Wedding dress sizes run a lot smaller than normal high street sizes so please be prepared. It is very normal to go up 2/3 dress sizes and sometimes more. But remember this is just a number and no one needs to know. The main thing is that your dress fits you.

We have over 180 dresses in our boutique and the majority of our sample dresses are in sizes 12 - 16 with a few gowns sitting either side of this, allowing us to cater for brides up to a high street 16/18. We only stock one size for each dress in the boutique as it simply isn’t possible to stock more than one of each dress. Please note that depending on the designer we can order gowns from sizes 0-32. While it's frustrating that not every sample is available in every size, our bridal consultants have lots of tips and tricks ranging from pinning or clipping the gown on you to give you a good idea of how it would look in a smaller size to adding in an extra panel if the gown won't do up fully.

Of course! You are very welcome to use technology to bring in as many people as you like into the appointment digitally...just be careful though as too many opinions can sometimes be unhelpful and conflicting. The most important opinion is yours as you are the one wearing the dress on the day.

We offer free of charge Classic Appointments Monday - Friday. We do take card details for these appointments upon booking as we operate a 3 day (72hr) Cancellation Policy. In the event that you don't show up for your appointment, or fail to cancel with less than 3 days' notice, you will be charged a £20 Cancellation Fee. 

All Classic Appointments on a Saturday carry a £25 Booking Fee.

We also offer Luxury Appointments which carry a £45 Booking Fee and these include welcome drinks on arrival and are for the Bride plus up to 4 guests. 

It takes approximately 5-6 months for a dress to be made and arrive into our boutique. Once your dress arrives, you want to allow one to two months for alterations. We ideally recommend beginning your wedding dress shopping at least a year prior to your wedding date so that you can avoid rush fees and enjoy the experience!

However, if you are on a tight timescale, please give us a call as we have been known to work miracles and have sample dresses which can be bought off‑the‑peg and adjusted to fit you to perfection! We can also discuss with you the various rush-shipping arrangements that we have with our designers.

We do understand this is not only an important occasion for you but also for your nearest and dearest. However, our boutique is rather intimate and seating space for guests is very limited. Therefore we ask that you bring no more than 2-3 guests with you. We can accommodate more guests at our Luxury Appointments which are for the bride plus a maximum of 4 guests. Limiting your guest numbers will also make for a far more enjoyable experience for you as too many loved ones all giving their opinions can be sometimes a little unhelpful and rather confusing! Do remember, it is your opinion which is the one that truly counts so it is important that you don’t feel confused or distracted from your mission to find the perfect dress!

This brings us on to little ones. Whilst all of us here genuinely adore children (and most of our consultants have at least two each!) we are not a very child-friendly environment. Therefore our boutique is only suitable for babes in arms under 9 months old or children over 9 years old and we would we just request that you have someone with you to look after them. After all, we want to devote our entire attention to looking after you and finding you your perfect dress! Please note that we do not have space for pushchairs or prams on a Saturday.

Whilst all of us here genuinely adore children (and most of our consultants have at least two each!) we are not a very child-friendly environment. Therefore our boutique is only suitable for babes in arms under 9 months old or children over 9 years old and we would we just request that you have someone with you to look after them. After all, we want to devote our entire attention to looking after you and finding you your perfect dress! Please note that we do not have space for pushchairs or prams on a Saturday.

To ensure that you receive the best possible level of service, we run our Tunbridge Wells Bridal Boutique on an appointment system. We recommend booking your appointment as soon as you have set the date for your wedding and booked your wedding venue as this will give you plenty of time to find your dream dress and have it fitted perfectly to you. We are delighted to offer all of our brides the choice of 2 types of Appointment: a Classic Appointment or a Luxury Appointment.

Please visit our appointments page for more information on this! 

Yes, our website is updated every single day so what you see on our website is what we have available to try on in our boutique at that particular time. We have approximately 180 dresses in our boutique which is the equivalent of going to 2-3 other bridal shops.

Our dresses start from £1500 and go up to £4000 with the majority of our dresses falling between £1800 - £2500. We also have a great selection of Sale dresses which start from £695.

Are you looking for a wedding dress that you haven’t found on our website? Our sample loan service allows you to request a dress from any of our approved designers so that you can try it on in store before buying. We can do this with Essense of Australia, Stella York, Martina Liana, Madi Lane & Justin Alexander. Please note that Milla Nova do not have samples available to loan.

