Style & Joy Boutique

Stacey Smalley
5 Star
What an absolute gem of a shop. We were on the hunt for a suit for a wedding and have been trying to buy as much as we can locally or from independent sellers. We walked past here on the way in to the market and decided to poke our heads in to see if we could have a quick look. We were both welcomed in by two of the loveliest and most genuine ladies. Their product knowledge was incredible, and their eye for detail and how to put a full outfit together was amazing. As we had popped in on the fly, we had no physical pieces we could have taken with us for ideas of colours etc, but they were patient whilst I trawled online to find like images of the dress, and to find our flower photos from Etsy. The full outfit picked out was beyond both of our expectations, and from what little information I could provide they had managed to put together a full thee piece suit that matched our styles and colour scheme perfectly, with no details forgotten, we even had shoes and ties that were spot on to the style and colour scheme. The whole atmosphere was fun, friendly and relaxed, and it was an incredibly pain-free shopping experience. They were also kind enough to keep details on file of everything we picked it and had measured up, so we can find out from parents if we will require anything else before we put our order in. Cannot wait to collect the suit - it's absolutely stunning. Thank you so much. 💙
Tuesday 14th June 2022

charlotte warner
1 Star
Wouldn’t even give this place 1* Didn’t turn up to my wedding with the props I had paid for, blocked me and I have never been able to contact her since. Currently have a CCJ against Sandie as she failed to respond to the court summons. Avoid at ALL costs.
Monday 13th June 2022

Andrew Jary
1 Star
Just avoid this dismal excuse of a company!! If you want your wedding day to be a success go elsewhere. Lot of bad press in the papers and online via EDP unfortunately the owner Sandie chivers is a con artist taking people's hard earned money and deposits. Then making all excuses you can think off to avoid you and never deliver. Such a shameful disgrace avoid avoid.
Monday 13th June 2022

Kathryn Baird-Parker
1 Star
1 star because I cannot leave zero stars. Most awful experience of buying my wedding dress. Had to change my original chosen dress, although no clear explanation given as to why, then the new dress was late and ill fitting - was ordered a few sizes bigger than I was originally told was needed. Very little in the way of updates on those situations unless I contacted them first, I actually ended up contacting the designer directly to try and get some answers. Many lies were told by Sandy and her team which made everything so much worse. The seamstress originally working there left so they bought in an emergency seamstress who did her best but the dress needed to be taken in by at least 3 sizes and cost me an additional £300. On the big day I felt uncomfortable in the dress and never felt like it fitted correctly. I have no words to describe how disappointed I was with the whole experience, something that should have been exciting and magical ended up being very, very stressful and upsetting. Avoid, avoid, avoid... **** I cannot add a response to the owner's response but suffice to say more inaccuracies, Sandie Chivers - why were you not aware my second choice of dress was actually ordered one month after I picked it when my husband and I visited the shop to discuss our concerns? Why was I told it would be ordered in one size and it was ordered in another? I did not lose any weight prior to my wedding, I was very careful not to as I did not want the dress altered anymore than needed. You also told me that the dress I chose was the same cost as my original choice so where has £150 come from suddenly? There was no payment plan agreed, I paid for the remainder of the dress when I came in for the final fitting as I was asked to. I paid the seamstress directly as that is what she told me I needed to do once she had completed the work. I spoke to you many times about how unhappy and stressed I was about the situation and even when my husband and I visited the shop to discuss it we were not reassured. I even got to the point that I was talking to someone at Maggie Sottero about my dress. Again another lie - you told me and my sister that you were talking to someone at Maggie Sottero on my behalf (you gave me their name) and when I spoke to Maggie Sottero they confirmed you had not spoken to anyone there that day. What I don't understand is the lies, if you have made a mistake be honest and upfront that way it can be dealt with.
Monday 13th June 2022

Natalie Sawyer
1 Star
Please note: owner has been claiming this shop is not linked to the boutique since closing the events page following bad reviews. This shop is very much linked, see images from their website attached promoting the events business. They are also owned by the same person, Sandie Chivers We hired Style and Joy, Sandie Chivers, for essential items for our wedding on 17 Sept 21 (tables, chairs, vintage crockery, glasses, cutlery, decor, etc) and to style/set up our wedding venue. We signed the contract for the hire goods and set up/styling and paid the deposit in 2019. Fast forward to 4 weeks before our wedding we paid the balance in full and since then we had nothing but problems. We heard of issues from another wedding at our venue and got in touch with Sandie to seek reassurances. I spent the following 4 weeks trying to speak with her and get a response to our concerns. We were even forced to go to a wedding fair that she was going to be at to try and talk to her as all our calls, voicemails and emails were going unanswered. Eventually getting a response from Sandie I was told that they had all of our items hired as per our contract and that they would set up two days before our wedding as I was concerned there would be issues. The night before set up I received an email to say that they did not have all of the vintage crockery and cutlery that we ordered. Despite this being on our original order from 2019 they blamed it on recent shipping/transport delays and had clearly lied in previous emails where Sandie had confirmed they had all of our items. It also stated Sandie was unwell and they ‘were hoping she’d be back tomorrow’. On the morning of the set up I received an email at 8am to say Sandie would be there today despite being unwell. A staff member, Stuart, dropped off some of the larger items in the morning and stated that Sandie would be along at 2pm with the remainder of our items and to set up. 2pm came and went and Sandie hadn’t arrived. I tried numerous ways to contact her, eventually only getting a response through Facebook messenger stating she was in hospital and I was to speak to Stuart. I’d had no communication to say Sandie wasn’t coming or what the plan would be with her being ill to ensure our items were delivered and contract terms met. I called Stuart and he had no idea Sandie was in hospital and he wasn’t able to bring any of the items to the venue. At this point I was very concerned we wouldn’t be getting the items we desperately needed to host our wedding! I spent the rest of the day desperately trying to get things needed. Since our date I’ve heard that many other couples have been told that she was in hospital when she should be at their venue so I’m unsure whether Sandie was telling the truth. I was left trying to sort out getting our items and someone to bring them over rather than Sandie sorting her own staff. In messages Sandie confirmed she didn’t have the full number of plates and cutlery we required and didn’t have any of the glassware we’d hired, so had therefore lied. Stuart came past midday the day before our wedding with some of the remaining items and spent the whole afternoon putting together cake stands as these arrived dismantled. Another member of staff eventually came about 3pm meaning we were left to completely set up and style the venue which we’d hired and paid Sandie’s company to do. I was 8 months pregnant and was forced to move tables and chairs and other items around because her company failed to turn up. My husband also had to do a 3 hour trip to collect items she failed to provide. There was over £250 worth of items not provided, and we also requested 50% for £300 worth of items that were severely bad quality. Since then only emails/contact we’ve had has been a long line of excuses. No refund of any money despite admitting fault and most upsetting, not even mention of an apology. I’ve also been blocked from contacting her every way except email.
Monday 21st February 2022