Traveling to your Destination by barefoot bride Sherry W.

Your destination wedding is booked, the venue is perfect, and now comes one of the biggest challenges: getting everything to a whole other country! Sometimes “packing light” is simply not an option. I wanted to share my tips for getting you, your dress, and your wedding day must-haves to your resort paradise in one piece!

The #1 rule to remember: never, ever hand off your wedding dress as checked luggage! It’s most likely the most irreplaceable item that you’re bringing with you, so you should always keep your dress as a carry-on item. Depending on your plane, the flight staff may be able to hang this for you in the cabin closet. 

You should buy a proper garment bag for your dress(es) to keep your clothes well-protected; please don’t just roll it up and cram it with everything else in a standard carry-on! The gold standard for garment bags, marketed specifically for destination weddings, is the 66” tri-fold Wallybag, which costs $160+ at the time of this blog post. I personally purchased a popular Amazon dupes for $40 on sale and it worked just fine; I fit my mermaid crepe wedding dress with a long train, my long reception dress, three casual dresses, and my husband’s suit (including 2 dress shirts) with no issues. It needed to be folded in thirds to meet the size requirements of a carry-on.

If timing allows, try to make the most of seasonal sales, especially Black Friday!

Your clothes will definitely need a refresh after the travel. Some resorts offer steaming services for your dress and suit as part of your wedding package, but you can consider bringing your own handheld steamer that you know works and that you trust. 

Packing Everything Else

DIY-ing any wedding almost always boils down to money versus convenience, and that applies almost even more so to destination weddings because of the travel aspect. Resorts may upcharge you for wedding decor, but bringing it yourself comes at a price of its own. Maybe there is a 100% mark-up on renting chargers from the resort… but the alternative is sourcing the chargers yourself, packing them safely in checked luggage, having to mule it with you across airports and flights and shuttles/buses, paying the resort a setup fee, and figuring out what to do with it at the end (Do you lug it back home with you? Can you sell it to another bride who has a wedding at the same resort? Would the resort or another vendor want to just keep it?). Most resorts will not allow you to ship packages to their address, nor would I suggest this given the risk of getting held at customs, lost, damaged, etc.

For my wedding of 50 guests, decor-wise, I ended up bringing my handmade wedding favors, table number holders, card box (disassembled into slats), linen napkins, and a ring light (for my DIY photo wall) in a large suitcase that I bought off Facebook Marketplace for $25.

As part of your wedding planning spreadsheet, I would suggest creating a shared list of every little thing you and your future husband need to bring to your destination wedding. This includes all grooming-related items (dresses, suits, jewelry, shoes, swimsuit, makeup, double-sided tape), decor-related items (signage, candles, bubble wands, cake topper), and travel-related items (portable charger, passport, documentation). Your resort will likely also ask you for a list of inventory that you are handing off to them, so they can track what they need to give back.

Anecdotally, brides have told stories of getting stopped at customs when arriving in Mexico, especially if they are traveling with lots of luggage. Red flags are traveling with bulk items and items that are new with tags, as officials “say” you may be importing them into Mexico to sell commercially. Disclaimer that this is not legal advice - but to mitigate this risk, you can bring a inventory list with the value of all items you have, have copy of all receipts, have a copy of your wedding/vendor contracts and your wedding invitation, and a note written in Spanish explaining that you are bringing this for your wedding (note the location as well as the name and number of your wedding coordinator). My husband and I were stopped at Tulum Airport and the security guard took every single item out of my luggage; they even took scissors and opened my sealed boxes of decor. They asked me how much everything was worth (~$300 on my end), but the language barrier appeared to be too much of a hassle and they did not end up charging me any taxes or fees.

While packing for your wedding abroad might seem daunting, just take it one suitcase at a time! And if you forget your backup lipstick, or if your welcome sign comes with a bit of a dent… you’ll be too busy soaking in the magic of your day to even notice. Safe travels, happy packing, and cheers to your incredible adventure ahead!!