Swindon bridal shop closure leaves wedding dreams in tatters

The Adver reported at the end of December that Trousseaux Bridal in Old Town, which was owned and run by Vicki Crocker and Kendra Bruce, had been sold to new owners. 

In the announcement of the sale, Ms Crocker said: “We currently don’t feel in a position to continue on with running Trousseaux Bridal to the best of our ability. We will begin sending out emails to our gorgeous brides to pass on the details of the new owners."

READ MORE: Trousseaux Bridal studio in Swindon sold to new owners

But the expectant brides who received emails were only given an address for the new Scotland-based owner Lynsey Mccandless, but no other contact details. 

They were also instructed to contact their banks and dress suppliers for more information. 

Customers who saw the original story about the sale and subsequently received the email started talking to each other as a result. 

They discovered that Trousseaux had been taking deposits, and sometimes full payments, for dresses since January 2022 but had not paid the suppliers for those dresses. 

Many who contacted their dress supplier were able to confirm that their dress was there, but some were devastated to find that the dress they thought they'd be getting married in - and had paid for - hadn't even been ordered.

The women said they made several attempts to find out what was going on in the months prior, but either didn't get through or were given excuses. 

Mother and daughter duo Kendra Bruce and Vicki Crocker celebrating Trosseaux Bridal's move back to Old Town in 2019 (Image: Stuart Harrison)Bella Aplin, 41, from Wroughton, is getting married at the end of July, she found a dress at Trousseaux in October and paid her deposit of £550. 

She said: "I phoned the designer the day after the story, they said I didn't have an order with them and told me they weren’t dealing with that store because they were owed money for two dresses."

"It has been quite stressful. I'm not going to have the dress I fell In love with, I'm having to start all over again. It took me so long to find a dress that I liked, so this is heartbreaking."

Cheltenham-based Katrina Iddion, 39, is due to get married on April 1. She paid her deposit in January 2022 and the balance in March.

She has managed to get some of the £1,900, that she and her mum paid, back from her bank.

"I felt it was coming," she claimed. "They had been flat-out ignoring me for months and giving excuse after excuse. I knew I was never going to get this dress.

"I'm personally so angry. It's a special moment to go with friends and go look at dresses. It's all meant to be a beautiful experience that you’ll only ever have once and it's utterly tainted."

Rachel Clement, from Gorse Hill, was one of the brides getting married the earliest.

The 23-year-old booked her £2,000 dress in July 2022 and paid it off in full in September, all for a wedding in India in February. 

She was able to get her dress from the designer but had to pay for it again at a discounted rate, leaving her £1,500 out of pocket.

"It was a stressful thing to have to do a month before your wedding day, especially because I had to fly out in advance and needed to have the dress with me then."

The Adver has attempted to contact Vicki Crocker and new owner Lynsey Mccandless but neither has responded.