Q&A: Ask Euphorie Vol. 1

We often have people reach out to us on Instagram with different questions, from questions about Euphorie, our designers, collections, and where we make things to questions about the bridal industry, fabrics, styling, etc. We realized some questions pop up more often than others, so we want to start answering some more publicly so more brides can know the answers.

We've been taking questions via Instagram stories, our DMs, and emails, and each week we'll round them up and do our best to answer them.

How do I know if a wedding dress is Australian-made?

If buying an Australian-made wedding dress is essential to you, there's something specific we urge all brides to remember: there's a difference between 'Australian made' and 'Australian designed.' If a brand/store claims that a gown is 'DESIGNED in Australia' but neglects to say 'Made in Australia' too, this almost always means that the dress was designed here but made overseas, then shipped to Australia and sold.

If a wedding dress is designed AND made in Australia, brands will say both or say that it's made here - this is an important little trick to remember if having your gown made right here in Australia is essential to you.

You could also go the step further and ask to see where a brand makes their gowns because if it's locally made, it should be no real secret where your gown is made!

When will you have a sale?

We've had this question pop up quite frequently lately. When we design and make Euphorie gowns, we price them fairly from the start, with an ethical markup price. 

Euphorie, as a brand, sells our gowns directly to brides with no intermediary. This means that we can price it fairly and ethically because we source the fabrics, create the gown at our studio, and then buy it; you're not paying store owners, stockists, etc., an extra fee when purchasing a dress.

Generally, when you buy in a store from a stocked brand, the dress is created by the designer, sold by a wholesaler to a stockist/retailer, and then purchased by you. In that supply chain, every person at each step has their own markup cost to ensure they make a profit. We wanted to avoid this, so we sell direct to brides from our Brisbane studio. We source our fabrics, we make the gowns here at our atelier with our in-house team of seamstresses, and you'll meet with the designer to buy the dress they've designed for you or buy one of our made-to-order gowns.

Everything can affect the pricing of a gown, so we do everything to ensure the dresses can be priced reasonably. We source all materials directly from the mill in most cases. Occasionally, we'll go direct to wholesalers to avoid paying retail for fabric. For transparency, after operating for 23+ years, Euphorie has become a trusted brand for buying fabrics, so we can buy in quantities that bring the price down for brides - which is why we don't pay retail markups for our fabrics.

Reminder: Feel free to ask for a price breakdown when you're discussing a gown with our designer, she'll always give it to you anyway, but it's your right to know where your money is being spent.

Can I bring people with me to my appointment?

Of course, you can! You're more than welcome to bring your friends, children, family, and bridesmaids to your appointments. You'll only go on your wedding journey once; we want you to feel as comfortable as possible while discussing dress ideas, trying gowns on, and working on your custom wedding dress.

Are Euphorie gowns stocked in a store?

In the past, we have worked with some retailers. However, we're no longer selling our gowns anywhere other than our studio located in Brisbane. The next question you might have is, "Why not? Plenty of brands stock their gowns in stores and sell them themselves - and that is a valid question, but the answer is a matter of ethics for us. If we were to sell our gowns in a store, the markup cost would be so much higher than any client should have to pay, and it doesn't sit right with the fact that we want all Euphorie gowns to be considered a meaningful purchase by the wearer.

When we stock a range of gowns in a store, the price has to be marked up much higher than we would ever be comfortable with for the store to make its money. This extra hidden cost is not something we felt comfortable putting onto brides, so we decided to cease selling gowns at any store and operate solely out of our studio + showroom in Goodna. Working from our studio does not affect anything other than the price you, the consumer, will pay for our gowns (lowering it substantially).

Another factor that went into us pulling our gowns from being sold anywhere other than via our studio is so that we can control the quality from start to finish on a gown - we are solely responsible for the condition, design, and make of a wedding dress - this ensures no bride will receive a faulty product!

How long does it take to make a gown?

The answer to this question would depend on the making time of your gown and if it's an off-the-rack gown or a custom wedding dress. Typically, for a custom gown, we require at least 3months+ to bring it to life, though some gowns may take longer depending on the intricacy of the dress itself.

If you've got something in mind or would like more information, please don't hesitate to get in contact.