FAQs

LOVE is located in a stunning old Victorian building with a spacious, air-conditioned dressing room which takes up the whole of the first floor of the boutique (she is a beauty!) We close the boutique for each and every bride during her appointment so you will have complete privacy during your appointment. For this reason we are by appointment only so to book your exclusive appointment please get in touch via email hello@lovebridalboutique.co.uk or via our enquiry form on our website and we can get you booked in with us.

We recommend ordering your dress around 8-12 months before your wedding date. This will allow enough time for your dress to be handmade and for it to arrive in plenty of time before your wedding, as production can take up to seven months depending on the particular designer. The rest of the time will then be used for fittings and alterations (which start roughly 12 weeks before your wedding day). If you’re planning a more impromptu wedding however and working to much shorter timescales, then please do get in touch and we can advise you on the best way to secure a beautiful designer gown with a shorter lead time (some of our designers offer a “rush service”) or perhaps buy one of our sample gowns “off the peg”.

We open our LOVE diary a maximum of 8 weeks in advance of an appointment date, so for a September appointment we recommend getting in touch in July. Due to the limited amount of appointments we can accommodate due to COVID restrictions, we can’t guarantee that we will definitely have availability on your preferred date as we have a lot of existing brides to assist with their gowns after being closed for so long, but we will of course do our very best to accommodate your preferred date as best we possibly can.

Unfortunately, we can’t take appointments or orders more than 18 months in advance of a wedding date, as collection and ordering processes will have changed too much within that time frame. We would therefore recommend booking in with us a little closer to your wedding.

At LOVE we have hand-picked an eclectic range of refreshing, exciting bridal designers. These include Made with Love, Sassi Holford, Enzoani and Savannah Miller. From traditional to modern, whimsical to fashion forward, all of our gowns are luxurious and exquisitely designed.

To view our full collection of dresses currently stocked here at LOVE you can view these on our Pinterest board here pinterest.co.uk/lovebridalcheshire/our-dress-collection/

Dresses start from around £1,900 and go up to around £3,000, with the majority sitting around the £2000/£2500 price point.

Yes, we charge a non-refundable £25 booking fee for your appointment, payable at the time of booking and this is redeemable against a dress purchase within 8 weeks of your first appointment. Should you wish to change your appointment to another date we ask for a minimum of 48 hours notice.

In order that we comply with social distancing restrictions, each bride can currently bring 2 guests with her to her LOVE appointment. As restrictions lift further, we hope to increase this to 2-3 guests per bride, as we did before the pandemic.

Your appointment will last 1 hour 15 minutes, which will give you plenty of time to try on various dress options and shapes and we will also be able to make suggestions of other dresses once we have a better idea of the style/shape you’re most drawn to.

We regularly hold sample sale events that are available to brides by appointment only. You can find out about these via our social media channels and by signing up to our LOVE Club. Alternatively, you can book a midweek sale appointment with us outside of our event and can view our current sale gowns on our Pinterest board here: pinterest.co.uk/lovebridalcheshire/sample-sale/

The safety of our brides, their guests and our LOVE stylists is of paramount importance to us. We have carried out a thorough risk assessment and implemented a number of COVID safety protocols and social distancing measures for the benefit of everyone. Please read our ‘How We’re Going to Help Keep You Safe During Your Visit to LOVE’ [link] leaflet to find out more.

Nude underwear will ensure you can see the true potential of a gown. We may recommend removing your bra to ensure you see the full effect of a gown particularly if the dress has a low neckline/back detail, however if you are not comfortable with this then we completely understand and can work around this. We provide shoes to try on with your dresses in sizes 4 – 7, however, if you have your wedding shoes already, then please feel free to bring them with you as we’d love to see them!

The majority of dresses we stock vary in size from 10 to 16, with a few styles in sizes below or above this. We tend to stock one size for each dress in the boutique, with a few exceptions. For example, for one of our designers, Made with Love, we have several of their gowns in 2 sizes and/or different neckline options. Please don’t worry about sizing though as we can order our gowns in any size and our stylists have lots of tricks up their sleeve to illustrate how a dress will look in your size.

In advance of your appointment we will ask you to pre-select up to 5 gowns that you’re really drawn to from our collection and these will be ready for you when you arrive for your appointment. During your appointment, we will then work with you to determine the style/shapes that suit you the most and that you prefer, making additional dress suggestions for you to try on.

We stock a variety of veils from a range of different designers including Made with Love, Sassi Holford’s ‘The Couture Veil’ and Elizabeth Dickens. Stunning shoes from Harriet Wilde, luxurious hair accessories and jewellery from Hermione Harbutt and Donna Crain, as well as a capsule collection of cashmere cover ups from Madame Seguin.

We are located in the fabulous market town of Altrincham, about 30 minutes (by road) outside of Manchester, which is filled with fabulous eateries, including the famous Altrincham Market.

LOVE is located on Oxford Road which is home to lots of independent businesses including specialist lingerie shop, Betty & Belle; a variety of beauty salons including the fabulous ‘Grace’, plus eateries including our personal favourites Oxford Road Café, Yara and California Coffee & Wine.

Other favourite haunts within Altrincham include The Con Club, Toast, Gran T’s, Blanchflower, Tre Ciccio, Mustard and The Drawing Room.

We’re also within walking distance of Hale Village with some fabulous dining options including Victors, Juniper, Piccolino and The Garden.

There is on street metered parking on Oxford Road for a maximum of 2 hours (you can pay for this via the RingGo app which can be downloaded before your appointment). There is also a Sainsbury’s close to the boutique which offers free parking (max stay 2 hours). As well as parking on local side streets and two local car parks – Goose Green Car Park & The Stamford Quarter Car Park.

Altrincham’s tram/ train station is just 5-10 minutes walk from the boutique depending on how quickly you walk!

We recommend ordering your dress around 8-12 months before your wedding date or fly date if you are getting married abroad.

We take a 50% initial payment on ordering, the remaining balance is then due 4 months before your wedding date. If you are ordering your dress less than 9 months before your wedding/fly date (whichever is sooner) then we will take full payment on ordering.

Once you are a fully-fledged member of our LOVE Club (!) we will send you a LOVE Welcome Pack detailing your order, timings and how to book your fitting appointments with our recommended seamstress. We will also arrange a date for you to visit us for a Styling Appointment once your dress has arrived with us, at which point you can also try on any accessories with your dress too.

On average, brides need 2 dress fittings, but this can vary depending on what alterations/customisations need to be made.

You will agree a collection date at your final fitting with the seamstress. Your dress will be pressed and placed in a white breathable dress bag when you come to collect it.

Your dress can be packed in your hand luggage or we recommend purchasing a bespoke Travel Box (which can be bought in different sizes to fit to your airline’s overhead locker specification). Travel boxes are available in a range of colours and designs. They are also acid free and come with acid free tissue to wrap your dress, this ensures the dress is protected and the colour preserved. Please enquire for more details about this.

We recommend getting your dress dry cleaned as soon as possible after your big day and we can give you the details of our recommended dry cleaner. We can also advise you on how to box your dress in order to preserve its condition. Our dry cleaner offers a boxing service too.