Bringing it all to Mexico

Loving the posts about the decorations, flowers etc that are all DIY or purchased at home. My questions : How do you bring it all to Mexico or wherever you are planning to have the wedding? I see lanterns and center pieces and beautiful ceremony decorations, OOT bags and I am feeling very overwhelmed on how to bring all this with me on the trip. I am from Ontario Canada

Any advice would be great! Thank you ladies!!!

Most brides pay the extra to check a bag, designated for their decor and oot bags. Shipping it to your resort has many risks from what I understand, as customs wants you to pay duties/ taxes on Chinese manufactured items, and they are hefty

Who are you flying with?  We flew with Sunquest and since we had a group booking everyone in my group got an extra 10 kg of luggage allowance so I had my mom take a suitcase, my husband's parents took one and we took 3 with no extra charges.

Oh I forgot to mention that I purchased a bunch of space saving bags from the dollar store, the kind you pack and then use your vaccum to suck all the air out - these made a huge difference with how much I could fit in each suitcase, really helpful for packing my paper lanterns, oot bags and linens.

Wow thanks for all the great suggestions!

The space saving bags are a great idea! I wouldn't have thought of those for non-clothing items. I'm definitely worried about all the stuff we are going to lug to Mexico with us.

Ladies,

Please keep your receipts and make sure that you have no more than $300 in items that you are bringing in.  My hubby and I had a total of 6 bags that we brought and still have 2 other bags that came with family.  Having my wedding dress in hand helped and he had his suit in his garment bag.  We were asked how much we were bringing in and I said $250.  However; I could back up my $250 with receipts (old navy $1.00 flip flops etc..) I kept the receipts with me in my carry on just in case.

Happy Planning and Safe Travels

This is a good forum regarding customs in Mexico if you decide to bring items with you on the plane. I wrote about my interesting experience on the last page: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/41422/customs-in-mexico-an-effort-to-gather-the-info-in-one-thread/120#post_1806440
 

When you are booking your trip ask your TA to see if you can purchase extra baggage weight at a reduced cost. We flew with Sunwing and were able to arrange an additional 30kg ahead of time for about $150 (plus we got upgraded seats). Or if you're not using a TA, call the airline and see if you can arrange something. They usually are very accomadating to brides, especially if they know ahead of time that you will have extra luggage (that way they can plan ahead, ie. not take as much cargo).

Also when thinking about what to bring down, plan! We brought down paper lanterns, which fold flat. So they don't take much room. Most OOT bag items were small, or flat- so packing them was not difficult. When we arrived in Mexico (we got there 2 days in advance of our guests), we went out and bought stuff locally, such as treats, snacks, and the vases we used for our center pieces. This way we didn't have to travel with it, and it was cheap down there anyway! Plus our guests LOVED the local treats- it gave the OOT bags a Mexican flare.

Also be ready to have your baggage inspected at the airport. If you get the 'red' light, or if you have a lot of extra baggage they will likely want to look. We tried to keep all our decor and OOT bag stuff together so that it was organized, and we had the reciepts in hand. Explain that you are getting married in Mexico and it is gifts for your guests. (they are worried sometimes that this stuff might be brought into Mexico to be sold. Which they prohibit)

@murmel: Where did you go to get your vases and treats/ snacks for your guests. This is what I want to do, assuming I know where to go before I get there!