FAQ

We have four boutiques across Australia in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. 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 (with 7 pm late-night by appointment)
Saturday: 9 am to 5:30 pm
Sunday: Closed

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

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 (with 7 pm late-night by appointment)
Saturday: 9 am to 5:30 pm
Sunday: Closed

Perth BOOK HERE
309 Newcastle St, Northbridge, WA
Ph (08) 9381 5551
perth@karenwillisholmes.com
Hours:

Monday: Closed
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 10 am to 5 pm
Thursday: 10 am to 5 pm (with 7 pm late-night by appointment)
Saturday: 9 am to 5 pm
Sunday: Closed

We are also stocked across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore.  For a detailed list of stockists, visit Stockist Locations.

For our Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth boutiques, initial appointments in incur a $50 appointment fee, which is fully redeemable against the purchase of a dress in-store. Your payment will be approved at the time of booking your appointment.

Your credit card will be charged the appointment fee 3 days before your scheduled appointment. Should you wish to return to the boutique after this initial appointment to retry your favourite gowns, the retry appointment will be complimentary.

If you cancel your appointment up to 4 days prior to your appointment time, you will not be charged for the appointment. If you cancel your appointment once payment has been taken (3 days prior to appointment) there is no refund.

We do also take walk-in appointments; there is no appointment fee charged for walk-ins. Should you prefer to try your luck with a walk-in appointment and we are available at the time you visit we will see you straight away.

If we are busy at the time you come in, we will ask you to leave your name and phone number so that we can call you back as soon as possible.

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 1  hour and 15 minutes. Because we are a boutique store, all gowns are on the shop floor for browsing and we have found this is the perfect amount of time to select your favourites and try them on.

We advise that brides bring no more than four people to their appointment for a couple of reasons; the first being the space available in the boutique, we must be mindful of all brides and their guests using the space especially on a Saturday when the boutique is busiest, the second being that we find 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!

For the ELOPE collection the size range is AUS/ UK 4 – 20 | US 0 – 16 and we have size AUS/UK 10 | US 6 samples in store for you to try on.

For the LUXE collection the size range is AUS/ UK 4 – 16 | US 0 – 12 and these gowns are sold on a first come first serve basis.

For the WILD HEARTS collection the size range is AUS/ UK 4 – 20 | US 0 – 16 and we have size AUS/UK 10 | US 6 samples in store for you to try on.

For the BESPOKE collection the size range is AUS/ UK 4 – 20 | US 0 – 16 and we have size AUS/UK 10 | US 6 samples in store for you to try on.

The cost of a KAREN WILLIS HOLMES wedding dress ranges from AUD $2,190 to AUD $13,000. For the average cost of each collection, see below. 

The ELOPE collection ranges in price from $590 to $5,290.

The LUXE collection ranges in price from $2,500 to $3,790.

The WILD HEARTS collection ranges in price from $2,190 to $2,990.

The BESPOKE collection ranges in price from $2,500 to $13,000.

For gowns/pieces from the ELOPE, WILD HEARTS & 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.

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

We offer SplitIt Payment Plans, read more about this option here.

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 ELOPE & BESPOKE collections are made in Australia and 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 4 – 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 WILD HEARTS collection are made in Australia and our recommended lead time is 4 months from your wedding date, plus time for alterations.

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 across Australia, in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, 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.

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.

Information regarding store closures and policies can be found in Latest Updates.

We offer gift vouchers that can be purchased online via our E-Boutique or through a KAREN WILLIS HOLMES boutique. A beautifully printed gift card can be sent to your loved one via mail / pick-up in store or electronically via email.