UPDATE: Dress problems - shipping crisis!

[Beep]

Has anyone shipped a dress from outside the US to Florida? I have had an absolute nightmare between UPS, UK HM Customs and the US Embassy.

I didn't want to risk my dress being in checked luggage. I wanted to ship my dress to Carolyn Allen's to hold for me but I've been told that if it is worth more than $100 then duty is payable on it as it is treated as a gift! How can that be?! I've bought it, want to ship it to a place that will hold it for me and it is not a gift or being re-sold.

Also, as Carolyn Allen is a business it could be classed as a commercial item and, guess what, duty is payable on it!

They also told me I should get proof that I have bought it in the UK as I would be liable to pay duty and tax when I bring it back into the UK if it is in my suitcase. They would presume I had bought it in the US and then have to pay the extra.

I can't believe that this is right. Has anyone had problems with this, or has anyone shipped their dress to the US?

Very frustrated and annoyed here! Need some TLC

 

[BayouPrincess]

Awwwwwwe Beep.

Unfortunately, I can't help you with any information here. I just wanted to pop in and show a little love! You seem as though you need some huggs.

I hope you get some clear answers to this issue!

 

[Beep]

Awwwwwwe Beep.

Unfortunately, I can't help you with any information here. I just wanted to pop in and show a little love! You seem as though you need some huggs.

I hope you get some clear answers to this issue!

Sniff... Sniff... Thank you for the hugs, I needed that!

B***dy dress, b***dy customs. Grrr!

 

[MistressOfAllEvil]

JEESH! This is awful! I'm sorry I can't help you with any of the logistics. I know that at work we have an awful lot of problems when we're shipping to customs in Canada because of customers. I'm so sorry this is happening. Is there any way to ship it to yourself at the resort? Then since you're shipping from yourself, to yourself you might be able to avoid the duty?? Then you could just schedule Carolyn Allens to come do the steaming in your room???

I hope you get it all straightened out!! Keep us updated for sure.

 

[Beep]

JEESH! This is awful! I'm sorry I can't help you with any of the logistics. I know that at work we have an awful lot of problems when we're shipping to customs in Canada because of customers. I'm so sorry this is happening. Is there any way to ship it to yourself at the resort? Then since you're shipping from yourself, to yourself you might be able to avoid the duty?? Then you could just schedule Carolyn Allens to come do the steaming in your room???

I hope you get it all straightened out!! Keep us updated for sure.

Hi Wendy,

Thank you for the flower and hug

I did query delivering to disney with my name with 'them' but apparently it doesn't matter who it is going to. It is the value of the item being delivered no matter where it is being delivered to.

What I find really annoying is that this dress in the UK has cost me twice what it would have cost in the US so it's hardly like I'm trying to sneak anything past customs.

I'm going to keep checking and see if anything crops up

 

[Beep]

JEESH! This is awful! I'm sorry I can't help you with any of the logistics. I know that at work we have an awful lot of problems when we're shipping to customs in Canada because of customers. I'm so sorry this is happening. Is there any way to ship it to yourself at the resort? Then since you're shipping from yourself, to yourself you might be able to avoid the duty?? Then you could just schedule Carolyn Allens to come do the steaming in your room???

I hope you get it all straightened out!! Keep us updated for sure.

Hi Wendy,

Thank you for the flower and hug

I did query delivering to disney with my name with 'them' but apparently it doesn't matter who it is going to. It is the value of the item being delivered no matter where it is being delivered to.

What I find really annoying is that this dress in the UK has cost me twice what it would have cost in the US so it's hardly like I'm trying to sneak anything past customs.

I'm going to keep checking and see if anything crops up

 

[meryll83]

Urgh this is bad news.....

What an absolute pain.

I had always envisaged that I would use my second suitcase to fly my wedding dress over with us, but soooooooo many brides seem to freak about the idea of putting their dress in checked luggage it's making me wonder if I should be scared too!

When you get your flights booked you can ring the airline and see if they will let you take it as carry on - I hear sometimes they are accommodating with wedding dresses, although other times, not so. Seems a bit hit and miss unfortunately

 

[meryll83]

duplicate!

 

[orangetiggs]

I;m going to pack mine in a bag the size so I can carry on. My bridal shop said i wont even need to get it steamed just hang it in the bathroom and the creases will drop out.

