All weddings are special, but the opportunity to travel overseas for your wedding or to celebrate a friend’s wedding provides an amazing adventure. By mixing a life-changing experience with the eye-opening possibilities offered by overseas travel, couples can offer their guests and one another with a truly memorable occasion.
Attending a wedding overseas isn’t just a matter of hopping on a plane and spiking the punch bowl with the local adult beverage of choice, however. Overseas weddings are a logistical challenge for couples and their guests alike, and packing the right items for a foreign vacation and a wedding are important to ensure the event is an enjoyable success.
There are quite a few items you’ll need to make attendance at an overseas wedding smooth sailing. Along with the traditional formal wear you need to attend a wedding, you’ll also need some practical items like personal care items, foreign currency, and devices such as step down voltage converters that will allow you to safely charge your electronic devices using overseas outlets. By packing smart, you’ll be able to focus on enjoying the event with your friends, rather than stressing over a fried smartphone or worrying about filling a prescription overseas.
When traveling overseas for a wedding, whether it’s a friend’s or your own, consider these smart packing and other ideas to ensure you have everything you need:
- When preparing to travel overseas for a wedding, it’s important to take your ID and your passport along. Many travelers get delayed at the airport because they forget these critical documents. As airport security is tougher than ever, not having your documents in hand may cause you to miss your flight.
If you don’t already have a passport, you’ll need to get one well in advance of your trip abroad. It can take up to six weeks to get a passport, so it’s important to move quickly to obtain one. Travelers can apply for passports at courthouses, post offices, and other government facilities.
- If you regularly take medication for a health condition, be sure to have a valid prescription and a full supply of your meds when you travel. Getting prescriptions filled overseas can be a huge hassle, so having an ample supply of medicine can help you avoid this issue. Having a copy of your prescription on hand will help you expedite getting your medication should you lose it.
- When traveling abroad, it’s a good idea to have cash on hand in case local merchants or service providers do not accept credit or debit cards. While plastic is ubiquitous in the U.S., in many parts of the world, credit and debit cards are not accepted. Be sure to bring along a few hundred dollars in cash when you travel abroad and convert some of it into local currency. Also be sure to check with your bank or credit card company to see if any fees apply to using your debit or credit cards abroad. A little research may save you a big surprise on your next bank or credit card statement.
- While you may want to make your wedding gift to the couple memorable by purchasing something while you’re abroad, having a backup plan is worthwhile. Before setting out, purchase a few gift cards. If you’re unable to find a local gift that fits the bill, the gift cards will come in handy. If you do find the right gift, you can always use the gift cards back home.
- If you’re the bride or groom in a destination wedding, hopefully all of the wardrobe arrangements will be taken care of by the wedding planner. If they’re not, it’s good to have a plan B. When traveling for a destination wedding, take along your comfortable vacation wear, but also take along some more formal clothing in case it is needed. You’ll also need to take along a few items that will help you get any wrinkles out of the clothing if needed.
- For women, taking along your favorite hair and makeup products is a smart idea. Your preferred beauty products may not be available in the country where you are visiting, and you want to look your best for the big event, so be sure to take along your curling iron, primer, hair products, and other gear.
- Although we’re living in a digital age, there are occasions when it pays to have paper copies of important documents. Before embarking for a destination wedding, print out copies of the wedding itinerary, directions to the event, and other important information. If you’re stuck somewhere Internet access is unavailable, having these back-ups will come in very handy. Having a print edition guide to the local language can also be very helpful in many situations.
- Couples traveling overseas to get married have a few challenges of their own. While the U.S. typically accepts any marriage performed abroad, there is a caveat. That marriage has to be legal according to the laws of the nation where it takes place. Every country has its own set of rules regarding marriage, so couples traveling abroad to get married need to know the local laws to ensure that their union is legally valid. For example, in some parts of Mexico couples must have health certificates from a Mexican doctor to marry, while in France, couples must be residents for 40 days before they can marry. In Aruba and Portugal, foreign visitors cannot have civil ceremonies, as they are reserved for citizens. To make sure you’re in compliance with local rules and regulations, talk with your wedding planner or consult with the U.S. consulate for advice.
- No wedding experience is complete without a few selfies and videos. The great thing about modern technology is that you can easily capture important moments with your smartphone camera or regular camera. Good quality cameras are small enough to easily fit into your carry-on luggage, so you don’t have to worry about hauling heavy, ungainly gear around to get good shots of the event.
When taking your smartphone or camera overseas, you’ll need to be able to keep it charged so you can capture all of the important moments you wish to preserve. This can present a problem for Americans traveling abroad for two reasons. For starters, electrical outlets in many foreign countries are shaped differently than American outlets. Some are wider or larger or have more than two prongs. Also, in much of Europe and the rest of the world, electrical outlets use a different voltage than American devices. The standard for a large part of the world is 220 volts, whereas the American standard is 110 volts. Some devices can use both 220 and 110 volts, while others cannot.
If your device cannot use 220-volt outlets, you’ll need a step-down voltage converter. These devices allow people with 110-volt devices to safely charge their electronics using 220-volt outlets. When picking an appropriate device, you’ll also want to consider your devices’ wattage. The wattage of your converter should be roughly 25 percent greater than that of your devices. You may also need an adapter to allow your converter to fit local electrical outlets.
110220Volts provides top-quality step-down voltage converters and other devices that will allow U.S. residents to safely charge their electronic devices overseas. In addition to 220 to 110 converters, 110220Volts also sells plug adapters, transformers, and other electronic gear. To find reliable electronic devices you can use all over the world, check out 110220Volts’ great line of products.
110220Volts provides top-quality step-down voltage converters and other devices that will allow U.S. residents to safely charge their electronic devices overseas.