This is the most up-to-date Covid-19 guidance for all our boutiques, in line with the government’s own guidelines!
Please take the time to read this guidance before you visit us for your appointment. We’ll make sure you and your experience feel as beautiful and special as ever!
This is everything you need to know before you attend.
What will your appointment be like?
1. We will be allowing up to 3 people per bridal appointment, including the bride, unless you book a special VIP appointment. We have arranged a fantastic selfie space for you to Skype or Zoom call the rest of your family and friends, to make sure they’re involved in the process!
For bridesmaid appointments, we will only be allowing the bride and 2 bridesmaids for now. We recommend you take full advantage of our selfie zones (read on to find out more!) to involve all your girls in the choice of style, and we will talk you through the process of making sure you’re ordering the right sizes for everyone in your bride tribe.
For alterations, accessories appointments or collections, please come alone for now. While we’re required to limit the number of people in our boutiques at any one time, we’re prioritising those brides who are having their first bridal shopping experience. Being pinned by a seamstress isn’t a glamorous process, and there will be plenty of time to show off that gorgeous gown later! We will still make every effort to give you a wonderful, friendly experience from start to finish.
2. We’re now allowing children under the age of 11 to attend appointments. Please support us by ensuring your children also wear PPE during the appointment and remain seated if they’re not trying on one of our dresses. Children are more likely to carry Covid-19 and pass it on without showing symptoms, and it can be tricky to make sure your young ones are adhering to social distancing, so our staff are entitled to ask your little ones to leave if they are misbehaving in a way that causes hygiene and safety in our boutiques. If possible, we still recommend leaving small children at home unless you’re attending a flower girl appointment.
3. You and your guests will be required to wear PPE during your appointment. If you can bring along your own PPE, that would be fantastic! If not, we can also provide this for you.
4. We have a higher than usual waiting list for appointments. To adhere to social distancing we won’t be able to hold as many appointments at once, and we have implemented a strict cleaning regime which also requires gaps between each appointment. For this reason, we, unfortunately, can’t guarantee speedy second appointments at the moment.
5. During regular appointments we won’t be offering our usual selection of hand-prepared refreshments, but we will be offering complimentary bottled water to every member of your party when you arrive. We are also now offering special VIP upgrades at £25, for which we’ll provide you with a whole range of goodies (including a bottle of bubbly!) – find out more on our appointments page.
6. You’ll see social distancing zones clearly marked out in all our boutiques. Don’t worry – our staff will help with this if you’re not sure. Our appointment layouts allow for social distancing within your group of guests – so if you and both your guests all live in separate houses, we will make sure everyone is safe.
7. We have implemented much more stringent regular cleaning processes within our boutiques, so please don’t be alarmed if you see these being carried out.
8. All of our changing rooms are spacious and private, especially as we will be offering fewer appointments in store at any one time. We will also offer separate customer toilets where possible. Everything you touch will have been cleaned since the last appointment.
9. The entire process of your appointment will be contactless. We will have paperwork for you to sign should you make a purchase, which we will send to your phone or iPad for a signature. If you don’t have a working phone or iPad to use for this, don’t worry – we will print a physical copy for you, and you can collect this yourself from our printer.
10. If you choose to bring guests with you to your appointment, we will allow you to decide whether you’d prefer to be dressed by one of our professional bridal advisors or by a member of your entourage.
What do you need to do?
These are the new rules for your bridal appointment…
1. You will be required to wear PPE during your appointment. We would really appreciate it if you can provide your own PPE, but we can also provide this for you.
2. We strongly recommend booking an appointment before you visit, but we will now be accepting walk-ins where possible. We will still be following the government’s guidelines on hygiene and safety measures, including the number of visitors in our boutiques at any one time.
3. Please respect the rules around guests per appointment. This is for everyone’s safety – our staff, every bride and every member of your entourage. Normally we would never impose a limit on the number of guests you bring and would welcome children, but unfortunately at the moment this just isn’t possible. Instead, enjoy our beautiful selfie zone to share the experience with your wider family and friends!
4. You must fill in the enquiry form we send you prior to visiting. This includes some extra details around safety and hygiene. We won’t be able to confirm your appointment until you’ve completed your enquiry form. Your enquiry form will be sent out separately by your bridal advisor ahead of your appointment.
5. Please be aware that we may not be able to offer you a speedy second appointment due to the huge demand we’re experiencing right now. We know this might mean you feel extra pressure to make your decision, but we want to make sure you’re getting the dress of your dreams. Our bridal advisors will always try to give you extra time in your appointment where possible, so you can try on more dresses, chat about custom alterations, and hopefully have plenty of time to decide whether you’ve found The One! If you fall in love, we strongly recommend you reserve the gown that day, but you don’t need to pay in full – you can chat to us about putting down a deposit or starting on an interest-free payment plan.
6. If you’re collecting an item, please contact us to arrange this in advance. Regretfully we won’t be able to accept any walk-ins once we reopen.
7. If you will be bringing them along to your appointment, please support us by ensuring they’re also respectful of our strict social distancing and hygiene rules. This means making sure they don’t wander around the boutique during the appointment, or needlessly touch the items we have on show. Please appreciate that if you or any member of your bridal party doesn’t adhere to these restrictions, which we must impose in order to reopen, we may be forced to ask them to leave. Our bridal advisors will hate doing this as they want you to have the best experience possible, but they are required to do so to make sure our boutiques are a safe environment for everyone.
8. Please avoid coming into our boutiques to make instalments on a payment plan where possible – you can do this via bank transfer or over the phone. If we haven’t already contacted you regarding your payments, please message us for details.