Ship your dress to WDW for wedding?

[figmentcookie]

I'm in wedding planning mode tonight

So, I'm debating on *how* to get my dress to WDW. I will be flying down there for my wedding. I know I have two options:
A. Take it on the plane with me and hang it up or put it in the overhead bin
B. Ship it down to Carolyn Allen's ahead of time, have them iron it out and not worry about it.

My mother likes the third option:
C. Buy the dress a seat
but I'm not really sure that's reasonable because in order for my dress to get it's boarding pass, I think it's a bit unreasonable.

My concerns about each are:
A. Because American Airlines is now charging $15 for your first checked bag, I've read that other airlines may follow suit. People suggest that if they charge for checking any bags, people will start bringing more online, which would take up room in the overhead bin or the closet where they hang it up... so *gasp* they might check my wedding dress.
B. Even if you get insurance when you ship the dress, what do you do if it does get lost?

What have you done, or what is your plan to do?

 

[Tabetha]

My gown was shipped from the store where I bought it (over the phone!) to my dad's place in Florida. My mom's going to bring it with her to Orlando in June, for the planning session. I haven't "met" it yet!
I'll bring it to Carolyn Allen's, for a fitting, and they'll store it for me until our wedding.

Convoluted.

 

[hope1826]

Because of my own issues, I did not feel comfortable shipping it. And I would have felt less comfortable checking my dress.

I carried it on and DH stuffed it into the overhead compartment. It seriously doesn't matter how wrinkled or crushed it gets in the overhead.

Sue from Carolyn Allen came to steam it the morning of the wedding and it went from insanely wrinkled to perfect!

 

[alissa2008]

I'm having this same debate. I feel like carrying it on would be the safest bet, BUT, if I shipped it, it could be all ready to go and waiting for me.

 

[cinderbear]

Hi, I mailed my gown and also another box with favors and things I needed for the wedding to the resort at which I was staying. I used Fedex and I was able to track my packages myself. I mailed ground in mid December and it only took 5 days to get from Arizona to the Contemporary Resort. Sue from Carolyn Allens steamed my dress in the room and also brought my DH's tux to the room as well. She brought extra items in case something didn't fit right. I felt better doing it that way because I had another package to send. I would not buy a seat for my gown as the seat may cost more than the gown, but that is my own opinion. The hard part is trying not to think about your gown while its in transit. This is what worked best for me others have done it differently and it worked out well for them, I believe alot of brides ship the dress to Carolyn Allens and it seems to work well for them.

 

[BaBeeCee14]

I have been going back and forth about shipping my gown. I have a terrible fear that it is going to get lost. I was thinking about putting it in a space bag and putting it in together with the rest of my carry on suit case. I made an appointment with Carolyn Allen to come steam my dress the morning of the wedding. Hopefully she will be able to get all the wrinkles out of it.

 

[SarahInMN]

I'm carrying mine on with me, and Carolyn Allen's is going to steam it out for me. I though have a simple dress: bustier and a skirt. No veil, no train, no floofiness (is that a word?), so it will be easy for me to carry on.

I'm sure shipping it would be fine, but, like others who have posted, I would obsess and worry about it.

As a sidenote...

Because American Airlines is now charging $15 for your first checked bag

Really??? I always fly Northwest because I live at a hub, and they charge for the 2nd bag (unless you fly first or business class) which sounded bad. But that is outrageous of AA. I can only imagine the chaos of people schlepping all their crap onto the plane instead of checking it.

Boos to the airline industry!

 

[Beep]

I'll be taking mine as hand luggage as there is no way I'm putting it in the hold as checked luggage and shipping it is not an option due to customs and tax from the UK.

We are flying with British Airways as their hand luggage weight limit is 21kgs and a slightly bigger maximum size. I've got a Maggie Sottero Capri Royale so need all the weight and room allowance I can get!

 

[theantibride]

I personally won't let my dress out of my sight but having worked for shipping companies in the past (ahhhh.....the good old days) can I just say that if you do decide to ship it do the following:
1) Send it either FedEx or UPS and insure it for what it is worth -- it may cost a little extra but is so worth it. Your items will automatically be insured for up to $100 but insure it for the actual value of the dress (it used to be $1-$2 for every $100 extra over the automatic $100 value). If it does get lost you will be reimbursed! If you do it through the post office it could literally be 6 or more motnhs before you would get your money back because of forms you have to fill it and they have to confirm it really did get lost. Also FedEx and UPS tracking systems are more reliable than USPS -- or at least that has been my experience. I was tracking a package thru USPS once and it said it was at the local office. It came the next day however a week later I got an e-mail from the shipper wondering if it had shown up. They said it said it was in the office. I went online and sure enough according to USPS it was still in their post office and not my house.
2) Buy a sturdy cardboard shipping box from an office supply store or something. A brand new box will hold up better in transit then a recycled one.
3) Write the ship to address in sharpie and then cover it with clear mailing tape. This makes it waterproof and pretty much guarantees it will always be legible.
4) Do NOT wrap the box in any sort of paper. NEVER ship anything wrapped in brown paper. Most lost packages are because things were wrapped in paper. The paper then gets caught on the sorting machines and gets ripped off. And then there goes the address and the tracking info and everything else so suddenly you have a dead package!
I can't help you with flying with the dress -- sorry. I only live about 7-8 hours away so I'm driving my dress down with me. I hope this helps you out!

 

[Lynn5700]

I shipped mine to carolyn allens..Carrie convinced me lol.....Seriously it was the easiest thing..my dress wieghed 14 lbs lol so no way was I lugging that thing around lol...I was so calm about the whole process lol.....I had fun tracking my dress online lol..I think it had 5 different stops down to florida!

You have to be comfortable with doing it though..if you have any doubts then I wouldn't do it.

 

[lurkyloo]

I shipped my dress to Carolyn Allen, and I convinced Lynn to do it too!

It was SO easy. We sent it FedEx and got about $1200 insurance all for about $25. Carolyn Allen stored it, brought it to me the day of the wedding, and steamed it. After the wedding they picked it up and sent it back to my house. I cannot recommend this enough. I trust FedEx! Plus I didn't want to lug the dang thing all over the airport.

 

[Swmhc]

Shipped to Carolyn Allen's !!!!!!!

 

[alissa2008]

helpful thread!