Hi everyone. I know lots of you are waiting patiently to find out when we can reopen. I have been informed by our local MP last week , that we, as Bridal Wear retailers, may fall into the stage 2 category. This has a staged reopening date no earlier than 1st June.

We’re excited to work towards opening on this date, but we must stress that this may change due to the current R rate, we won’t know until closer to the time. We will of course follow the government guidelines with regards to reopening.

There are so many things we have to do to be ready to reopen and I know you’ll have questions, so hopefully I can answer some below.

  • We will be operating on a strictly appointment only basis during this time. Please do not be offended if you pop in on the ‘off chance’ and we are unable to see you
  • We will be maintaining a 2m distance with all brides wherever possible, although of course we will have to breach this when fastening dresses. The government suggests face coverings in shops when the 2m distance can not be maintained, so we will ask all brides and guests to wear face coverings to your appointment. There will be an opportunity to remove face coverings when staff and guests are 2m away.
  • We will be allowing a maximum of one guest. We would ask that your guest is in accordance with the government guidelines at the time of your appointment. At the time of writing this would need to be a person from your household. We appreciate that this could change many times over the next few weeks. We can not budge on this one guest policy and should you turn up with more they will not be admitted. We will however assess our numbers should government advice change.
  • We are unable to admit anyone under the age of 16 as a guest/viewer into the store at present. Babes in arms need to be authorised in advance. If you require a prom appointment please ask separately about this and we will work out how best to accommodate you safely.
  • We would kindly ask that you allow the consultant to handle the gowns for you. This is to maximise the cleanliness of dresses that are tried on
  • At present we are awaiting advice on how to handle tried on gowns. We will update you further on how we intend to keep you safe. We hope that steaming at high temperatures after each appointment will be sufficient, but we will update our procedures as we know more.
  • Dressing rooms will be cleaned and sanitised after each appointment to minimise cross contamination.
  • Our staff will only attend work if they feel well and healthy and are not showing any symptoms
  • We are happy to welcome your friends and family to the appointment virtually, utilising our big screen and Facebook portal. We can accommodate 4 guests via WhatsApp or up to 8 via Facebook messenger.
  • We are unable to offer refreshments at this time
  • Hand sanitiser stations are throughout the store please use them on arrival and during your appointment
  • Our bathroom facilities will be closed to customers during the Covid 19 outbreak. Guidelines state that they have to be sanitised after each use and simply we won’t have the time to ensure this will happen and I feel it will be putting the staff at unnecessary risk, so please use your own facilities before your appointment.

In return we ask this of you :-

  • Please only attend your appointment if you are well, not showing any symptoms and are not in contact with anyone showing symptoms such as (but not limited to) a temperature, new continuous cough, loss of taste or smell.
  • Please adhere to the current government guidelines when choosing your guest. These will change depending on when your appointment is. So check for the most recent rules.
  • Please bring with you a face covering for when we cannot maintain the appropriate social distance (your guest too)
  • Please respect our in store rules. They’re in place to keep us all safe
  • Get your important ladies ready to be part of your appointment virtually – we will have our Facebook portal ready and we can get up to 8 friends and family up on our new big screen.

Most of all we want you to enjoy your bridal experience. There will be an opportunity to see yourself mask free, our staff will leave the dressing room to enable you to do this.

So, we will soon be taking appointments once we have a confirmed date from
The government. This could be as early as 3rd June. However we currently do not know for sure.

I hope I haven’t scared you off with this list but we really have got quite extensive guidance from the government in preparation for opening. We have to adhere to it or be faced with not being able to open. Xx