I wont ship it and it wont go in the hold either. My dress is not a small dress either

 

[meryll83]

My dress shop seemed to think mine wouldn't need steaming either....

 

[Beep]

I;m going to pack mine in a bag the size so I can carry on. My bridal shop said i wont even need to get it steamed just hang it in the bathroom and the creases will drop out.

I wont ship it and it wont go in the hold either. My dress is not a small dress either

Orangetiggs, is you that has the Maggie Sahara?

I'm going to get a bag the size of the carry-on allowed and see if it will fit. Someone said they packed theirs in a vacuum bag and it was ok, but you have to be careful with the bones in the dress.

Interesting about the dress not needing to be steamed, and with Meryll's too. Meryll's is basically the same as mine (stole the idea off me she did ) but with straps so if one will fit in a carry-on bag the other should.

Sigh... Good fun this - NOT!!

 

[B2B-2008]

I'm gong to put my dress in the plane hold. It will be to big to put in a carry on bag. I'm just praying that it gets there when we do!

 

[orangetiggs]

yes i have sahara.

mine is mostly lace so wont crease, been folded up in dress bag for weeks and when i got it out the other day it wasnt dreased at all.

Yes i have heard about the bones with the vacum bags and after spending all that money i dont want to risk it

 

[soontobebride]

I had this problem as well, but before I bought the dress in the UK, I decided that the best option would be to buy it in the US. They actually held the dress there for a year for me, so all I had to do was go back for a fitting the year of us getting Married (last year) and have it altered.

Don't stress though because lots of people just take it on the plane with them, some airlines if you call them actually allow you to take it on board with you and sometimes even hang it up in first class. If not many brides carry it on as hand luggage. If it does need steaming you can always get it steamed out there. Once you are there everything will be perfect.

Duty is literally payable on everything. We had the honeymoon package shoot and because disney had put the item down as costing more than $100 (even though we got this free instead of our photographer that was allowed in our package, we exchanged this) we still had to pay duty when we received the disc. I really don't think you can escape paying duty. You think that you have paid one lot and that is it, and then they send you another bill. It is just not fair. Weddings cost enough anyway.

Good luck and congratulations you will have an absolutely great time and everything will be perfect.

 

[Beep]

I had this problem as well, but before I bought the dress in the UK, I decided that the best option would be to buy it in the US. They actually held the dress there for a year for me, so all I had to do was go back for a fitting the year of us getting Married (last year) and have it altered.

Hi, I did look into doing that but there was no way we could go out before the wedding due to cost. They told me they would need at least 4-6 weeks to do the alterations and as much as I wold love to have spent 2 months in Orlando there was not way!

Don't stress though because lots of people just take it on the plane with them, some airlines if you call them actually allow you to take it on board with you and sometimes even hang it up in first class. If not many brides carry it on as hand luggage. If it does need steaming you can always get it steamed out there. Once you are there everything will be perfect.

Thanks for that. I'll do some investigating and that could well sway who we fly with.

Duty is literally payable on everything. We had the honeymoon package shoot and because disney had put the item down as costing more than $100 (even though we got this free instead of our photographer that was allowed in our package, we exchanged this) we still had to pay duty when we received the disc. I really don't think you can escape paying duty. You think that you have paid one lot and that is it, and then they send you another bill. It is just not fair. Weddings cost enough anyway.

Hmmm, that's well worth knowing about the CD. We are going to have a honeymoon package shoot so thanks for the info. Definitely not fair!

Good luck and congratulations you will have an absolutely great time and everything will be perfect.

Thank you! This is why I'm so glad I'm starting to find out about things now rather than later - or too late - so that I can get it sorted and not be stressed out close to the wedding.

x

 

[meryll83]

Meryll's is basically the same as mine (stole the idea off me she did ) but with straps so if one will fit in a carry-on bag the other should.

How very very dare you!

You'll have to let me know how you get on with the airlines carry-on reserach as I'm still undecided on how to get my dress over there.

You owe me now after the above comment

 

[Beep]

How very very dare you!

You'll have to let me know how you get on with the airlines carry-on reserach as I'm still undecided on how to get my dress over there.

Stole my dress idea, bouquet, hair pins. Is nothing sacred?!

