OOT bag items & Mexico customs

[all the love]

For those of you who have already been through your wedding, did you have any issues with the oot bag items at Mexico customs? Did you declare all of the stuff you had with you, and did they give you any trouble about any of it? I'm particularly interested in taking in starfish (as they are animals) and we are also considering doing hot sauce favors, but I'm not sure about taking food across the boarder.

 

Any experienced brides care to share?

[dallace]

Good question! I was wondering the same thing...last thing I want/need is to get totally screwed because I had something that they don't allow lol

[Manda123]

Great question. I've been wondering the same thing. I remember reading somewhere that people brought receipts for all of their items. I bought some of our gifts in Chinatown in NYC and definitely DO NOT have receipts! Looking forward to hearing about people's experiences!

[all the love]

Hi ladies,

I had some issues with customs, so I thought my experience might be helpful to share.

 

We took our wedding party gifts with us (9 pairs of Burberry sunglasses). I mis-understood the customs form and did not declare these, as well as all the rest of the wedding stuff that was "not for personal use" (all OOT bag items, chari sashes, favors, etc). You ae allowed to enter Mexico with $300 (per person) of merchandise not for personal use. Everything above that must be declared.

 

They saw the sunglasses when they scanned our bags and started asking questions, but I didn't know what the issue was, so then they searched ALL our stuff and basically threatened to confiscate it all. We ended up having to pay a 16% tax on the value of the sunglasses (SO GLAD I had the receipts!) and they let us go with the rest of the stuff.

 

My advice is to declare everything, and have your receipts. And give your wedding party their gifts before you go!

I kept a copy of the declaration form, I will scan it and post it later incase you want to read it before you go.

[jillybeans127]

good to know im not the only one going crazy with buying and then worrying about how im going to get to mexico after the fact

[vickib]

Great information!  Thanks for sharing.