A MIDDLEWICH wedding dress specialist has received a cash boost from the Government to help them through the pandemic.

Willow Bridal Boutique is one of 116,000 businesses in the north west to share £4.4 billion of support through a loan scheme.

Owner Helen Williams received a Bounce Back loan to provide cash flow whilst her shop was closed for three months during lockdown.

The mum-of-two said: “The Bounce Back loan has been vital in assuring that we have been able to pay some of our supplier invoices. This has covered both our own stock items but more importantly to us it has paid for some of our brides’ own wedding gowns which were due for delivery.

"Designers would have held dresses until we were able to speak to brides but we wanted to take delivery of them and pay for invoices before brides pay us back at a later date.

"We have always put our brides first in any situation and the fact that we have been able receive their gowns has provided each bride with much needed happiness and joy, especially given many have had their wedding day plans put in jeopardy.”

Coronavirus left many couples devastated as weddings could only be held with a handful of guests amid tight restrictions and there is still uncertainty.

"As an industry it has been absolutely devastating," said Helen."Brides have been left in limbo as to whether their wedding can go ahead with 30 guests or 100 guests. Many have been planning their weddings for two years.

"We have had 92 weddings cancelled or postponed and the dresses are still here.We have 40 waiting to be delivered."

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Northwich Guardian:

Helen still wants to give brides the joy of trying on wedding gowns

Helen reopened her shop in Wheelock Street in June and brides can still come in for fittings as stringent new coronavirus measures have been introduced.

"Brides can still try on dresses," said Helen. "We don't want that experience to change. All the dresses are now in bags. Brides can still handle dresses at their leisure but any that are tried on have to be steamed or disinfected before they are put back on the rack."

Appointments must be booked as only one bride can be in the shop at any one time.

Helen’s award-winning boutique specialises in luxury contemporary wedding dresses offering some of the most elite bridal gown designers in Cheshire.

Brides travel from all over the country as Helen is the only UK stockist of Matthew Christopher Van der Velde designer gowns.

Helen is confident weddings will resume as couples are postponing their big day until 202l.

"We will have a wedding every day of the week from February," she said. "We usually have up to 200 weddings a year.

"As a business we are busier than we expected to be and really happy to come out of this.

"We have a few nice things lined up for the autumn and winter and I'm really excited that we will get back to as normal as possible."