One key is set before you answer. Every ad cookie waits for your yes.

This notice takes effect on September 30, 2026, and was last updated the same day. It covers thedresstheory.us, the site of The Dress Theory, an award-winning bridal boutique at 1423 N 45th St in Seattle. It does not cover the designers' own sites, or Google, Microsoft and Meta once you leave us.

A cookie is a small file your browser keeps for a site. We also use your browser's local storage, which does the same job without being sent back with every request. Both are listed below, because to you there is no practical difference.

Strictly necessary

Two keys. site_consent_v2 remembers whether you pressed Allow or Decline, so the banner stays gone. The support chat keeps a token so a conversation about a fitting date survives a closed tab. These run without asking, because the site cannot keep its promises to you without them. Neither one tracks you anywhere else.

Analytics

Counting visits: which pages are read, how far down the collection people scroll, whether the appointment form is being abandoned halfway. Set only after you allow storage, under the analytics_storage signal.

Advertising

We pay Google, Microsoft and Meta to show ads to people searching for wedding dresses in Seattle. Advertising cookies tell those platforms that a click on an ad later became an appointment request. Set only after you allow storage, under the ad_storage signal.

Every name the site writes. Lifetimes are the maximums the setter uses; clearing your browser removes all of them sooner.

Some of the brides who book a bridal appointment in Seattle with us arrive through a paid ad. Three platforms send that traffic today, and each tags the link you click with its own identifier:

• Google Adsgclid
• Microsoft Advertisingmsclkid
• Meta Adsfbclid

The identifier arrives in the address bar whatever you choose. What changes with your choice is whether it is written into a cookie (_gcl_aw, _uetmsclkid, _fbc) and sent back to the platform when you submit the inquiry form. Before you press Allow, it is not. We use the result to count which ads lead to appointments and to cut the ones that do not. We do not use it to follow you around other sites with pictures of gowns.

Google's consent mode is the switchboard between your answer and every tag on the page. We run version 2. On the first page you open, before the banner has had an answer, four signals are set to denied:

• ad_storagedenied
• ad_user_datadenied
• ad_personalizationdenied
• analytics_storagedenied

ad_storage governs advertising cookies. ad_user_data governs whether data about you is sent to Google for advertising. ad_personalization governs remarketing. analytics_storage governs visit counting. Allow sets all four to granted. Decline sets all four to denied. Withdrawing later puts them back to denied on the same page load, not the next one. The Microsoft and Meta tags read the same answer and hold back in the same way.

A browser that sends Global Privacy Control is treated as a Decline from the first request, and the banner does not appear.

A strip appears at the bottom of the screen on your first visit. It does not cover the page, and you can read the collection without touching it. Press Allow or Decline. Your answer is saved in site_consent_v2 for 12 months, after which we ask once more.

To change it, use the Cookie settings button in the footer of every page, or the one here. The banner comes back and your new answer applies at once. You can also delete this site's cookies and storage in your browser settings, which resets everything, the chat thread included.

Everything a bride needs still works. The collection, the fabric notes, the timeline, the appointment form, the phone number and the support chat all behave exactly the same. We still get your inquiry and we still answer it.

What stops: no analytics or advertising cookie is written, and Google, Microsoft and Meta are not told that your ad click became an inquiry. We lose sight of which ad brought you. That is our problem, not yours, and we will not ask you to change your mind to fix it.

Once data reaches a platform, its own rules apply. Read them directly:

• Google: policies.google.com/privacy, and how Google uses data from sites like ours: policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
• Microsoft: privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement
• Meta: facebook.com/privacy/policy

How we handle your inquiry, retention periods and your rights under the GDPR and the CCPA are in the privacy policy. Orders and fittings are governed by the terms of service.

Found a name in your browser that is not in the table? Tell us which one and on which page. Email [email protected], call +1 206-550-7948, or write to The Dress Theory, 1423 N 45th St, Seattle, Washington 98103, United States. We answer within 5 days, and if the cookie should not be there, we remove the tag that sets it.