'I'm crushed.' An Aussie bridal store closed overnight, leaving hundreds of brides without their dresses.

Hundreds of Australian brides-to-be have been left out of pocket and out of a wedding dress after a popular bridal boutique closed without warning earlier this week. 

The Bridal Atelier (TBA), based in both Melbourne and Sydney, began going through liquidation on Monday, as per ASIC's website. 

The public notice means both stores were immediately closed and as a result, customers were left without their wedding dresses. 

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It is estimated that hundreds of women who are set to get married have been left thousands of dollars out of pocket and without a wedding dress.

Wedding and event content creator, Claudia Sokolova (known as @partygirlclauds) was one of the first online to break the news that TBA was gone for good. 

@partygirlclauds #THEBRIDALATELIER Has closed abruptly. Leaving many #Australian #Brides without their gowns. There is limited information during this time. Please contact your designers or get in touch with @KWH Bridal for additional help and support. Comment below or DM me for additional support. ❤️ #AustralianWedding #SydneyBride #SydneyWedding #2023bride #2024bride ♬ original sound - Claudia ✨ Your Wedding Bestie

"The Bridal Atelier in Australia has closed down without any notice and leaving hundreds if not thousands, of brides without their wedding dresses," she reported on Monday. 

Claudia went on to say the boutique had not only shut its doors but deleted its website and social media accounts. 

"They have not communicated to brides that they are closing down or to pick up the dresses that are fully paid for," she continued. "No one knows why this has happened, no one has any idea... They have not advertised anywhere that they are closing down."

Since her now-viral post, Claudia has received messages from dozens of heartbroken brides, former TBA staff members and other wedding vendors. 

"As a bride myself getting married in August, I went through something similar with another dressmaker and it's a heartbreaking experience," she told Mamamia. "I've had women and brides-to-be messaging me in tears and I'm helping in any way I can... but realistically it's so limiting because the company is in liquidation." 

"Receiving all these messages from a personal standpoint is just heartbreaking," she added. 

@partygirlclauds #BRIDALATELIER UPDATE 🚨 Please get in touch with me if you need help. ❤️ @KWH Bridal ♬ original sound - Claudia ✨ Your Wedding Bestie

The content creator shared that while speaking with the brides now left without their wedding gowns, the devastation is palpable. 

"They are truly devastated. I think there is not one word to describe how they're feeling," she shared. "And I'm sure that none of them will mind saying that they're heartbroken and devastated.

"You put your trust in a brand and something like this happens. It's completely earth-shattering when you're planning your wedding. It's like everything is already hanging by a thread when you're wedding planning. You're stressed enough as it is and having something like this on top of that is earth-shattering and devastating."

Bride-to-be Louise Vella, who is getting married in October, told Mamamia she was one of the "hundreds" of brides impacted by the liquidation of TBA. 

After ordering her dress in September last year, Louise shared there were no updates until January. 

"Every time I contacted them, they just said 'Our system says it’s due to be shipped next week, we will call you as soon as it arrives'," she explained. 

"This happened twice. The third time it happened, I got pretty heated with the girl on the phone and she assured me it had been shipped already and I would be called the following week for the final fitting."

However, the week after the dress was due, she still hadn't "heard anything". 

"I then contacted the designer directly. They told me that the dress had been ready for two months and The Bridal Atelier hadn’t paid them," she explained. "They [then told me] they [were] ceasing the partnership and recommended I see TBA about a refund."

Upon emailing the bridal boutique for a refund, Louise was told her request would be "passed to the director". 

Louise Vella told Mamamia she is "shocked" following the liquidation of The Bridal Atelier. Image: Supplied.

"[That] was on the Wednesday," she shared. "By the Friday we had heard they were shut. I never heard anything else from them directly until the liquidators contacted me to tell me I won’t get any money back." 

Love Honor, the designers of Louise's dream wedding dress have kept in contact with the bride-to-be. 

"I don't really know how much it is going to cost me and I am skeptical about paying for the dress again and having it sent out after I just did the same thing and got screwed over," she explained. "I would rather go pick up the dress."

Like many of the other brides who have been impacted by TBA's liquidation, Louise told Mamamia she is in absolute shock. 

"They must have known for months at least that they were going under and we still didn't hear a word," she said. "They were still taking deposits the week that they closed. I feel disheartened and crushed that the only dress I loved is now going to cost me more than it is worth." 

Joint liquidators Mark William Pearce and Michael Dullaway have taken over the management of the boutiques.

"We were appointed liquidators of the company which traded the Sydney store yesterday and of the company which traded the Melbourne store earlier today," Dullaway told 9Honey on Monday.

"The two companies have ceased trading and they are unable to arrange for the completion of orders."

Customers will be contacted promptly if they have not been reached out to already, Dullaway said. 

"We are carrying out investigations and inquiries regarding the two companies including trying to identify customers and suppliers and notify them of the liquidations.

"We have notified brides who have purchased dresses from the Melbourne store and within the next hour or so we will be contacting brides who purchased dresses from the Sydney store and providing them with contact details for relevant designers who are designing their dresses."

Dullaway said that the brides whose dresses have not yet been completed would not be receiving their orders. 

"We have also contacted designers who were supplying dresses to the Melbourne store and will also later today also contact designers who were supplying dresses for the Sydney store.

"However, unfortunately, we are unable to arrange for dresses to be completed."

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Georgia Schroeder, the company's retail and operations manager, admitted she was "completely crushed" by the experience. 

"The past few days have been the toughest I've ever had to deal with professionally and personally," she wrote, saying her role with the company was initially "a dream come true".

"After less than two months in the role, I received a text on Friday notifying me that the company was closing - effective immediately."

She claimed the store owner "disconnected her phone".

"I've had hundreds of phone calls from brides begging and crying about their gowns and loss of money," she continued. "I am personally completely crushed. And even though it won't mean much to the hundreds affected, none of the staff have been paid. We have all been left in the dark.

"This is a lesson to put your pride aside and reach out as a business owner if you need help. I was ready to help with the accounts however I was never given the chance. I apologise from the bottom of my heart to all those affected and want them to know that if I could have done something I would have."

Claudia has urged those impacted by TBA's closure to make a claim with Fair Trading and the ACCC as soon as possible and to contact the designer of their gowns to see if they can help. She also told Mamamia to reach out directly for help. 

"I can help to point them in the right direction [because] I have had a lot of designers reach out to me that they're able to help," she said. "We just want to get these brides in dresses on their wedding day and move forward the situation for them."

Feature Image: Louise Vella, @partygirlclauds.