SINGAPORE - Former staff of Sophia Wedding Collection, a bridal studio which closed down abruptly, have been helping couples left in the lurch.

In the last two months, some customers managed to get the gowns they rented for their weddings, while a number managed to get their wedding photo albums after the studio shut on Oct 10.

At that time, some of the former employees promised the couples who had bought packages with the studio that they will try to help those whose weddings were coming up in 2015, said a customer who only wanted to be known as Mr Chew. He was among the customers the staff had helped.

One former staff member moved about 200 gowns and suits to a colleague's home as they were worried that they would not be allowed back into the shop premises, Lianhe Wanbao reported on Tuesday (Dec 29).

Mr Chew, 34, told The Straits Times that he received two gowns from ex-Sophia Wedding staff, but got his suit, flowers and two more gowns from another wedding studio.

He said that not all the gowns were available and that some the brides were not able to get the gowns they chose.

He and his wife, who held their wedding on Dec 5, also got their wedding album.

They had their photo shoot about a month before the studio closed and thought they would not be able to get the finished album.

To their surprise, photography studio 50 Media, which Sophia Wedding subcontracts some of its shoots to, delivered.

In a message from 50 Media seen by The Straits Times, the company told clients that those who had their photos taken from Aug 6 to Sept 31 would get their albums "on goodwill basis" although Sophia Wedding Collection still owed them money.

Mr Chew said that the customers had their photos taken by different photo studios, and thus not all the couples received their albums.

When contacted, a former staff at Sophia Wedding said they want to move on, and did not wish to comment.

Sophia Wedding Collection was part of a wave of bridal salons that opened along a stretch of Tanjong Pagar Road between 1997 and 2000. It shifted to its Amoy Street premises in mid-August this year but suddenly shut in October.