FAQ

Australian wedding dress designer KAREN WILLIS HOLMES has been at the forefront of bridal fashion since being established in 2000, providing beautifully designed and handcrafted wedding dresses for the elegant, modern and timeless bride. Our team is based in Australia and every one of our staff is dedicated to our company’s mission and the brides we have the pleasure of working with. Our goal is to always create a one-of-a-kind, personal and genuine experience for brides when finding their perfect wedding dress.

Read more about KWH and our wedding dresses here.

Unique, modern and beautiful. Each KAREN WILLIS HOLMES wedding dress perfectly balances and encompasses all 3, even though every collection and style in our range is oh-so different. Karen’s designs are made to showcase who you are as a person and the tone you want to give off as a bride. That’s why every KAREN WILLS HOLMES wedding dress is distinct and breathtaking.

Karen understands what modern-day brides are searching for: a look that no one else has, a dress that feels like it was made just for them, and a contemporary look but one that still has that magical, bridal feeling.

By combining impeccable fit with the highest quality fabrics, KAREN WILLIS HOLMES wedding dresses are not only figure-flattering and gorgeous, but also comfortable and made to an exquisite standard.

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
Unit 14B/32 Ralph Street, 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

Our Melbourne store is currently partnered with Melbourne Bridal and Debutante – their details are below.

445 Sydney Road Brunswick VIC 3056
Ph ​0426 400 136
hello@melbournebridalanddebutante.com.au

Hours:
Monday: 10 am to 4pm
Tuesday: 9:30am to 5pm
Wednesday: 9:30am to 5pm
Thursday: 9:30am to 5pm
Friday: 9:30am to 5pm
Saturday: 9am to 4:30pm
Sunday: CLOSED

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 our KWH Boutiques will stock size AUS/UK 10 | US 6 samples in store for you to try on. We also carry our popular designs in size AUS/UK 16 | US 12 samples.

Majority of our gowns are available in sizes AUS/UK 4 | US 0 – AUS/UK 24 | US 20.

Some pieces are only available to size AUS/UK 16 | US 12, however these are limited.

The cost of a KAREN WILLIS HOLMES wedding dress ranges from AUD $3,990 to AUD $13,000. This is not inclusive of alteration costs.

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.

We offer minimum $1000 deposits with an interest free Payment Plan, as well as Afterpay in store!

Deposits are non-refundable and production commences from the time of placing your deposit.

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 are made to order to a standard size- whatever size you measure closest to at the time of your appointment. We recommend a booking lead time of 6-8 months, however, because we make these gowns in our own workroom we can sometimes work with shorter time frames.

Our wedding dresses look fabulous when styled with our veils and detachable wedding skirt trains. While some brides choose to wear both, or just one or the other, an addition of either can truly complete your look. Adding a veil makes your look feel unmistakably bridal, while the addition of a removable train gives you a bold transition from ceremony to reception and adds femininity and unique style to your wedding look.

We do carry stock of some gowns in-house, or we can sometimes make a gown in much shorter time frames, if we have all the fabric and time in our production calendar to fit your order in. 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: 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. 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.

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.

We do not have in-house seamstresses. Instead, we offer brides a list of highly recommended seamstresses to choose from who work with our KWH brides and their gowns regularly!

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.

If you wish to take videos and photos for online content creation, please email info@karenwillisholmes.com and we will be in touch with recommendations for you. Please note the privacy of our staff and brides is of the utmost importance to us.

Yes! A lot of our veils/accessories will go fantastically with any gown. However, our sleeves are designed to match KWH patterns and fabrics quite specifically. You cannot order KWH sleeves to pair with another designer’s gown.

Please note, we do not allow other designers’ gowns or pieces to be tried on in our boutiques, as it can create confusion for other brides in the store at the same time. You can bring the items to the boutiques to ensure a colour match, however they must remain on the hanger.

At the time of placing your deposit,  the processing of your gown has commenced and you agree to pay the full price of the gown. No exceptions are made, your order is non-transferable and no refunds are accepted.