FAQ

We have three boutiques across Australia in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. The details of each boutique are located below:

Sydney BOOK HERE
Sydney Flagship Emporium
9 Doody St Alexandria, NSW
Ph (02) 8338 1078
sydney@karenwillisholmes.com
Hours:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 10 am to 5:30 pm
Thursday: 10 am to 5:30 pm (until 7 pm late-night by appointment)
Saturday: 9 am to 5:30 pm
Sunday: 11am to 4pm by appointment only

Melbourne BOOK HERE
1010 High Street, Armadale, VIC
Ph (03) 9509 0454
melbourne@karenwillisholmes.com
Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday: 10 am to 5:30 pm
Thursday: 10 am to 5:30 pm (until 7 pm late-night by appointment)
Saturday: 9 am to 5:30 pm
Sunday: By Appointment Only

Brisbane BOOK HERE
32 Latrobe Tce, Paddington, QLD
Ph (07) 3368 2216
brisbane@karenwillisholmes.com
Hours:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 10 am to 5:30 pm
Thursday: 10 am to 5:30 pm (until 7 pm late-night by appointment)
Saturday: 9 am to 5:30 pm
Sunday: Closed

We are also stocked across Australia and globally. For a detailed list of stockists, visit Stockist Locations.

We do prioritise booked appointments over walk ins. Whilst we prefer appointments to be booked, walk-in appointments are also welcome, however, there is no guarantee that a stylist will be available to see you. We may have a fully booked day and if this is the case, we will take your details and contact you as soon as we are available, or, to instruct you book in online, or, to try again on another day.

We want all brides to have the opportunity to try on their favourite KAREN WILLIS HOLMES dresses.
To book in an appointment at your nearest Karen Willis Holmes boutique we do require your card details at the time of booking. To secure your appointment a $50 fee will be charged 3 day prior your appointment.

If you need to cancel your appointment, you can do so before this time and not be charged. The Appointment fee is fully redeemable to the purchase of a KWH gown. This redeemable offer is only available in store and not through our online boutique.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info@karenwillisholmes.com or + 61 2 9519 3901

Your experience in the boutique for your initial bridal appointment will be for 75 minutes with a stylist to assist you. Because we are a boutique store, we have found this is the perfect amount of time to select your favourites and try them on.

If you walk in for an appointment and a stylist is available to see you, we cannot guarantee that it will be for an 75 minute slot. Often, walk in appointments will only have 15-30 minutes to try on gowns with a stylist. We do not encourage this as a short amount of time does not allow for the full KWH experience.

We advise that brides bring no more than 3 people to their appointment.

We must be mindful of all other brides and their guests using the space at the same time especially on Saturday’s when the boutique is busiest.
We also find that too many opinions can be somewhat overwhelming when trying gowns and we would hate for this to detract from your experience.

If you are able to keep your number of guests within our recommended limit it would be appreciated. You will appreciate the focused opinions of a trusted few!

If you have any questions regarding our capacity limits please email info@karenwillisholmes.com

All of our collections, except for our LUXE ready to wear collection, are available to order in size range AUS/ UK 4 – 24, some exceptions apply.
We have size AUS/UK 10 and some AUS/UK 16 store samples to try on in store.

The LUXE collection is ready to wear and is available to purchase in size range is AUS/ UK 4 – 16. These gowns are sold on a first come first serve basis. Pending stock availability, you will be trying on the size you will be purchasing.

The cost of a KAREN WILLIS HOLMES wedding dress ranges from approximately AUD $2,490 to AUD $10,000. For the price ranges of each collection, see below. Majority of our gowns sit on average within the $4,500-$6,500 AUD range. Please note that alterations are not included in the gown cost.

The ELOPE collection ranges in price from $2,490 to $5,990.

The LUXE collection ranges in price from $3,590 to $3,790.

The BESPOKE collection ranges in price from $4,490 to $10,000.

