Finding the perfect wedding dress is a beautiful moment and often comes when we least expect it so we want you to have those special people with you on your appointment (or virtually). We have comfortable sofas that can seat 4 adult guests in each of our showrooms

Children and babies: Shopping for your wedding dress should be stress-free and fun so we kindly ask that young children do not attend. Distressed babies crying can really effect the calm atmosphere that all brides deserve and the store is not a child safe place so leave the little ones at home.

Absolutely.

Even the most excited brides feel  a little nervous about wedding dress shopping and have fears about finding the one.

Will anything fit? Will I like anything?

Will my friends/ family/fiancé like it? Will it be within my price range?

Will it be as I imagined it to be? Will I get THE FEELING?

Trust us when we say, we understand. It is our passion to ensure you enjoy the experience and feel safe and secure every step of the way. We will listen to you, support you and empower you to find the wedding dress of your dreams.

Trying on wedding dresses is fun and trust us when we say that finding the one is just like finding the love of your life…its often unexpected, full of surprises, a beautiful experience and a wonderful life moment to cherish.

We are a photo and video friendly store. Your guests may take as many as they like!

As stylists, we recommend taking a video to get a feel for the movement, weight and embellishments of the dress, as these can often get lost in photographs.

Our Bridal appointments are typically 1-1.5 hours long.

Accessory and Bridesmaids appointments are 1 hour.

Reveal and collection appointments are 45 minutes.

For returning brides wanting to retry up to 3 dresses they are 45 minutes.

All appointments will require a payment method to be registered in order for the appointment to be booked.

Saturdays and bank holiday appointments will be subject to a £20 fee.

Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are only subject to a £20 cancellation fee if you cancel with less than 48 hours notice.

During your appointment, you have a personal stylist with you at all times. They will dress you, listen to you, protect you and cheer you on. You are guaranteed one-to-one attention, the exclusive use of the showroom and refreshments for you & your party. We can only see a limited number of brides on a Saturday and often have a waitlist of bride-to-be’s that want to visit. Now, imagine it’s a busy Saturday, and then no-one shows up…. this is happening more and more frequently and it is both damaging to our business and demoralizing for our stylist.  Sadly, as much as we’d like to believe that people would phone ahead to cancel an appointment or let us know they no longer need it, many don’t. Its heart breaking.

The majority of our samples are available in sizes 10-16.  We also have a great selection of dresses in sizes 18-34. We have lots of different tools and tricks that will enable you to visualise the closest final fit if a dress is too big or too small! We have tried to include the measurements of the samples on the website to give you an idea of the sizes….the measurements are in inches for the bust, waist and hips.

If you are looking to purchase a dress off the peg then we recommend picking gowns that are 1-2 sizes bigger then your skinny jeans – all gowns can be let out half a size and taken in up to two dress sizes comfortably. Bridal does run smaller so please do not be disheartened if you need to go up a couple of sizes in your wedding dress.

Dresses can take anything from 4-6 months to come in so we recommend shopping early and working alongside us with your weight loss plan and a gown in mind.

We can advise you of timescales for measurements and discuss the size options with you. Most dresses can be taken in approximately 2 dress sizes (4-5 inches).

We truly hope that you love yourself in your dream dress but sometimes as women we do want to change ourselves but its important to know that bridal gowns run 1-2 sizes smaller then high street sizes and are made of “stiffer” materials with no stretch.  Do not get obsessed with the number inside your wedding dress; a bridal size 14 is NOT a high-street size 14, so stay healthy!

Wedding dresses are often available as a sample in store to try for at least 3 months but dresses come and go quite frequently and designers can discontinue gowns with no notice.

Dresses can be discontinued for a multitude of reasons – the dress may not be popular, the fabric may not be available anymore or the designer simply wants to streamline their collection. There is no way of knowing how long a dress will be available for so do not shop until you are ready to order. There is no worse feeling for us as stylists then having to tell a bride-to-be that her dream dress that she saw 2 months ago is no longer available or a sample gown has sold.

New dresses often arrive in July and January but trickle in throughout the year.

We do – Please make us aware in advance if a member of your party requires special assistance so we can make the experience a comfortable one.

Our store has two showrooms – one on ground level and the other below. The downstairs showroom is only assessible via a staircase so we will need to ensure that your appointment is upstairs in advance.

Congratulations!

For the main collection dresses we need a 50% deposit to get it ordered with the designer and into the country. The balance is then payable within 21 days of the dresses arrival.

