Carry-on Wedding Dress on SW - need help!!

[jnj0292]

We are leaving for our cruise wedding in three weeks and I am nervous about transporting our dress and suit. On other major airlines, (if you ask really nice) they have a place to hang such items. I am only guessing on this one, but I doubt that SW has such an option or would even be so kind....

 

Therefore, do any of you have good tips for carrying on such important items?? Any secrets on how to keep the wrinkles away??

 

The dress is straight and not full at all - it is just long. The suit is a dark olive - so it would probably show wrinkles more than a traditional black suit. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

 

We are getting married embarkation day (before the ship sets sail) and will not have time to have them pressed before the ceremony.:confused:

 

(Someone has already asked this on the wedding/honeymoon thread and has not had any responses. I figured that I would try my luck over here - Thanks!!)

[GORDONCHICK]

While SW is more of a budget airlines, I have always found their attitudes and helpfulness better than most of the other airlines. I think getting there in plenty of time to get through security and being able to board early will help. I have always found their flight attendants to be very customer service-minded, and I hope you will have a plane full of that attitude.

 

You might contact SW Airlines through their website and pose your question directly to them. They may go above and beyond and have people looking out for you on your flight that already know your needs. I am never shy to ask for what I need or want, so step up and express your concerns. Good luck!

[BlueHerons]

We are leaving for our cruise wedding in three weeks and I am nervous about transporting our dress and suit. On other major airlines, (if you ask really nice) they have a place to hang such items. I am only guessing on this one, but I doubt that SW has such an option or would even be so kind....

 

 

 

!!)

 

Call the airline directly and explain your situation to them. It is dependent upon the flight crew as to if they will help you out or not.

 

Have a backup plan where you can fold your dress in half and put it in the overhead if need be.

 

Do not under any circumstances check your wedding dress!

[LolaWiz]

I feel for yuo. i had to cart my dress from michigan to hawaii, so i know it can be combersome, however, any airlines would be happy as a clam to help you with your dress.

If you just call SW before had, they are going to say it is up to the discression of the flight crew, so when you get to the gate, ask to speak with the desk person. They will notify the crew and also, when you get on, ask them directly if you could have this hung in the captains closet/crew closet.

Also, jsut to be safe, take a very small travel steamer that you can use if you need to do any touch ups on the suit and dress.

 

Also, it helps if you wear a shirt that says "Bride" on it... :D

More likely than not, the crew will probably even give you a bottle of champagne or wine in celebration!

[greatam]

Call the airline directly and explain your situation to them. It is dependent upon the flight crew as to if they will help you out or not.

 

Have a backup plan where you can fold your dress in half and put it in the overhead if need be.

 

Do not under any circumstances check your wedding dress!

 

I'll disagree with you on this one. SW has VERY small closets (one at the front of the plane-the back one is filled with safety equip). Most likely, it will be filled with FA/Captain's luggage. And even if the FA are willing to put the dress in the closet, as small as they are, it will probably get crushed.

 

As I posted on the cruise air forum, I personally would NOT take the chance of waiting till I got to the gate to resolve the problem. You may be VERY unhappy with the solution. Folding the dress on a SW plane and putting it in the overhead would be a nightmare. Unless you have a couple of full size carryons and can lay the dress/suit unfolded across the top of the carryons, I would look to alternate solutions-like a 50" rolling garment bag and check the dress and suit. SW doesn't have many connecting flights (change of planes), so the chances of lost luggage become less.

[Cptnkirky]

I was acutally just on a SW flight with a couple (carrying a big wedding dress) a couple months ago. As others said, it is all up to the flight attendants there, but I don't think I have really ever come across a rude SW flight attendant. If someone looks like they are in a bad mood, ask someone else, there is always more than one person there.

On my flight, the attendant hung the dress in the front (on the cockpit door)while everyone boarded. Then when everyone was seated she went through the overheads looking for one that had space above the luggage in the overhead. When she found one that looked good (an some of the overheads connect so they are longer with no breaks in between), she layed the dress on top and closed it. Everyone on the plane saw what she was doing since she did it after everyone was boarded. Plus, she asked all the people around there that if they needed anything from that overhead, to please ask an attendant to help as it was a wedding dress on top! The she announced the bride and groom and everyone clapped to congratulate them. Sooo nice!

