Excess Clothing!
 

Daughter heading to France for wedding in the fall and then travelling about for a couple of weeks. Is there any way to get her party clothes there and back without having to cart them all over after the wedding. Shipping? Other ideas? Will involve several changes of clothes

Take everything with her on the plane. Then mail home the party clothes from the post office after the wedding?

Keep in mind UPS and FedEx, etc as possibilities also.

Is she returning to the same city where she arrives before she departs? Perhaps her hotel could store a small suitcase for her?

Sending heavy packages can cost a ton - check weight limited from France to the U.S. too - ask your local post office about that - same rules apply both ways often. But yes try to stow for a few weeks and save tons of money or take them to a consignment shop and hope for the best.

I thought we were talking about a couple party outfits? That's not a "heavy package".

I have done this in Amsterdam and Paris both, gone to the regular post office with my stuff in a bag, gotten a box from them, filled the box, and sent it off.

Heavy packages? Small suitcase? A wedding involves one dress, stick with basic black jersey which jewelry and dressy sandals will change up for the occasion. Pashmina in a metallic luxe, etc. You're good to go. I have dragged clothing to Paris for one dress-up lunch at the Grand Vefour and didn't cramp my (general) overpacking style for few weeks.

This used to be discussed here more, and I don't know why this information isn't passed along that much these days.

France has these prepaid mailing boxes that are perfect for these situations, Colissimo Emballage International.

http://www.connexionfrance.com/Sendi...s-article.html

You just go to the PO, buy the box and anything that fits in it mails for the prepaid price.

I've used these and it was just fine.

A couple of outfits plus I assume different shoes for each, will be pretty expensive. We had a transatlantic cruise scheduled from Tampa and after all booked, niece in Maimi scheduled her wedding the Sat before our Sunday departure. Mailed wedding outfits and hubby's clothes back and forth, but better than lugging around. So: Maybe she can find out from bride who else is coming to the wedding but will be coming right back to the US. They might be willing to put her stuff in their luggage.

Go to a consignment store buy something nice but inexpensive and sell it or leave it in Europe. If selling might be a fund part of the Europe experience.

Don't dress as you would if you were going to a wedding in the US or close to where you live. Make the adjustment or sacrifice in what you're wearing.

But first put all wedding clothes in a box, weigh it, go online to FedEx and see the charges, that might settle things.

tuscanlifeedit--

Thanks so much for the shipping tip. Even though I've been on the forum for what seems like ages now, I had never see Colissimo before.

I looked for a French website to make sure it still exists.

It does:
http://www.colissimo.fr/particuliers...age_France.jsp

But I do want to add for the OP that we frequently have had hotels store our luggage until we swing back their way. Most times we are staying at the hotel again on our "swing back", but at least twice hotels have kindly just stored it until we can stop in and fetch it.

Another vote for using the Colissimo boxes from the post office there. We have been doing this for years and never had an issue. Even coming back to Oregon, mot of the time the boxes arrive in under 7 days, only one took 10, so not bad at all. I go to the PO and purchase the box and get the paperwork, then take it back to where we are staying and assemble the box (it is self sealing) and fill in the paperwork, then just take it back and drop it off.

Leave it with the wedding people and ask them to mail it back however it can be done. But I surely would take it over with me. That can be room for souvenirs coming back to US.

I've used the Colissimo boxes in France also but beware that it is NOT cheap at all. And their biggest box isn't that big. I don't know if you could even fit a lot of party outfits into one, so if you need two it may cost you 100-200 euro. I know I spent 40 euro for one that wasn't that big (I think the medium size). If you don't mind the cost, it's fine.

I thought we were talking about a couple party outfits? That's not a "heavy package".

I thought 4 kg was the max for anything cheap?

I wish each person were able to post a picture of what they are imagining as the party outfits. :-) I'm sure we would get to see some totally wild variations on the concept.

There are maximum weights on the La Poste prepaid boxes but clothes shouldn't exceed the weight unless it's a steamer trunk's worth! Be sure to purchase the international boxes, not domestic.

From the Connextion article:

If opting for Colissimo Emballage make sure you pick the right size, from: rectangular boxes M, L and XL (each with maximum weights); Souple - a heavy plastic envelope; P for up to 3kg of books or documents; Bouteille - for one, two or three bottles of a package for CDs/DVDs up to 1kg. International options are L (up to 5kg), XL (up to 7kg) or one bottle.

I thought the XL box, which isn't that big, has a max weight of 7 km. And it isn't that big in size, either, so a couple party outfits can take up a lot of space, and if they are expensive, structured dresses, you aren't going to want to roll them into tiny balls, that's all. THE XL box is only 38x25x30 cm which is only about 15 inches by 10 inches by 8 inches. Try getting a couple party outfits in that. ANd it cost 55 euro.

So what is your helpful suggestion, Christina?

If these <i>party clothes</i> include <i>several changes of clothing</i>, Colissimo packages are going to be expensive, particularly if shoes are part of the ensemble.

There are several services which can ship a suitcase home for you but be ready to pay $200 and up:
http://www.myluggageexpress.com/
http://www.luggagefree.com/
http://www.luggageforward.com/

There are also places where you can leave luggage for later pickup:
http://www.bluemarble.org/ParisLuggage.html
http://www.bagagesdumonde.com/


The simply answer would be to pack less.