Update on carry-on luggage and dress:

I checked BA, Virgin, KLM and United airlines today and none of them allow a dress to be taken on the plane as carry-on luggage unless it fits in a cabin-sized bag or box. I also checked with First Choice and MyTravel. Their cabin size is less and the weight is upto 5kgs. First Choice did say there may be something in place for weddings booked through them but they were pretty sure the dress had to be packed in the cabin bag.

The scheduled airlines have a little more allowance with the size of box (55x35x25) and BA allow upto 23kgs. That seemed a huge amount to me when the others were around the 6kg-12kg mark but they confirmed it by phone. They stipulate that you need to be able to lift the bag into the overhead lockers.

If you are allowed to take a second bag through security (not all airports will allow that, including Gatwick) it has to be a cabin-sized bag and the second bag can be laptop-bag sized or a handbag.

Looks like a dress has to be taken as carry-on in a bag or box that fit's the airline's specification and not over the weight allowed. If it is over the weight allowed it will be treated as checked luggage and the airline may charge extra for an extra checked bag.

One airline suggested rolling the dress to the size of the cabin bag dimensions, then wrapping it in paper to make it more secure. Not sure about that but I suppose if it stays with you maybe you could.

You owe me now after the above comment

Have I paid my debt? Am I absolved of my sin?

 

[DigitalLove]

Hiya Beep!

I looked into shipping my dress ahead of time too... But I figured the whole reason I was stressing about having it go in the hold was because I didn't want it out of my sight! I guess I would have been as wound up worrying about it in transit if I shipped it beforehand, so it was a 'no-no' for me when I sat and thought about it.. Plus the whole farce of paying duty on it just seems so ridiculous!

We're flying with Virgin who were pretty adament when I called them that they wouldn't allow oversized hand luggage, and if I arrived at the airport with the dress in a dressbag to take onboard with me, that they would make me label it and shove it in the hold! I found a place online that makes dress boxes to the hand luggage dimensions of the various airlines and had a really nice dress box delivered a week or so ago. I think it cost about 40 quid (It might have been a bit more... I've spent that much cash on various wedding stuff the past few weeks that everything is morphing into one now!).... It looks pretty but most importantly, it is waterproof and sturdy. The place I bought my dress from said that if I take my dress and the box back in, that they will pack it for me as I keep looking at my dress, and then looking at the box and wondering how the hell im supposed to get it in!!! The company is called The Empty Box Company just incase this might be another option for you

Christina
xxx

 

[orangetiggs]

I'm going to use them as well, they have been in my favourites for ages now, Glad the box is good. you are getting married soon so you can advise when you get back, we are travelling with virgin as well

 

[Beep]

Hiya Beep!

I looked into shipping my dress ahead of time too... But I figured the whole reason I was stressing about having it go in the hold was because I didn't want it out of my sight! I guess I would have been as wound up worrying about it in transit if I shipped it beforehand, so it was a 'no-no' for me when I sat and thought about it.. Plus the whole farce of paying duty on it just seems so ridiculous!

We're flying with Virgin who were pretty adament when I called them that they wouldn't allow oversized hand luggage, and if I arrived at the airport with the dress in a dressbag to take onboard with me, that they would make me label it and shove it in the hold! I found a place online that makes dress boxes to the hand luggage dimensions of the various airlines and had a really nice dress box delivered a week or so ago. I think it cost about 40 quid (It might have been a bit more... I've spent that much cash on various wedding stuff the past few weeks that everything is morphing into one now!).... It looks pretty but most importantly, it is waterproof and sturdy. The place I bought my dress from said that if I take my dress and the box back in, that they will pack it for me as I keep looking at my dress, and then looking at the box and wondering how the hell im supposed to get it in!!! The company is called The Empty Box Company just incase this might be another option for you

Christina
xxx

Thanks Christina, I've been looking at their boxes. I'm definitely going to get one of the storage boxes for the dress afterwards.

What I'm going to do is make up a box to the cabin dimensions and then take it into the bridal shop to see if they can get my dress in it. If they can I'll get one the proper ones for when we go.

What type of dress do you have? I'm pretty good at getting things to fit in spaces (in a 1-bedroomed flat you get good at that!) but I can't quite see that my dress will fit in a box that size. I've got one of the pick-up skirt dresses.

What happens about the weight of the dress with Virgin? Their hand luggage maximum is 6kg