Bringing wedding stuff into US from Canada

[norftown 0]

Advance apologies if this is the wrong forum to post in.

My fiancee is entering the US on Feb 11th on her K1 visa. Our wedding is not until the 20th. Rather than lug and import all the stuff we'll be using (wedding dress, vases, candles, etc.) she is going to have family bring it down with them for the wedding. If it matters some of the stuff will be taken back to Canada, though some of it stay. Our DJ already went to the border and was told he would not be allowed to bring his equipment into the states so we had to get another DJ that was in the US so I'm a bit nervous about the other stuff. I'm having trouble finding info on the CBP site regarding this and obviously want to avoid a situation in which her wedding dress cannot be brought to the US. If anyone can offer info or point me to a site that explains the details it would be greatly appreciated.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

I could see why they would not allow your DJ to bring his DJ stuff into the US.

He would be working without a valid work permit/visa - correct?

The other items should fall under "personal effects" I would think. (all though, I would probably leave the candles home)

I'm sure some of the other Canadians on this board would give you more guidance.

[CDAgirlMI 51]

Advance apologies if this is the wrong forum to post in.

My fiancee is entering the US on Feb 11th on her K1 visa. Our wedding is not until the 20th. Rather than lug and import all the stuff we'll be using (wedding dress, vases, candles, etc.) she is going to have family bring it down with them for the wedding. If it matters some of the stuff will be taken back to Canada, though some of it stay. Our DJ already went to the border and was told he would not be allowed to bring his equipment into the states so we had to get another DJ that was in the US so I'm a bit nervous about the other stuff. I'm having trouble finding info on the CBP site regarding this and obviously want to avoid a situation in which her wedding dress cannot be brought to the US. If anyone can offer info or point me to a site that explains the details it would be greatly appreciated.

My family will be bringing some stuff for our wedding down from Canada & I don't see how its a problem(favours, stones/petals to accent the tables). I doubt they'll say anything about the wedding dress. They didn't go through my stuff in the truck(but that's not to say they never do).

Congrats on the wedding...we're getting married February 20th too!

[norftown 0]

I could see why they would not allow your DJ to bring his DJ stuff into the US.

He would be working without a valid work permit/visa - correct?

The other items should fall under "personal effects" I would think. (all though, I would probably leave the candles home)

I'm sure some of the other Canadians on this board would give you more guidance.

The border didn't say anything about a work visa. They just said he wouldn't be allowed to bring his DJ equipment. He also would have worked for free as a gift to us, though I'm not sure that matters to the CBP. I started looking into getting a Carnet for this equipment but I think it was $200 and I'm not sure we have the time to have that issued at this point. It's a moot point anyway since we went ahead and got a DJ from Washington.

As far as the dress and decorations I'm sure they'd allow my fiancee to bring them across, but I'm concerned that they would allow her family/guests to bring them. I just don't want a call the day before the wedding from her mom saying the border won't let her bring the dress. Slight problem there. It would be a pain to transport that stuff from the west coast to east coast when my fiancee enters and then back to west coast for the wedding and then back to the east coast to come home. The dress is difficult to iron and would be a mess and a few of the vases would probably get broken. I sent the CBP a question through their website so hopefully I'll get a favorable and timely response.

[Rhiannercakes 14]

I took my wedding dress down with me and they didnt' say anything about it.

I just held it the whole time and had it hung up in the plane.

[minnew 4]

I Had the same thing happen to me, I did not have enough room in my car for all my wedding stuff. My parents also brought items in their car. CBP never asked, but what I did was provide my parents a signedand dated letter along with a copy of my k1 visa to accompany them at the border. It was worded something like based on my entry I am allowed 10 years to import my goods and authorizing my parents to bring it, also listed exactly what they were bringing for me.

[kballtex 0]

My wife had her mom bring the dress with her on the flight to Vegas... No problems. On an unrelated note, my wife's friend had a wedding in Sarnia, but had to come from Calgary so they drove through the US for part of the trip. They also had few problems and had a lot more things (arrangements, flowers, favors, the whole bit).

[trailmix 77]

The border didn't say anything about a work visa. They just said he wouldn't be allowed to bring his DJ equipment. He also would have worked for free as a gift to us, though I'm not sure that matters to the CBP. I started looking into getting a Carnet for this equipment but I think it was $200 and I'm not sure we have the time to have that issued at this point. It's a moot point anyway since we went ahead and got a DJ from Washington.

As far as the dress and decorations I'm sure they'd allow my fiancee to bring them across, but I'm concerned that they would allow her family/guests to bring them. I just don't want a call the day before the wedding from her mom saying the border won't let her bring the dress. Slight problem there. It would be a pain to transport that stuff from the west coast to east coast when my fiancee enters and then back to west coast for the wedding and then back to the east coast to come home. The dress is difficult to iron and would be a mess and a few of the vases would probably get broken. I sent the CBP a question through their website so hopefully I'll get a favorable and timely response.

I can understand your concern, I would be a tad worried too - especially if any of the people transporting the goods look like the marrying kind!

As minnew mentioned, it is a good idea to list every single thing they are bringing that you are importing. While they may not ask for it - it's certainly better than just winging it with stuff that is so important to you.

For the things that are not being imported, don't put them on your list, the guests/family will just have to explain that when/if they are questioned about it.

Good luck!

[Rustbelt 0]

Strictly speaking, you can't bring anything over the border that doesn't belong to you (I once had enormous trouble from a CO because I happened to have three of Steve's shirts in the car). Do what minnew suggests. Have a letter, copy of the K1 visa, etc., so they know that they're bringing it with her permission. There's a form for "unaccompanied goods" that should probably be filled out. It allows shippers (and presumably anyone else) to bring items over the border that don't belong to them.

OTOH, they could call it a gift and bring it over that way.

- Steve's wife

[Darnell 8,478]

hey - can ya crate it all up, ship it via train cargo ?

[Krikit 1,164]

She'll need to fill in and give them Form 3299 to carry across, as well as a copy of her visa and entry stamp.