Long Distance Wedding: Fly or Drive?

I would think driving would be cheaper and easier.

Personally I would drive. Seems like you’d be less likely to forget things that way, and it would be much cheaper. If you flew, not only would you have to pay for airfare but you’d have to pay to ship things to the venue and manage to get your dress on the plane.

I would drive. I would be leery of putting trust in the shipping process (what if they are lost or damaged) or an airline (what if flight is cancelled, delayed, etc.). Plus I swear I get sick every time I step on a plane (has nothing to do with current COVID environment), so I'd be a big germophobe right before my wedding/honeymoon and would want to avoid that risk.

You guys are making EXTREMELY valid points. I probably wouldn’t be shipping anything as his mom drives up every Christmas and June, but still.


Also I somehow forgot about the sickening anxiety that washes over me every time I even leave to go to the airport and doesn’t stop until we take off 😅 usually ends up being worth it but probably not in this situation
I was only thinking about flying so that I could go by myself ahead of time and my fiancé could take less time off work 🤷🏼‍♀️

If you are not firm in real flowers, you could rent already assembled real touch false flowers delivered to the adress to save money and hassle, then spray with scent so they smell real. Like everyone above , I agree driving would be better at such times as now due to the virus, not to mention if it gets overbooked, you forget something theres no u turn, losing luggage (with or without your dress), facing plane food(cross fingers that close of time to the wedding your stomach agrees), just plain regular germs in a plane, and being packed in like a can of sardines next to strangers. plus side a car ride will just be you and so in a car to joke around and have one on one time before hand without distractions.

I'd drive. Flying and shipping both carry added risks with covid. It's holding up shipping. It's canceling flights last minute because airlines have too few passengers

Drive!!!!
I live in Florida and am getting married in NJ. I will absolutely be driving. It's just way too much stuff to attempt to bring on a plane.

I would drive. We got married in FL and live in MD and had so many things to try to get to the venue. It’s much harder than you might think to get everything there and organized. Driving will be much easier. Good luck.

I would absolutely drive! 8 hours really isn’t that bad. You could break it into 2 four hour legs if needed, and it sounds like it would save a lot of heartburn on the logistics.

I would drive, and have my checklist of what needs to go ready to be marked off as I loaded the vehicle.


I'm getting married on the other side of my state, about 3 hours away, so a lot of things were already worked out to be picked up there the day of or before the wedding, but I have an ever growing checklist too 😊😊😊 I'm that person who always forgets 1 thing for every roadtrip!!
Good luck! 🌻

For only 8 hours I would drive. I was 22 hours away so we flew. Your dress counts as a carry on so you don’t have to buy a ticket for it. I shipped my dress there and carried it back. I had already left my diy stuff with my parents and now they still have it until I can one day drive back out there. But in your situation I would definitely drive and then you will have all your stuff.

We've driven from Chicago through Indiana and on to Nashville (and back) a couple of times. It's a pretty easy drive. I think last time we went straight through with only one stop and were in Nashville at a normal dinner time. Especially if you'll likely have a bunch of stuff, I'd expect driving to be so much easier. Depending on the flights available between your city and Chattanooga, with arriving early at the departure airport, possibly a stop/plane change somewhere, and then waiting for your stuff upon arrival, you could easily spend at least half the day in transit for a flight and then you'll potentially need a car in TN. If you just drive, it won't be much more time and you'll have your own car.

I’m flying to my wedding 9 hours away! But my family and MOH are driving, so I’m throwing my dress and everything else in their cars!

Hm if it was me I would fly and just find places like Costco that would sell arrangements there.

I’m in a similar situation. We live in SoCal and the wedding is in Las Vegas (5 hour drive / 1 hour flight). I always prefer to fly everywhere because it’s faster and easier. Plus road-trips to Vegas (through the desert) aren’t very exciting. So my original plan was to fly... until I thought about our items getting there 🤔. This realization actually made me cut back on decor items. That way we aren’t loaded down with a bunch of stuff to transport and I didn’t want to put that responsibility on anyone else. Our venue is quite unique and requires almost no additional decor (but still more than I want to pack onto a plane). So, ultimately, we’ll drive there and fly back since I don’t plan to bring any additional items back home.

View Quoted Comment What are you planning on doing with all your decor after the wedding? Ours is pretty much the same. I don’t plan on having much more than centerpieces, but still like 15 of those so 😬

I would drive and allow a full next day after the drive for doing things. A friend offered to do out flowers, mostly flowering plants ( her field before stay at home motherhood. ) None of us had a good vehicle with enough storage room, and clothes, and cards, and seating chart. The best thing we did was to rent a van. She drove 6 hours, we came from an hour further. My brother drove her, My auntie ( with food stuff) , all our do it yourself centerpieces, all flowers. And had them take out the back seat. We invested in covered storage bins, $100 on sale, stackable in 2 sizes, which I have used for packing and storage ever since. And one U haul portable closet, essentially a small refrigerator size box , with a tube around a metal wire at top for a hanger bar. Very stable, nothing crushed. 20 glass or pottery vases, all those plants, all stayed put in well packed boxes. The vehicle is cheap, the mileage more, but worth it. Suits and 2 long dresses, plus other stuff, no wrinkles to iron. And peace of mind, that they would not overbook the flight and decide the dress had to go in cargo, or buy everything and rent once there. Worth every penny twice over.

View Quoted Comment How funny! We have 15 centerpieces too. But they’re not elaborate. So I’m donating the vases to the venue or they can trash them. I have no use for anything after the wedding. Those are the biggest items that we’ll have to transport. Any other smaller leftovers that don’t fit into our checked luggage or carry-on bag will be offered to guests or tossed out. There won’t be much afterward, so I can put it in a box, send it with my parents and pick it up whenever. The bigger decor items are being rented, so we don’t have to worry about those.


There was also a chance that we needed to leave from Vegas to go on our honeymoon. But that’s up in the air now. So, in that case, I’m definitely not loading anything after the wedding.

What all do you have that you’ll need to bring back afterward?

View Quoted Comment I was thinking about offering the centerpieces to whoever wants them when everything is over. Our venue doesn’t keep anything, and I don’t want them to be wasted. I will also have at least 10 tablecloths since it’s cheaper to buy them than rent. I’m still fairly early in planning so I’m not exactly sure what else we’ll have

View Quoted Comment Gotcha! Apologies, I didn’t see that your wedding isn’t until fall of 2021. So you’ve got some time to get it figured out. Best wishes!