the flat rate boxes are limited in size. HTH!!

FSForever · June 2011

There will be about 11 or 12 of us on the flight so I am thinking we should pack everything the size of carryons and use some of our families allowance for luggage. I do think I may need to slow it down though. FH said the totes put it way over the top.

FSForever · June 2011

@Sparkle, OMG I didn't even think of beach mats. LOL
I think we will keep everything with us and just put them in suitcases or with the glass items wrap them really well in a carry on and take on board with us.
@fabutan, thank you for the link. Definately a help.

melmac26 · June 2011

Well, I think it depends where you're shipping it from. We shipped 2 boxes from Los Angeles to Honolulu & it arrived when they said it would through USPS. I of course got a delivery confirmation attached to each item so we could track it. Both of our boxes made it in tact, on time & a-ok. Shipped my dress via FedEx & that JUST arrived in the 4 days it was supposed to...also in tact. I think as long as you DON'T use PARCEL POST & do priority you will be fine. However, if I was shipping from the East coast or mid-west I wouldn't totally trust it. Just if you're on the west coast. It only has one stop really...from your local drop off to Hawaii.

But I agree w/ the off loading to other family/friends. We're actually doing that for the way back. Giving our friends & bridal party from Los Angeles things we don't want to take w/ us on our honeymoon. HTH's

destiny1108 · June 2011

We shipped most things to our WC in advance and then when we met her she brought what we needed to pull out for our OOT bags and kept the rest until the wedding day.

Ready2wed11 · June 2011

Thanks for this post. I was just thinking about this today! Very helpful.

fabutan · June 2011

Yes, I should probably correct my previous post and say avoid USPS Ground or Parcel Post services! Paying extra fees for Priority is well worth it....however, at least in our case, the shipment was still slower than estimated. We're from the East Coast though, so as melmac26 said, the West Coast will probably be a different experience...

We also mailed some items to our coordinator direct. Especially purchases from etsy, I had the seller mail direct to Maui (saved me from lugging it over!). We ended up rushing a lot of DIY items until the very end, which we brought in our luggage. If it's time-sensitive items, I would still recommend UPS or FedEx just to be safe! At least they have a guarantee attached.

If you're international (i.e. Canada or Australia), also budget in customs clearance times. HTH!!

kriskrispies · June 2011

I live in the East Coast and mailed many boxes ahead through USPS and had no problem.

I did start with only one box of less important stuff, to test and see how long it would get there and in what conditions... My Flat Rate box arrived in 2 (!!!) days and in perfect condition. After that, I shipped everything that was either fragile or heavy through USPS. Honestly, they did a much better job than any airline would - had many missing/broken items or delayed luggage from previous trips... and USPS was flawless (at least their flat rate service...)

Since most online retailers only ship to HI via Fedex, it actually ended up being cheaper to ship it to me and then I shipped the same box to HI via USPS. Worked perfectly.

On the way back, I shipped most things via parcel post as I don't really care when they arrive, I just wanted to keep some items....

For reference, this is more or less what I paid:

~$15 per large flat rate box

~$30 for a large box via parcel post. Box weighted about 30lbs, and measured about 30x20in

Another tip: if you have American Express Platinum, you can enroll in a program that reimburses you for up to $200 in baggage fees/year with an airline of your choice. We had cases of wine and golf bags etc that we couldn't ship and had to bring with us, so it saved us a lot of $ on the way back home!

HTH!

FSForever · June 2011

@kriskrispies, thank you for reminding me of AMEX. I often forget that they have certain perks like that.

Sending wedding items ahead of time?

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