How to Choose a Maternity Wedding Dress

Just because you are going to be pregnant and showing on your wedding day doesn't mean you have to buy a maternity wedding dress from a limited selection maternity web site. I was seven months pregnant when I got married and I did not wear a "maternity" wedding gown. I actually wore a beautiful dress from Davids Bridal. With all the different cuts, shapes and styles of dresses to choose from, your bound to find the dress of your dreams!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Small Pillow
• Friends
• notebook
• digital camera

1. Look through catalogs, magazines and websites to get ideas of the types of wedding dresses you like. Do you like light and flowy? Lacey? Empire? A-Line? Structured? Strapless? Halter? Start looking. When you see something you love, then cut/print it out and glue it in a wedding notebook.

2. Now looking at your notebook, you should have a good idea of what style of wedding dresses you want to look for. When you go into a large dress shop, such as Davids Bridal or Dimetrios, it can be overwhelming with choices, so it really helps to already have an idea of what to look for.

3. Select all the dresses you like and start trying on.

4. Once you have narrowed it down to a few favorites, ask to try the same dress on in 1 or 2 sizes up. Then stuff the small pillow in place where your belly will be. Depending on how far along in your pregnancy you will be you can estimate how big you think you will be. If you are only 1-2 months pregnant and the wedding is in another 1-2 months, you don't really need to go up in size too much if it's your first pregnancy. You would barely be showing at that point. However, if you are like me and will be further along, make sure there is room to grow. You can put different things in the dress as a faux tummy to vary the size from a sweater to a pillow. Have a friend take digital pics of you in the different dresses.

5. Now that you've tried on the larger sizes with your faux baby belly, determine which styles flatter a pregnant shape and decide on a dress. I choose a strapless lace A-line dress with a long train. I added a red sash with a pendant to create an empire waist, it really made the dress and made my pregnant belly look cute.

6. Unless you fall in love with THE DRESS that day, go home and look at your digital pictures. Go back to the store and try them on again with another friend or relative. Once you know which dress you want, if it is from a big bridal store like David's Bridal, then you can ask if they will still be carrying a lot of that style on the floor by the time of your wedding. That way you can wait and then try on and figure out the correct size right before the wedding. In my case, I just guessed and got my dress 2 sizes up.

7. 
   © 2009 [CCROCK]. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

   Wait as long as possible for your dress fitting as you will be constantly growing. At my fitting 2 weeks before my wedding, they suggested taking in the dress a little bit but I said "no". For my final fitting, the dress fit almost perfect, and the day of the wedding, it fit PERFECT. I mean, if I would have got married a week later, it might have been a REALLY tight squeeze.

Tips & Warnings

• Just remember if you get your dress bigger, they can alter it to fit you just right by the time your wedding comes. Better to get it a little big than too small.
• Even better if you can buy your wedding dress right before the wedding so you have a better idea of your size.
• Don't limit yourself to the limited collection of maternity wedding dress websites, although do check them out as you might find THE DRESS. Just remember you can also get a regular wedding dress and make that work too.

[CCrock]

on 8/9/2009 Congratulations!

[adrianarose]

on 8/5/2009 Great Advise! I'm pregnant, so I may need to use your advise!

[CCrock]

on 7/20/2009 I have to say, I'll never forget trying on dresses and when you are looking in the mirror, you look over and see all the other girls sucking in their stomachs while trying on dresses, to be as skinny as possible, and it's kinda funny to be doing the complete opposite, sticking out your stomach as far as you can and then rolling up your jeans and sticking them under your dress, trying to estimate how big you will be. I always thought is was funny.

[amylaine]

on 7/16/2009 Great tips, waiting for the fitting is really important. Lucky I had my dress made for me by a local and was able to have them fit it for the night before the wedding to avoid any fitting problems.

[adecesare]

on 6/19/2009 Such a great article - I'm sure a lot of people go through this... just better hope the baby doesn't come before the wedding day or you might have a HUGE dress on your hands :)