For off the peg purchases or rush orders (quick delivery) we require the full amount on the day of purchase.

Wedding dresses usually take 16 weeks to arrive but every designer has slightly different timeframes.

Some designers offer Rush services (4-10 weeks) and others have a live inventory of readily available stock (2-5 weeks).

If customisations are required to your gown (special lengths or alternative colour options) then these can take up to 22 weeks.

An ideal timeframe to order your gown is 10-12 months before your big day so everything is stress free!

We certainly do!!!! We work alongside an amazing seamstress who is available to our brides on Mondays and Fridays!

We have had the privilege of working alongside Bogusia and watching her work her magic with our brides for well over two decades! She is an independent seamstress who work under the Brides Of Southampton umbrella and has a workroom on site so the gowns can stay with us in a controlled environment. For more incite into what she can do check out our “other services” section and real brides to view her work.

We recommend allowing three months from your first fitting to your wedding date as an ideal timeline. Depending on the time of year you are getting married you may need more or less time. There are far less weddings in winter months meaning that alterations can be turned around much faster than in the Spring and Summer. Once the seamstress is fully booked we will not be able to offer any more appointments so the earlier you organise it the better. Typically we have 30 appointments available for each month.

Wedding gowns have so many complex details—boning, hems, bustles, illusion necklines and so on—that it’s best to find a professional who’s seen and worked on such gown components in the past. We all know someone who can do a bit of sewing but make sure if you do decide on having the gown altered elsewhere that you are 100% confident in their ability! You are not obligated to use this service and we do have other external seamstresses that we can recommend if you require evenings or weekends.

As wedding dresses are made to standard sizes and not made to measure most gowns need some sort of alterations. We will order you the closest size to your measurements to start with but most of us will need some work done. The scope of work can vary greatly, and so many factors can play into it including your body proportions, the shoes you are wearing and what materials and embellishments are on the gown. With the help of a professional seamstress, you’ll be ready for your wedding day with a gown that fits your frame flawlessly.

About 10% of our customers are “perfect fits” so plan for alterations and if you do not need them, we can simply arrange for the gown to be pressed and ready for you!

The average dress needs 20-30 hours of work. Lace and beads are taken off by hand and reapplied the same way – it is very labour intensive and you have to bare in mind that seamstresses are people not machines; there is only one speed that they can hand sew!

The alterations prices range from £100-£400 for standard alterations (customisation’s will be extra and two or 3 piece outfits may be more) – the service includes two 1 hour appointments at Brides Of Southampton and the work involved of an expert Bridal seamstress. The first appointment is where the gown will be pinned and the second is to try it all on and collect it. Some customers will need a third appointment if customisation is required or they are happily expecting a baby.

As a general rule most alterations fall within £300-£400.

Shoes and Underwear! If you don’t have the exact shoes you’ll be wearing, bring another pair that is exactly the same height. Most wedding dresses cannot be worn with a bra and most body sculpting underwear can actually be more problematic for your fit and comfort so please, if in doubt call ahead of your appointment and speak with one of the team who can advise you.

While you might have legions of loved ones, it’s not a good idea to bring everyone to your first fitting, but you’ll definitely want someone to come with you. Consider inviting your star guest to accompany you to your fittings. The seamstress will need room to work around you and you will need to walk up and down several times to check the hem.

On your second visit to us (your final fitting) we recommend bringing 1-2 guests including the person who is going to dress you on the day so they can get all the top tips from a pro! This is also the time to try on your accessories for that final pre “I DO” look!

We certainly do – Everything can be taken off the peg so if you have your eye on a dress from our website then give us a call and book in early-  its advised not to leave it too long as buying off the peg is becoming more “normal” and we will not replace the style once its gone.

We do not. We give all customers ordering a new gown a 7 day cooling off period (unless a rush order is done) but once a gown has been ordered we are contractually obligated to pay the designer and therefore require the balance from you. The dresses are classed as special orders and made to your colour and size requirements so once they are ordered and made they are yours so take the time to get it right and do not buy something if you are unsure.

We want all of our brides to LOVE their gowns and are not “pushy” sales people. We would rather you had two appointment’s to be sure then feel rushed or pressured and make a mistake. Its perfectly normal for any bride to doubt her choice (ask any other bride) but with our experience and listening skills your dress choice will be your own, the one that gets you excited and lights you up inside!