 

I don't know if it helped at all, but this dress was being carried in a see through (clear) plastic garment bag. Therefore, everyone would see it coming and know to be careful with it.

 

I hope everything goes well for you...just ask someone and I am sure they will do their best to help you! Good luck :)

[jp2001]

I heard many times that putting your dress in a cleaner bag helps reduce wrinkles, I think it's worth a try.

[YankeeCruiser]

I can't speak to the SW flight, but I definitely agree with LolaWiz - get a small travel steamer and take it along - they are allowed on cruise ships. I had to transport my wedding dress as well, and the steamer worked great (quick and easy) - and is safe on silk, satin, organza, whatever - and will also work very well on the suit. That way you won't have to stress too much about wrinkles that might occur on the flight. Here's a thread from a couple weeks ago, with some reviews of different steamers: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=426402

 

And most importantly - CONGRATS!!

 

:)

[judy&steve]

Southwest is the same airline that requires an overweight person to purchase two seats. I don't think they would be that generous to find space for your dress. Even if they put the dress overhead covering other carryons, I would be nervous about it. The last time we flew a liquid came out of the ceiling. We were taking off and at an angle. All of a sudden liquid came pouring out of the overhead. It hit everybody in its path. "It" was a cup of forgotten coffee. The person must have put it down while arranging the overhead and left it. It was a mess. I can only imagine what it did to coats, bags, etc. I can't tell you what you should do with the transportation for your gown. Perhaps you could send it by way of one of the baggage shipping services. Very expensive, but worth it for the most important dress in your life.

Judy

[cigal]

jnj0292,

 

Don't let the dress out of your sight - don't check it, don't send it ahead!

The chances of it getting lost in transit are greater, IMHO, than a random cup of coffee spilling on it in the overhead. (but put it in a couple of layers of plastic just to be sure)

 

My sister flew on SW from Savannah, Georgia to Los Angeles, CA with her wedding dress - and it was a full skirt with several layers of tulle underneath. They were more than accommodating - hung it up and moved other stuff to do so. She was very grateful and to this day prefers to fly SW over others. I have flown SW many times and also agree that they tend to have better attitudes and be more helpful than other airlines.

 

As for keeping it from getting wrinkled - the steamer is a really good idea, as is the dry cleaner bag suggestion. My sister arrived 2 days before her wedding (she was leaving 3 days after the wedding for 9 months in Kosovo with the Army and that is all the leave she could get:o ). She stuffed dry cleaner bags between the tulle and the satin and thought it helped, but she did get it pressed anyway.

 

One other thought - is there a 1 hour dry cleaner place near the port? (Out here they are called 1hr Martinizing I think) A place like that may charge a lot, but may be able to do a quick steam. Are you overnighting in the port city - check with the hotel if you are - they may be able to help.

 

But most of all remember that no one will notice a few wrinkles. And if they do - they aren't paying attention to the ceremony:rolleyes:.

Congratulations on your wedding. Have a wonderful time and take it all in, as the day will go by really fast (even though time probably seems to go by really slow right now).

Have a great Honeymoon too,

 

Cigal

[Sunshine91]

jnj - Congrats.

I'm certainly no frequent flyer (John needs happy pills to get on a plane :eek: ) but there's a thread over on the HAL board about cancelled flights. A poster rescheduled on SWA & folks over there are raving about how wonderful the flight crew is on SWA.

One poster suggested that you can pre-print your boarding pass to help avoid a bit of the cattle call. Exactly 24 hours prior to your flight, go online to SWA's website to print your boarding pass to get an A card. Apparently SWA calls flyers in A,B,C order depending on when they check-in. If you have that coveted A card, you get to board in the 1st group, get choice of seat & will be able to talk to the flight crew, not just the gate attendant.

If it was me, like others have said, I would take that all-important dress w/me (never check it). A random cup of coffee - is just that, random. Everyone loves a wedding & I think if you just ask, will be willing to help. As for wrinkles, do as much prevention as you can & the rest....oh well.

