We are planning to travel in Europe in September. We want to travel ultra light but we will be attending a formal wedding in Milan toward the end of our trip. We hope to ship our wedding clothes to our hotel in Milan. I know that it would make sense to just buy clothes there, but we are both very difficult to fit and that would be a risky and time consuming process. I have looked at some companies online and spoken with local Fedex and USPS but the options are super expensive. $600.00 for a small suitcase or box. I will be grateful for your suggestions.
Posted by
Charleston & Birmingham
4313 posts
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/has-anyone-used-shipmybag-com
That thread had the same question. Sorry I couldn't get it to hyperlink but you can copy and paste.
Posted by
11152 posts
We used International Priority Mail, Large Box to ship our wedding clothing to Santiago, Chile.
Once in Chile, delivery was handled by FedEx which surprised and pleased us. It took three days, faster than expected. It was around $60. per box
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
The FedEx quote sounds way too high for a suit and a dress, maybe some shoes. For example, shipping a leather coat from Italy to US by FedEx costs a fraction of the $600 you were quoted. You might want to call FedEx's 800 number and talk to someone more knowledgeable than your local store about international shipments.
A couple of other ideas: 1) If it's the suitcase that's skyrocketing the price, put the clothes in the smallest possible box and then, when you get to Milan, buy a cheap suitcase for the trip home. 2) Inquire about the cost of FedEx from your Italy arrival city to Milan. If the cost is reasonable, you could take the extra suitcase with you and ship it within Italy.
Posted by
OP
US
8 posts
Thank you for these suggestions. I'm checking them out. I did speak with a local Fedex store so I will call for an international specialist! The young man I contacted most likely was not experienced with international shipping. We are flying into Brussels and out of Marseille with the wedding in Milan. We will have one last train trip from Milan Nice and a car the rest of the trip, so taking the bag home with us won't be a problem. I did consider taking the bag to Brussels and shipping to Milan from there, but I hate to give up the time it would take to sort it out. I'd rather burn the time from home and save those hours.
I'll continue my quest with help from these tips. Thank you!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32735 posts
Since you are both so difficult to fit, I surprised that you wouldn't worry that if your special clothes were mislaid en-route and delayed too long, what you would wear to the wedding.
Travelling ultra light is one thing but if a formal Italian wedding in Milan is the root cause of the trip I personally wouldn't risk it....
Posted by
Washington DC
27095 posts
I'm with Nigel. If I had to do a combo trip like this, I'd try to position my free time after the wedding rather than before it. That way, I could ship the wedding clothes home without worrying that they might get lost.
There is not a postal system or private company in the world that has never lost a package, no matter what their advertising would have you believe.
Posted by
OP
US
8 posts
If I were in the wedding party or the mother of the bride I would be more concerned about lost luggage. Airlines lose luggage too and the bag is slightly too big to carry on. But this is our 50th Anniversary trip that happened to coincide with my husband's friend's daughter's wedding. So we are just guests. We want to do everything we can to be dressed appropriately but the trip is mostly about us. We can't spend a month after the wedding touring but we CAN do it before the wedding. Our real life interrupts our fairy tale sometimes. LOL I think we will go with sendmybag.com. We can probably do this for 98.00. We will arrive a day early to allow for time to figure out a compromise if our stuff gets lost. Thank you for all of your thought provoking suggestions. So very helpful! I hope we have found a solution. We are not experienced international travelers so this forum is a treasure trove for us.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11315 posts
Not to be overlooked is the high cost of Italian import duties. They are astronomical! A few years ago (2014 to be exact while we lived in Rome) we had shipped some clothes to the US for a wedding we were to attend. We had to cancel the trip, so our son shipped the suitcase back to us via the USPS declaring $300 value and marking the customs form as “used clothes.” This shipping cost was not horrible, but the duty was over one-third the value of the clothes, payable in cash, about €110. So be sure you 7dnerstamd not only shipping but customs and be aware that things do get held up in customs as well. Maybe the Shipmybag option has that well in hand. Not sure about Fedex.
Posted by
OP
US
8 posts
Thank you Laurel. I did a live chat with the company. They said if resale value is over 100 dollars that could create a fee with customs. So I am grateful for the tip. I will investigate further.