Bringing wedding dress to destination wedding, help!!

I believe you can buy a plane ticket for the dress and sit it on the seat next to you (if you're able to get the ticket for that seat). This might not be the cheapest option, but it'll guarantee that your dress will not leave your sight for the entire flight.

Honestly, for $400, I’d push back on FH with upgrading your seat. That’s a steal for an upgrade and truly your best way to ensure it arrives safely. Unless there’s a coach seat available for less than $400 to buy your dress it’s own seat. People do that. I’d def go for the upgrade.

We are also having a destination wedding and traveling on American Airlines. I was told the same thing – that they cannot guarantee closet space, but they were usually able to accommodate. Otherwise the dress will have to go in overhead storage. Tbh, putting it overhead probably wouldn’t be so bad- you could lay it flat, and it would always be accounted for on the plane. I did contemplate going that route, but ultimately we decided to upgrade to first class so that I could be guaranteed my dress was safely hanging in a closet within my line of sight. There is zero chance I would ever ship my wedding dress. Packages get lost and damaged all the time, and there’s no way I would ever risk having my dress ruined or not arrive in time for my wedding. Would your dress wrinkle easily? If not, overhead storage might be a great solution. But if it does wrinkle easily, I would probably try explaining to my fiancé the importance of upgrading to first class. Stress how much the dress cost and how much money you would be losing and emotional distress you would be under if the dress were to be lost or damaged in shipping. Also explain to him that if you put it in overhead storage, the dress may become incredibly wrinkled and the two of you would then have to find a service at your destination that could press the dress for you (which may not even be possible on that short notice, and could cost an exorbitant amount of money for rushed service), not to mention that it would stress you out and ruin part of the wedding experience for you (Which he would then have to deal with lol). Hopefully he will understand the importance of upgrading your seats. And if he’s still stubborn and won’t budge on it, tell him you will compromise and upgrade only your ticket so that you can stay in first class with your dress.

I brought up the same topic about a week ago. We’re eloping in Hawaii next month. So the flight is a little over 6 hours (from Cali). I received some replies from former brides who kept the dress in its garment bag, folded and put it into a carry-on bag in the overhead compartment. Once they arrived, they had the dress steamed again at the hotel. So, I’ve decided to do the same. I have a carry-on that’s the max size and my dress isn’t puffy at all. So it will easily fit. I prefer going that route versus ever having the dress out of my possession. If the flight attendants allow me to put in their closet, that’s great. But I’m not banking on that option. Personally, I’d rather pay to have it freshly steamed again after arriving rather than paying for an extra seat or an upgrade.

Thank you so much ladies!!! I never thought about just purchasing an extra seat, so that is what I did just now!! I have so much flight credit from canceled trips the past year, I didn't need to come out of pocket at all and the seat next to us was available for $80, lucky us!

View Quoted Comment That’s incredible! So glad everything worked out perfectly, and you will get to keep your dress with you the entire flight!

View Quoted Comment Awesome!! Glad it all worked out!