FAQs
Of course! We offer a huge range of bridal accessories, including veils, headpieces and stunning bridal shoes. Should you need anything to complete your look for your wedding, please come in as we would be happy to help!
Yes we do! We have a very talented seamstress working in the boutique every Thursday to do your fitting appointments. Thursday is the only day of the week we do alterations as we are able to offer an early evening appointment. However if this day doesn’t suit, you are able to see her privately at her studio.
For our gowns, we offer alterations packages in order to complete your standard alterations (taking in bust and side seam, taking up hem and adding a bustle loop) at a competitive price. Any additional alterations you require will be at an additional cost. Prices will be discussed as part of your styling appointment.
For your fitting appointments, it is vital that you wear the underwear and shoes you plan to wear on the wedding day, as both will alter the fit of the gown. If you do not have these, it is possible the fitting will be unable to continue.
After you have ordered your gown, they will typically take 6 months to arrive in store. (Bridesmaids and Flower girls are 4-5 months). This is because they are all made to order and hand-made before they are shipped to us from all over the world.
We will be given an estimated arrival date when we place your order with the designer, but please bear in mind that this can change. (Another reason not to leave finding your dream gown too late)
As soon as your gown has arrived and processed through our quality checks, we will call you to collect the balance and discuss fittings.
We are situated in the Royal Star Arcade in Maidstone’s town centre. The nearest car parks are Medway Street (pay and display, off Pudding Lane) or Fremlin Walk. Alternative parking can be found in the The Mall car park, pay and display street parking behind Marks and Spencer’s.
This is such a common question but one that has the same answer no matter your size, shape or style. At the point of you ordering, we will take measurements and discuss which size gown you wish to order. We will always advise you get the gown that will fit at that point as gowns can be taken in up to two dresses sizes with ease, and even further if needs be. However, they cannot be let out by very much.
Bridal gowns are designed to support and flaunt your figure in classy and elegant ways, so even if you are not at your goal weight or not feeling your peak in body confidence, we would advise you still book an appointment as you may be surprised at how magnificent you feel wearing one. It is heartbreaking when brides focus so hard on their weight loss journey during their engagement and do not leave themselves enough time to find their dream dress- aim to visit us a year ahead of your wedding for the most options to be open to you.
For your styling appointments, it really does not matter what you wear on the day as you will spend most of the time in the bridal gowns. Please be aware that you will need assistance getting in and out of the gowns so your bridal stylist will often be in the changing room with you. Some brides prefer to wear their very best underwear for the occasion, but we have seen it all ladies, so please wear whatever makes you feel comfortable.
The first piece of advice we have for this is to only bring the people you need and value the opinion of at the appointment. It is very easy for a bride to become overwhelmed when she has brought the entire bridal entourage with her as they all offer opinions on every gown.
We offer two spaces in the boutique. One is more intimate and for you (the bride) and up to two guests. The other is much more open but can easily accommodate more people.
Should you wish to have more than 5 guests come with you, then please contact us to see what we can arrange for you. Please also bear in mind that although we support you bringing in younger visitors to your appointment, a bridal shop is not necessarily to most child friendly of environments. Our team’s focus will be entirely on helping the bride find her dream wedding dress so please ensure you have a guest who will be able to supervise children, allowing you to fully focus on yourself and your dream gown.
For bridal styling appointments i.e. trying on gowns, we allow up to 90 minutes on Saturdays and 120 minutes on weekdays. We want you to have a wonderful experience without feeling rushed or pressured so we like to have plenty of time with you to fully understand what you desire your bridal style to be.
Sometimes, you just can’t decide which gown is for you in one appointment, so if you would like to return for another visit, we can arrange this. For this occasion, we would still allow you the full 90 minutes but due to your bridal stylist already knowing what you are looking for, 60 minutes is often enough time. We do charge £25 for weekend appointments, or £30 if you are attending an event. This is a non refundable charge should you cancel, but if you need to reschedule, please get in touch at your earliest convenience.
When it is time for your alterations, we will discuss the time you will need as everyone will be different depending on the work that needs to be carried out. A typical alteration process for a bride would be having a first fitting which will last 60 minutes and then returning 4-6 weeks later for your final fitting which would take 30-45 minutes providing everything is to your satisfaction.
Bridesmaids and flower girls fittings take less time per individual, as there is less work involved. If needed, it would be possible to fit up to 3 bridesmaids in to 60 minutes for a first fitting.
Should you be late for any appointment, please understand that this may result in your appointment being shortened if a bride is booked in after yours as we will need the use of the fitting suite. It is always advisable to let us know if you are running late as we may be able to able to overcome your appointment time being disrupted.
As previously mentioned, you do not need an appointment to come in and peruse, we would be very happy to meet you and discuss our gorgeous gowns.
Yes please! We want all of our brides to have the very best, relaxed and fun experience when in store. For us to provide this, we need to know you are coming so please send us an appointment request via the website or call us on 01622 688413 to book in. Saturdays are notoriously busy, so please plan ahead 4-6 weeks if you can.
Our current stock ranges from £1500, right up to our high end designer gowns that retail as much as £8000 (we do not keep gowns with an RRP of more than £5000 in store- if you are looking to spend above this, please let us know and we can make arrangements for you).
If you have less than 8 months to your wedding and/or wish to spend less than £1500 then we have a range of off the peg dresses in our outlet section. These are a selection of brand new and ex sample dresses that we have one of each style in- so if you see something you love- snap it up as they don’t tend to hang around long!
The truth to this answer is it is never too early.
New research is suggesting that brides are leaving less and less time to look for their bridal gown before their wedding due to fear of missing out (FOMO), a desire to lose weight or not appreciating how long it will take them to find ‘The One’. This then inevitably brings on extra stress, a reduction of options open to you and worry before your wedding if left too late.
To avoid this, we advise you start researching what sort of gown you might like 18 months before you are due to marry, with a view to having ordered it 12 months before. The 6 months difference may sound like a long time, but boutiques can be fully booked months in advance of your appointment and it may take you a little time to find the gown of your dreams. The earlier you start trying on gowns and refining your choice, the less stress you should endure nearer your big day. A good way to get started is to follow shops on Instagram so if you haven’t already, give us a follow (@victoriaelainebridal)
