Bernice Fashions is a by-appointment bridal store and alterations workroom on Fitzroy Street in Geelong, run by Yvonne Bowdler.
Bridal Dress Stores · Geelong / Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria · Visit in person
Bridal House has been serving brides since 1994 from a historic bluestone building on Little Malop Street, in the middle of Geelong — and the business is older than the address: founder Anne Tevan began “her dream since 1976 from Ocean Grove then to East Geelong.” The pitch is scale plus service: an “expansive and stunning showroom” with hundreds of gowns on display, and a published pledge of “Tradition, Service & Commitment”. In 2024 it received a Shops Accolade for Integrity and Quality Service.
This is the deepest catalogue in the directory: 799 items, 553 of them gowns, and 206 bridal gowns across roughly forty labels. Tania Olsen alone runs to 90 bridal styles and Cizzy Bridal to 54. There is also a house label, BHGLNG, created to bring “more affordable couture gowns, bridesmaids and Junior dresses back to our community” with the option to design your own and a short manufacturing time.
The bride who wants everything in one building, and the bride who has been told elsewhere that her size is a problem. The store carries size 4 to 32, and its plus-size bridal is a named range rather than an afterthought — Peter Trends Diva Curves. Beyond bridal it covers bridesmaids, debutante, mother of the bride and groom, formal and evening wear, jewellery, veils, petticoats, shoes and menswear suit hire through Ferrari Formalwear, on its own phone line.
Monday to Friday 10am–5pm, Saturday 10am–4pm, and Sunday by appointment only with a service charge. No gown prices are published, but the store commits in writing to being “competitive with our pricing” and says it will consider price match or better. Bookings hold card details and a $60 fee applies to cancellations inside 48 hours — a policy the store introduced openly, citing a rise in no-shows.
It will keep the dress after the wedding. Bridal House offers wedding gown preservation for gowns bought there, and at the other end of the process it will dye bridal shoes to match the gown and build a custom veil to a bride’s height and colouring — “from a cathedral, knee, to elbow veils trimmed with crystal beads, glass beads, or sequins.” Few stores follow the gown that far in either direction.
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Bernice Fashions is a by-appointment bridal store and alterations workroom on Fitzroy Street in Geelong, run by Yvonne Bowdler.
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