Beautiful wedding dress/evening gown for a pregnant lady?
November 29, 2012 1:36 PM   Subscribe

I'm pregnant, and I'm getting married. Any advice for finding a beautiful, non-cutesy maternity wedding dress, or super luxe evening gown?

Our exciting surprise will arrive in early June, and we're planning our wedding for February 23, in Las Vegas. It will be formal, but small and intimate (about 20 guests).

I'm looking online and having a hard time finding maternity dresses that (a) aren't white- I'd prefer a more champagne or silver tone; (b) aren't too pregnant lady cutesy; (c) could be tried on in person. An evening gown in a light color is also fine with me.

Here's the only dress I've found that I like, but I'm a bit wary of not being able to at least see it in person before taking the plunge. I'm typically a fearless online shopping ninja, with a good feel for what will be flattering on me, but this combination of circumstances is throwing me for a loop.

Do wedding boutiques usually have more maternity options than what's featured online? I'm 31, in Houston, and my budget ceiling is $1000, in case that helps.
posted by LolaCola to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (12 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Congratulations!

Honestly, I think your best bet is to find a good tailor. Your shape is going to change in the next three months, and you can't be sure how much. It'll even change the last few days before your wedding. I'd try to find a dress a few sizes bigger than you are now and have someone work with you on making it fit.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:41 PM on November 29, 2012 [3 favorites]


Have you thought about renting? Lots of fancy maternity dress rental services online; can't speak to any in particular, but I was very tempted to try one during my pregnancy. It would certainly be do-able within your budget, and should provide size flexibility as needed.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:42 PM on November 29, 2012 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Mazel-Tov!~

I love the dress you've selected! Call them directly and see what their policy is about returns. Expect that you'll need a seamstress to make adjustments (EVERYONE needs alterations).

If they have a liberal return policy, I say take the plunge, you have oodles of time to see it, approve it, etc.

Call around to bridal salons in your area, ask to speak to someone and tell them your budget and circumstances and ask if they have dresses in stock for you to try. You'll have to make an appointment.

David's Bridal has a few dresses on the website, but I had a not so pleasant experience with them (Pushy, judgy, unhelpful) but this was 10 years ago in Ft. Lauderdale.

Typically there aren't going to be MORE dresses in the store, most will be in catalogues, etc, and many salons will expect you to plunk down a deposit if they have one shipped for you to try.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:47 PM on November 29, 2012 [2 favorites]


I've known pregnant ladies who wore non-maternity evening wear while pregnant. Maybe something like this as it would be plenty roomy for baby?
posted by JacksonandFinch at 1:50 PM on November 29, 2012 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Buy a bridesmaid's dress. There are TONS of options out there for pregnant bridesmaids (well, probably easier to find than those for pregnant brides). They will also be way cheaper and available in way more shades, including white, off-white and champagney.

I recall a friend of mine wearing a lovely maternity gown from Siri, I believe (not the iPhone lady...). Also, depending on the size of your bump, you might try something standard-sized with a little more drape, like chiffon. A goddess style would be lovely on a beaming, glowing bride :)

I am fighting back temptation to recommend the place Phoebe got her costume dress on Friends: It's Not Too Late.
posted by Madamina at 2:27 PM on November 29, 2012 [2 favorites]


I did this! I bought a non-maternity, empire waist dress that was several inches larger in the bust at the time of purchase. If you're on the shorter side this will work great because you can manage the hem to give you more belly room (not explaining this well, but you get my meaning I hope). In the last two weeks I had it altered to fit a bit better and it worked out beautifully. I heartily recommend the maternity spanx as an underlayer to smooth things out. I still had to use duct tape to control my belly button / pop-up baby timer though.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 2:29 PM on November 29, 2012


The dress you picked is beautiful! Since they take returns, why not order two sizes and see which one fits you best right now but has lots of room for alterations -- everyone needs alterations -- then send back the one that doesn't fit. If you don't like the dress in person, send them both back.
posted by mmf at 4:01 PM on November 29, 2012 [1 favorite]


I love the dress you picked!! Seconding check out the return policy (in case it obviously is totally different in person) and go for it!
posted by bquarters at 4:03 PM on November 29, 2012


I don't know much about wedding dresses but this dress has always struck me as simple and beautiful, and it seems like it might work for a baby bump too :) Congratulations!
posted by 9000condiments at 11:21 PM on November 29, 2012


Holy crap. Please wear the dress you have picked out. I cannot imagine a more beautiful dress. Dreamy.....
posted by pyjammy at 8:20 AM on November 30, 2012 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I love the dress you picked out. I think that style will be perfect. I hope you will wear it!

Many people have mentioned alterations, but assuming the bust is close to ok when you buy the dress, the key alteration you will need is the hem. When your baby bump gets--well, bumpy--the front hem of the dress will be shorter than the back hem and it will look sloppy. You will need a good seamstress or tailor who knows how to measure a hem from the floor up, not from the waist down, and then who can do a custom, curved hem. This is true for both dresses that are designed as maternity dresses and those that are not. DO NOT be swayed by your friends or family members who say they can do this for you unless you know for sure they have experience with it, because this kind of hem can be tricky. Also, wait as long as you can to get the hem altered -- you can do the bust alterations sooner, but you still probably want those to be close to the big day.

Since you are in Houston, you might also find small shops that cater to the Mexican-American community that will have wedding, bridesmaids and quinceañera gowns. These shops will likely have one-off designs that were made in Mexico. A lot of quinceañera gowns are frilly, stupid, little-girl dresses, but some of them are really beautiful. I got married in a quinceañera gown that was elegant, in a style similar to your dress of choice although it had sheer long sleeves that cost about $500 (I was in Arizona and this was about 15 years ago). I found that these kinds of shops had a much wider variety of dresses to try on, both in terms of style and body type, than the shops that catered to non-Mexican shoppers. They also had genius seamstresses who could work miracles through alterations.

Finally, I'll give you the advice my mom gave me when I told her I was worried about going dress shopping and concerned about shops having an array of offerings (in my case, I was worried that stores wouldn't carry my size -- a large one). She said "If we walk in and they don't have your size, that's a sign they are not a full-service shop and we'll walk right back out because they don't deserve our money." Same goes for stores that don't have maternity-appropriate dresses.
posted by OrangeDisk at 2:43 PM on November 30, 2012 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thank you all so much for your help and suggestions! I feel much less stressed about the dress now!
posted by LolaCola at 4:11 PM on December 2, 2012


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