The journey of a dress

The most anxiety I have had thus far during wedding planning was about bringing my dress to California. I couldn't have it shipped because it was not ready for pickup until the day before we left. I did not want to stress about my dress making it in time for the wedding, or making it at all. So bringing it on the plane was my only option.

My consultant freaked me out by telling me she had a bride who had to buy a carry on bag at the airport and stuff her dress into it. She said that was on a South West flight so I made a mental note not to fly with them... When it came time to buy our tickets I wasn't thinking about which airline would be the most accommodating with my dress, I was thinking what's the cheapest flight we can find. We ended up on Jet Blue, which is one of my favorite airlines to fly anyway. The only problem is that because Jet Blue doesn't have a first class, they don't have a coat closet to hang up dresses.

Let me back up and say the reason I'm writing this post is because I was so stressed about this. I lost sleep over it, I tweeted and facebooked about my fears, asked everyone's advice, felt sick over it, and I shed some tears. So I wanted to share my story and say to any bride that has to fly with her dress; It's really stressful but it'll be fine.

Trying to be optimistic heading to the airport!

When we got to the airport I was already a mess. I was so nervous and my arm hurt from carrying my dress over my head so it wouldn't touch the ground. We checked our bags and went to get in the security line. When we approached the women at the entrance looked at me and said, "You can't bring that on you have to check it." I looked at her and said, "What?" She repeated, "You're going to have to check that." In the words of Mr. Castle, I was about to burst into tears while turning into a screaming Bridezilla at the same time. Before I could do or say anything else she smiled and said, "Just kidding! Hahaha." I wanted to punch her in the face. I just laughed and said, "Oh my God I almost had a heart attack. Haha..." Mr. Castle found it hilarious. I somewhat did, but considering my fragile state I hoped I wouldn't get any more of those jokes along the way.

Luckily the airport wasn't crowded so when we went through security a TSA worker helped me put my dress on the belt to go through the scanner. He attached the hanger hooks to Mr. Castles bag so his bag would basically pull my dress though. They also let me go through the scanner really fast so I could get my dress on the other side.

Putting my shoes back on after security

Fast Forward to boarding the plane. I asked someone at the desk what would be the best thing for me to do and the flight attendant said I should wait for other people to put their stuff in the bins and then put my dress on top. I boarded when our rows were called and hoped for the best. When I got on the plane the flight attendant looked at me like I had just brought on board a screaming baby that was going to ruin the whole flight. I kindly asked her to help me find a place for my dress and she told me, "Well we don't have anywhere to hang it up so you're going to have to fold it and put it in an overhead bin." I said, "I can't fold it." She just looked at me and shrugged her shoulders as if to say, "Sorry can't help you." Since she was going to be of no help I went off on my own to find a place for my dress. Towards the back of the plane  I found an overhead bin with only one suitcase and a flat bag so I thought it was probably the best option I had at this point. The bottom of my dress basically had to be stuffed up in the bin, but at least it was semi flat on top of the bag and suitcase for the 5 1/2 hour flight.

When I got back to my seat I bust into tears. I was just so overwhelmed and upset that people weren't nicer to me. Looking back it wasn't that big a deal. My dress is fine, just needs a little steaming. I just wish no one would have made a joke at my expense and the flight attendant would have been more helpful. I think she then felt bad because she kept bringing me extra snacks... Our seats were up towards the front of the plane and my dress was all the way in the back. When we landed I had to watch as people moved my dress around to get their things underneath. I should have made a, Handle with care. I'm a freaking wedding dress, sign because people were moving it and stuffing it back in like it was a winter coat. At one point the top of my dress was hanging out of the overhead bin. We had to wait for everyone to get off the plane before we could make our way back to get my dress. I was so relieved when we were finally off the plane. I wanted that trip to be over and have my dress safe and sound and home.

In the end everything worked out fine. It was just one of those things that a week before your wedding seem like a life and death situation. When we were on the plane I got a dose of what the wedding was really all about when Mr. Castle pointed out that we were flying over the Grand Canyon. The very place were he proposed 15 months ago.

The Grand Canyon from the air

In the end it's all about Mr. Castle and I getting married. I need to make sure I don't sweat the small stuff during this last week before the big day. :)

Anyone else fly with their wedding dress? I hope they were nice to you!

All Photos are personal