How on earth are you supposed to get your Maid of Honor Dress to the Wedding in Good Condition if you're Flying?

More often than not modern day Maids of Honor need to get on an airplane to attend the wedding. This makes the Maid experience a bit more expensive and also poses the inevitable question as to how in the heck you're supposed to get your Maid of Honor dress from point A to point B without losing it, ripping it, or otherwise crushing it beyond repair. Here are some answers to the most frequently asked dress transportation questions.

Is it smart to have the Maid of Honor dress shipped directly to the bridesmaid dress boutique (near the wedding) so that it's already waiting for you when you arrive for the wedding?

While this may sound like a clever work-around, you'll be in a panic if you discover that your Maid of Honor dress doesn't fit the day before the wedding! Transporting the dress yourself may be a big pain, but having nothing to wear for the wedding will cause you much worse Maid of Honor angst.

To avoid wrinkling the dress, can you just put it in a garment bag and leave it draped across your lap during the flight?

The answer to this question depends entirely on your airline stewardess. In my experience some of them will let you keep the Maid of Honor dress on your lap (since it doesn't actually weigh enough to harm anyone if it gets thrown around!), but it's not uncommon to be forced to shove it under your seat or into the overhead compartment. This is not exactly ideal. One trick is to explain your Maid of Honor plight to the airplane personnel and see if there's a hook where the dress could be hung (probably in first class, but I wouldn't mention this specifically).

If you can't hold the oh so important Maid of Honor dress on your lap, why don't you just save the trouble and put it in your checked luggage?

DON'T do this! It could be just your bad luck to have the airline lose your luggage on your way to stand up as Maid of Honor. It does happen; I've seen it personally. One of the bridesmaids in my friend's wedding was actually looking for a store to see if she could buy a new dress when the airline found her luggage in the nick of time. It wasn't pretty!

How can you pack the dress to avoid having to iron it when you arrive at your destination?

The short answer is that you can't. You will absolutely need to iron your dress before acting as Maid of Honor. Even if you're able to hang the dress up on the plane or hold it in your lap, it will probably still need ironing (just not as extensively). Do, of course, be very careful to use the appropriate setting of the iron (low!) to make sure you don't burn a hole in your dress! Read the instructions or consult the Maid of Honor dress boutique for advice.

To pack the dress in your carry-on luggage, try smoothing it out on your bed. Then carefully roll the dress up into a tube shape and place it into your suitcase so that it can't move around much. This should at least avoid the deeper wrinkles that folding it can cause.

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