Should you travel with your favors?

The short answer is NO! Or....it depends.

Let me elaborate and share my personal experience.

I am a ...let's say original person. I was born and raised in Venice, Italy .When I met my now husband (from Rome,Italy) we traveled here and there and moved in together in the Caribbean before deciding to get married 4 years later. We decided to tie the knot in Venice, my hometown, with a traditional wedding in front of family and friends that arrived from 3 different continents and since we already lived in Paradise to go Honeymooning to the Dolomite,our beautiful mountains .....yeah! Crazy right?

But let's focus on the favors! I had the amazing idea to BUY shells ( note the word" buy "because it is important to the story) from a local store in the Caribbean with the intention to bring it with me to Venice, add a Venetian glass bead to put into the shell and have a pro to put everything together in boxes with almond candies.

I really though the amazing Preston Bailey could be proud of me for trying to be original and for coming up with something personal and meaningful to our love story to be presented to our guests as a thank you....

So here I am with a luggage full of shells, after 15 h flight ,14 days before my wedding date, already thinking on how the hell could I possibly survive the next 15 days , when....Home Land Security at the Italian port stop me and my precious cargo horrified by the idea to deal with a crazy protected shells smuggler lady.

This is happened before 9/11 in Italy, my home . I could not even imagine to be on the same situation now , in a foreign country, speaking a different language, try to explain the situation to officers that look like they just come out of a combat zone and looked particularly pissed at you.

For the first 15 minutes I honestly did not understand the seriousness of the situation. They wanted to check my luggage, Fine!I had nothing to hide. I just had my favors. Why this people were so worked up?

My husband told me that I was a mix of bridezilla/Bambi interpretation( in the most heartbreaking part). I am not sure if that helped the cause but providing the detailed receipt from the store were we purchased the shells somehow did.

The story had an happy ending: they did let me go with the shells.

Can you believe that I do not have pictures of my favors tho? They final result was quite nice but I guess the experience turned me off...

Bottom line : do not add unnecessary stress. On site planners will help you find the right items as favors or for your welcome basket. If you want to have full control and still want to travel with your favors make sure you choose items that are easy to pack for you and your guests and that are not subject to any scrutiny from customs.

Check here for a list of prohibited or restricted items.

Do you have any crazy favor experience to share? Did you travel with your favors?

Can you suggest and great favors that are original and easy to pack?

Please share.