Hanni in the boutique

Frequently Asked Questions

We require a 50% deposit when ordering your gown, and the remaining 50% is payable once we have been notified that your gown has been dispatched. Sample gowns are 100% payment at purchase.

We do however offer a 10% discount on all gowns (not including accessories or sample gowns) if paid in full on order.

Please note the cost of a gown does not include alterations, veils or accessories. We are also unable to offer refunds or exchanges and therefore all sales are final. Once you have paid your deposit, you have contractually agreed to pay for the gown in full.

We accept bank transfer and all major cards, but are unable to accept cheques or cash.

Yes please!

We operate on an appointment only basis, so that each of our brides have exclusive use of the entire boutique and private dressing room. We also want to ensure that every bride has our undivided attention.

We allow 1 hour 30 minutes for each appointment, to ensure that you have enough time to try on all the dresses you wish and chat to us about your vision. Of course, we never want our brides to feel rushed, so if you think you will need longer than 1 hour 30 minutes, please let us know when booking. We want you to feel totally relaxed and have the best experience, so we can certainly cater for your individual needs.

We would recommend that you start looking for your wedding dress around 12 months before your wedding. Of course, you can look earlier than this, however this time frame should give you enough time to find the perfect dress, time for the dress to be made and arrive in store, and finally your alterations without any worry of unexpected delays.

Don’t worry if your wedding is sooner than this, we can do rush orders with most of our designers (an additional cost may be charged), or sometimes are able to sell you a sample gown for really short timescales.

Most of our samples are a UK size 12 or 14 (with a few smaller and larger sizes also), which mean that it is unlikely that the sample gowns will fit you perfectly during your appointment. We are very good however at pinning and clipping the dresses, so that you can see how the dress will look once it is ordered in your correct size. You will however definitely know when you find the one and we cannot wait to experience such an exciting moment with you!

We have a maximum guest policy of three guests. This is to maximise your bridal experience in our current space and we have found if you invite too many people, it can become a very stressful experience, with many different opinions. In such circumstances the bride can often lose focus of what they actually want and the experience can become overwhelming. We strongly recommend bringing two or three of your closest friends and family. Your appointment should be about YOU! You can of course always bring more guests once your dress arrives, if you have a large bridal party.

We recommend that you wear nude underwear for your appointment and ideally a strapless bra if you have one. If you don’t however, please do not worry as we can work with anything.

We also have a selection of heels you can borrow, however if you would like to bring your own shoes please feel free to do so. Once you have purchased your gown however, please make sure you bring your actual wedding shoes to all subsequent appointments as these will affect your alterations.

It is extremely likely that your dress will need to be altered to fit you perfectly.

We work with a couple of independent seamstresses, where you have the choice of either having all of your fittings at My Funny Valentine, or attending the seamstresses lovely studio. We will discuss your options with you when you order your gown.

Brides are under no obligation to use either of our seamstresses and vice versa. Please note our seamstresses are totally independent from My Funny Valentine, however they both come highly recommended and therefore book up quickly, so we would recommend booking in with them as early as possible to avoid disappointment. We will of course help you with the booking process and timing.

You will normally need 2 to 3 appointments with the seamstress, so please keep this in mind when working out timescales.

Please be aware that alteration costs are not included in the price of your dress.

We are very relaxed and therefore do allow photographs of your favourite gowns.

We do however ask our brides to remember that as our gowns are samples and will be pinned and clipped to show you the fit in person, they do not always photograph well. It is often that brides can therefore be disappointed when looking back at photographs of their favourite dresses, when they in fact loved the gown in person.

For this reason we therefore ask you to remember how you felt when wearing the dress and not to just base your feelings on a quick phone snap.

There are many professional photos of your favourite dresses online to help you remember, if you want to refer back to.

We are happy to store your dress free of charge until your original wedding date, after it arrives into the boutique. If your wedding date changes dramatically and you require storage for much longer than this, please let us know and we will try to accommodate this where possible.

Please do not worry!

We think that all of our brides are stunning as they are, but we do understand that some brides have a goal weight in mind for their wedding. If you are planning to lose a lot of weight, please discuss this with us when ordering your gown so we can take this into account.

We can always alter dresses up or down (within reason) when they arrive, so if changes are needed our seamstresses can work with you to get that perfect fit.

Yes, we love it when brides want to put their own stamp on their dress such as adding straps or sleeves, changing necklines and backs, or adding lace etc.

Please let us know at your appointment if there are specific changes you would like made to the gown and this is something we can discuss with our seamstress to ensure it can be done.

We ask that our brides refrain from wearing fake tan around your appointment date. Although we appreciate that everyone loves to have a bit of a glow, fake tan can permanently stain the sample gowns. We thank you for understanding.

No we show a very small collection of our gowns on our website and a few more on our social media pages. We like to keep some a surprise for when you come in for your appointment.

We would recommend nude seamless knickers to wear for your appointment, as this can make a big difference to the look of your dress. You will not need to wear a bra with any of our dresses due to them all having built in support, however we want to ensure you feel comfortable and if you would like to keep your bra on for your appointment, we would recommend wearing ideally a nude strapless bra.

There is no restriction on how many dresses you can try, but in the first instance we would recommend choosing around 6 to 8 dresses, so you do not become overwhelmed. After this if you want to try any more, you are more than welcome to and truthfully the amount depends on how quick you can be within the appointment time.

Budgets are very personal and we try to cater for a wide range of budgets. Our dresses range from around £1,300 to £4,500 with the majority of dresses between the £1,500 to £2,500 mark. We do offer different payment terms to assist brides, some with extra discount. If you are on a tighter budget than this, no problem just let us know, as many of our sample dresses are available to buy off the peg and mostly come under £1,000.

Of course, you will also need to budget for your alterations and any accessories, so please do let us know if that is included in your dress budget.

We do not currently charge for our appointments, however we do kindly ask that if you are no longer able to attend that you let us know within 48 hours of your appointment so we can offer it to someone else.

Every designer varies, however most gowns have a 6 to 8 month lead time. Of course, this does not include time for delays or alterations, so we would suggest ordering your gown ideally 12 months before your wedding.

After that special moment of saying yes, we will then look to take your measurements. We focus on bust, waist and hip measurements and then go off the individual designers’ size chart. We always go off your biggest measurement, so you can then have your dresses taken in so that it fits perfectly and not pulling anywhere. We will then complete all our booking form and go through our terms and conditions with you, before then taking payment for the gown (whether that be a deposit or the full amount). Of course, then is your time to celebrate, with photos by our ‘say yes’ wall! Following your appointment, we will then place your order and let you know as soon as it arrives, as well as arranging your alteration appointments (if required).

We are guided by the Government guidance, but currently do not have any restrictions in place. We do have hand sanitiser in the boutique, which we would kindly request you use before touching the gowns. If you do test positive for Covid, or start feeling unwell within 48 hours of your appointment please do let us know so we can look to rearrange just in case.