Wedding dresses hit by delays as post-Covid demand surges

Brides-to-be are facing long waits for wedding dresses and accessories, firms say, due to supply chain problems.

Many fabrics and items such as veils come from East Asia and retailers say they are seeing weeks of extra delays.

They are warning the situation is set to get worse for those getting married in the new year.

Demand has outstripped supply in the wake of the pandemic, retailers say, while there are also delays at UK ports and labour shortages.

"We are seeing delays in accessories, fabrics, trims, lace. Things like veils and headpieces are all being delayed by weeks," Lynette Turner, of Boho Bride in Stratford-upon-Avon, said.

"But we're also seeing some of our designers telling us that things could get a bit more serious next year, especially for the brides that are getting married early next year, with late deliveries.

"So realistically our dresses could take anything from six and eight months to come into the bridal boutique, as opposed to four to six months."

She said supply chain problems had been amplified by an increase in global demand for certain fabrics.

Deliveries of some shoes and accessories have also been held up at UK ports she said.

Di Hassall, who designs shoes in the Gloucestershire village of Mickleton, said it had been a "really challenging" time.

She said there had been a big drop in business due to lockdown restrictions, then she had faced supply problems when the number of weddings started to rise.

Many of her shoes are handmade in Portugal and Ms Hassall said it had been difficult to get them imported, partly due to Brexit delays.

Meanwhile, some items, such as pearls and lace, were unavailable at all, she said.

Elsewhere, shops selling second-hand and ex-sample designer dresses are reporting a sales boom.

Jayne Alexander said she had been selling such dresses to customers arriving "in a panic" at her shop in Evesham, Worcestershire, because their original dresses were not ready or able to be altered in time.

She said some couples were also choosing to get married at short-notice "to reduce the risk of anything going wrong" after the restrictions of the last 19 months.

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