We also offer in house alterations in our Melbourne boutique & Sydney HQ workroom. Fitting appointments run on a first come first serve basis and if we do book out, we can provide your with recommended dressmakers (NSW, MELB, BRIS) to contact for your alterations.

For gowns/pieces from the ELOPE & BESPOKE collections, we ask for a 50% upfront deposit, so that we can start work on your order. The remaining balance is due at your first fitting or when you pick up your gown to take it to your dressmaker.

LUXE collection gowns are sold from stock we require the gown to be paid in full at the time of purchase.

We offer interest free Payment Plans in store, as well as Afterpay!

If you don’t live near a KWH boutique, contact our customer service team directly and we will have a solution for you to secure your dream gown. Our team can also offer you styling advice via phone or email. Feel free to contact them on +61 2 9519 3901 or info@karenwillisholmes.com.

Gowns from the BESPOKE collections are made in Australia or India and are made to order to a standard size- whatever size you measure closest to at the time of your appointment. We recommend a shopping lead time of 6-9 months and a booking lead time 6 months, however, because we make these gowns in our own workroom we can sometimes work with shorter time frames.

Gowns from the LUXE collection are sold from stock or available for pre-order. Due to the nature of this collection the gowns are sold on a first come first serve basis.

Gowns from the ELOPE collection are made in Australia and we recommend a shopping lead time of 6-9 months and a booking lead time 6 months, however, because we make these gowns in our own workroom we can sometimes work with shorter time frames.

We do carry stock of some gowns in-house, or we can sometimes make an ELOPE or BESPOKE gown in much shorter timeframes if we have all the fabric and time in our production calendar to fit your order in. As well, our LUXE line is a ready-to-wear line which means we can work with a shorter time frame as long as your desired gown is in stock. While we can work with shorter time frames, we always recommend a longer timeline, as having a shorter one will limit what is available to you.

If you have a short time frame, please contact us on info@karenwillisholmes.com or + 61 2 9519 3901 to discuss your options.

For our Australian brides: If you have ordered the hemming package with your gown, someone will contact you to arrange your fitting appointment with you, or to arrange your pick-up date. Appointments are made on a first come first serve basis and during our busy times we do fill up fast. These fitting appointments usually occur 6 – 8 and 3 – 4 weeks from your wedding date. In the meantime, you will need to find your wedding shoes as well as any undergarments you plan on wearing with the gown. We recommend nude and seamless.

If you have chosen to have alterations elsewhere, someone will contact you to arrange a check fitting appointment with you. This check fitting is an opportunity for you to try on the dress to make sure you are happy with it before taking it with you to have your alterations completed elsewhere.

Alterations are expected and essential for the finishing touches to any gown and will make the gown truly yours. When purchasing a gown, we take your body measurements to help determine the closest standard size to your body based on our size chart. However, alterations are needed to fine-tune for fit and to your personal preference. Whether that means taking in a gown to make it smaller for your hips, bust, or waist (or maybe everywhere), adding cups, shortening straps, hemming the length, and adding in the bustle for your train, alterations are a standard part of the whole process.

For our boutiques in Sydney and Melbourne we have experienced in-house seamstresses who will alter your wedding gown to perfection! For our boutique in Brisbane, we offer brides a list of highly recommended seamstresses to choose from.

With any wedding dress, it is expected that you will require alterations. These can range from adjusting the hem of the dress to the perfect length to shortening straps as well as any minor adjustments you might prefer. If you purchase your dress through our online boutique you will need to source a tailor privately. We usually recommend allowing about 10 weeks before your wedding for alterations. Please email us if you have any questions relating to alterations and we will be happy to provide advice.

Brides are welcome to take photos and short videos of their favourite gowns in our boutiques. We ask you to remember that a picture taken by a phone inside a store doesn’t always capture the true beauty of a wedding dress, we have found that a short video often captures the true features of a dress best.