Each sample dress loan is only £50 which is payable at the time of booking the loan and is non-refundable. Most samples are in a size 10 or 12 but we will be able to confirm this with you. Please do get in touch with us to discuss using our sample loan service further.

During your appointment, you will receive a one-to-one personalised consultation with one of our highly trained bridal consultants and you will have our undivided attention in helping you to find your perfect dress. You will be shown to your very own private fitting suite in which to try on our beautiful gowns and then the curtain will be swished back for us to reveal you as a beautiful bride to your family and friends. We have a range of alcoholic and soft drinks available to purchase at your appointment or they can be pre-ordered before your arrival too.

Once you have found the dress of your dreams, we can help you complete the look to perfection with our stunning collections of veils, jewellery and wedding hair accessories.

We take a minimum of 50% of the cost of the dress to place your order. The remaining 50% of the balance is due within 2 weeks of your dress arriving into the boutique. We find that most of our brides like to pay the full amount of their dress at the point of ordering as this is one more thing ticked off the to-do list and you know that your dress is paid off in full.

We also offer interest-free instalments if you have time to do this before the point that we need to place your order. Please enquire about this at your appointment if this would be of interest to you.  

Some of our brides choose to park along Royal Chase, which is a side turning off Mount Ephraim. Please note that this is a steep hill and it can be a 15 minute walk to us from here. On Royal Chase, please note that the parking is split into three sections. The parking at the top is only for one hour, halfway down this extends to two hours and right towards the bottom of Royal Chase there is all day free parking. The parking bays are well signed which is helpful!

Alternatively, you could choose to park at the Royal Victoria Shopping Centre. If you come out of the Royal Victoria Shopping Centre passing Fenwicks (Ladies Fashion Floor) on your right, you will see Costa Coffee opposite as you exit the shopping centre and a zebra crossing. Cross the road at the zebra crossing and walk up Mount Ephraim Road which runs behind Costa Coffee. At the top of the hill, turn right and opposite Sankeys Wine Bar you will find us! (The walk from the Royal Victoria Shopping Centre is approx 10 minutes).

The most important answer is ‘whatever makes you feel comfortable’ –  you wont find any judgment from us! Nudde or light coloured underwear works really well and a good fitting strapless bra can be great if you’re considering that style of dress. In many cases you wont need to wear a bra at all due to the construction of our dresses and we’ll be on hand to give underwear advice for your big day. You don’t need to bring shoes with you for your appointment as we have pedestals for you to stand on to give the impression of heels without having to take them on and off for each dress. 

Please ensure that you do not wear fake tan and that you keep your makeup to a minimum to ensure that our dresses are kept as beautiful as possible for all of our brides.

Please note that we do not allow shoes in the boutique so you will be asked to remove these when you enter. We have beautifully soft carpet throughout the boutique and being a shoe-free zone helps to keep our dresses pristine.

When you’ve said yes to your dress, we’ll take your measurements as quickly and painlessly as possible. We know that this part can be triggering or stressful for some people so if you’d rather not know your measurements just let us know and we’ll gladly keep them to ourselves. Each designer has their own size chart so we’ll go over the corresponding size chart together so that we can agree on the best size for you. We then offer an optional in-house alterations service, as well as 6 external seamstresses who we work with, to alter your dress to ensure it fits perfectly.

We have sample gowns to try on in a variety of sizes, and we then order your gown to be made based on your specific measurements. We do also have a collection of approximately 50 dresses available to take away with you on the day in our sale.

Even if you have bought your dress elsewhere, you are more than welcome to come along for a Veil Appointment where we can help you to style your dress to perfection. 

When you have chosen your dress, we will take your bust, waist and hips measurement and use these to choose the closest size from the designer's size chart. None of us are the perfect size on a size chart and all wedding dresses will require a degree of alterations. These are called wedding dress fittings and your first fitting will be approx. 10-12 weeks before your wedding and your 2nd fitting will be approx 2-4 weeks before your wedding. Occasionally a 3rd fitting is required if bespoke changes are being made to your dress. We have 2 seamstresses who operate from our boutique and we work with a further 6 highly-experienced seamstresses within an hour of our boutique. Our in-house seamstresses cannot carry out alterations for all of our brides and they are available on a first come, first served basis. Alterations packages start from £395 for our in-house seamstresses and from £250-£300 for our external seamstresses. All of our seamstresses are independent and the cost of the alterations is paid to them directly.