[smoothdancer]

I fly all the time with my ballroom gowns and always carry them on. I have a garmet bag made just for gowns. The gown actually folds in half into this large canvas bag and the skirts lay flat. There is a hole for the hanger and shoulder straps to go over your shoulder. The bag is so wide that it does not wrinkle, and I am talking many layers of a Georgette fabric that is very prone to wrinke. If you gown is stoned in any way you will end up having to take it out of the bag at X-ray... Then find a table to put the gown back in the bag.

 

When I get on the plane I never ask and always hang it in the closet when I first enter the plane. If the attendent stops me I explain what I am hanging and in my sweetest please let me do this voice, not once has an attendent said no. For me the key has been to ask ever so nicely and be very appreciate of them. Works much better than demanding. There is not a women out there that does not love a gown!... Better yet the pilots love it even better. It seems to amuse them.

 

The best advise I can give is to invest in the correct canvas traveling garment bag.

[jnj0292]

Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences and suggestions - they were just what I was looking for. I did just get a really nice canvas garment bag at the bridal shower yesterday - so there is one option. I have heard about the dry cleaner bags - doesn't hurt to try. Oh, and I love the steamer suggestion - the suit will definitley need a little refreshing.

 

Thanks again for your pleasant and insightful comments. They were much appreciated.

 

To any newbies - keep 'em coming!!:)

[JanineM]

We were married in Vegas, and I carried my dress on Southwest.

 

I had the dress shop pack my dress in tissue in a big dress box, and it arrived just fine. The flight attendants took it and found an overhead bin with enough space, and put it away for me. When we arrived at the hotel, I just hung it out and it was fine. My dress was shantung silk, so it really shows all of the creasemarks, but it looked great.

 

Perhaps you could ask the dress shop if they could package it up well with tissue and plastic in a sturdy box?

 

Good luck, and best wishes!

[smoothdancer]

What a great idea, Waterbaby... I would of never thought of that! Was it hard to carry through the airport?

[forpaws]

SW doesn't have many connecting flights (change of planes), so the chances of lost luggage become less.

 

SW lost our luggage just two weeks ago coming from Orlando to Little Rock. Our luggage vacationed in San Antonio for a day before deciding it wanted to come on to Little Rock. :p

[newgirl]

I was on a Continental flight to Cozumel with my gown, so I feel your pain. The flight was full so I had very little room to store it. I shoved it into the exit row (my mom was in that seat so it was not a difficult ordeal) overhead since it was a bit bigger than the non exit row overheads. I drug it through three airports and then on to the hotel. I promptly hung it and it was fine. The tropical humidity assured all wrinkles were gone by the wedding day.

 

Have a great trip/wedding/marriage/life!

[shawilson]

I never thought I would fly Southwest. After my first positive experience, I flew them several times. Then I took the plunge and flew them cross country. I'm hooked. I have flown all the "major" airlines. SW has the most "down to earth" and nice folks working for them. Not to make "light of your plight in flight", but some of their fares are so inexpensive, maybe you could buy a seat for all of your stuff and keep it right next to you? Don't know if that is allowed, but sometimes you can get a one way for $69. If they make an overweight person buy 2 seats, well then, there you go, just say you are larger than the norm.

 

Best wishes for a long and happy marriage.

[Drybridge170]

Hi & Congratulations! I, too, got married on a ship and had the same situation. We flew using SW, and I called ahead of time to ask permission to carry on my gown and have them hang it for me. They had someone meet me where we boarded the plane (before everyone got on) and a very nice flight attendant hung it up for me in with the pilots garments! As an above poster mentioned, they were very accomodating, and friendly! They announced us as the "soon to be Mr & Mrs" and my dress arrived in very good shape. We did however get married the second to the last day on board the ship, and had a land tour prior to our cruise, so I still had the ship steam/press it for me. Had we gotten married just after the flight though, the gown would have been just fine--not a wrinkle in sight! Everyone was accomodating though, and the best advice I have is to just ask beforehand. Good luck & best wishes!!

[JanineM]

What a great idea, Waterbaby... I would of never thought of that! Was it hard to carry through the airport?

 

There was a handle on the box, so it wasn't too bad to carry. If you're over about 40, you might remember when better dress shops used to pack dresses or coats in boxes. If the dress is heavy, it can be a pain (literally) in the hands. But if you are rolling a rollaboard, you can set it on top.

 

If you can't find a dress shop that has boxes, dry cleaners that specialize in wedding dresses will often have boxes and special paper for packing.