Do you have a pregnant bridesmaid?

[Hula1974]

I'll cross post in all things family...

I'm curious if anyone has a bridesmaid who will be pregnant for your wedding but NOT wear a maternity dress?
For instance, I'm wondering about ways to alter or change regular dresses to make them work. What have you done or what do you plan to do?
I'd love pics too!

TIA!

[Sandie78]

I did not have any pregnant bridesmaids, but I was one. I was about 20 weeks pregnant at the time of the wedding. I did not wear a maternity dress. I wore a regular dress with an empire waistline and had it altered. It ended up being shorter than the other girls' dresses, but since the dress was supposed to be tea length, not floor length it wasn't too noticeable.

Here is the dress I wore, Jordan style 612. (This is the picture from the Jordan website.)
http://www.jordanfashions.com/images/products/295_5061_large.jpg

[Amy_6405]

one of my bridesmaids was 8 months pregnant at my wedding. The dresses that I picked out were empire waisted and you could hardly tell she was pregnant. Although she told me she was pregnant before I picked out dresses so I choose the dresses because of that, and loved them. Let me know if you want to see pictures.

[GeekGirl]

If we're lucky, one of my BMs will be pregnant. I'm planning on making my BM dresses, but I won't be using a maternity pattern. I haven't been able to find a maternity dress that doesn't look frumpy! I'm planning on doing what these other ladies have suggested - picking a pretty empire-waisted dress with plenty of room in the waist and altering the pattern to allow for her belly.

[Hula1974]

Thanks for the postings!

Geekgirl - since you sew, maybe you can help me brainstorm. Our dresses are 2 piece. The top is a halter top. You can order extra fabric but I'm not sure the price. They are David's separates. The top is only $59 anyway. I'm thinking of ordering an extra top in a larger size. Then I will take apart the top I'm going to wear cutting out the front belly part. I'll attach the larger section from the bigger version and pleat it to give some room. Basically I'll be turning it into an empire waist. maybe I'll put a trim along the waist seam to hide the seam. What do you think? I've read that you can add elastice bellys to skirts too, if needed.

[GeekGirl]

The problem with just ordering it in a bigger size is that you will want it to be longer as well. Do you have a pic of the halter top? Also, how pg is your BM, and how many months until your wedding? I'm wondering how big she might be. Is it absolutely necessary for all your girls to wear the same exact dress? It might be easier to alter - and more comfortable to wear - for your BM if you picked a one-piece dress.

Also, if you're stuck on two pieces (I'm feeling your pain right now, it's what I'm considering for my girls), and you're going to go through all the trouble of completely ripping apart the David's separates, I would suggest just getting a pattern and making the top yourself (or bribe a friend who can sew). I say this for two reasons - it may be difficult to find fabric that will match exactly for the larger section you're planning on attaching, due to differences in dye lots. Whereas this wouldn't look so bad on two separate dresses standing next to each other, it might look kind of odd on one dress. Two, $59 for a top that has maybe a yard and a half of fabric in it is an awful lot to spend, especially if you're going to rip it apart. If I'm thinking of the right top, it has maybe 5 pieces to it - center front, left and right front, left and right back - 6 if you count the halter neck. Super easy to make, just match up the seams and sew. The fabric including lining would probably run you about $15, and a pattern would be around $8. Thread and a zipper would run you between $5-$10, depending what you got.

Here (http://www.simplicity.com/) are (http://www.voguepatterns.com/indexfv.html) some (http://www.butterick.com/indexflash.html) pattern (http://www.mccallpattern.com/index.htm) sites. (http://www.sewingpatterns.com/index-newlook.html) Good luck!

[MandyMaloo]

Hey there!

I used to work at david's and I saw this thread. If you're going with the seperates, you can just let her pick the top she feels comfortable in (they have a fake belly there so she can try it on). If you're trying to go with a single top, you may have problems. All wedding attire is made to not have any "give" in it, and putting a woman who's preggers in something she wont properly fit into is not going to go well. I would just suggest that you go with her to see the options. I'm sure there is something there that will be roomy enough for her, but have the look you want.

Good luck!!

[Jane&Andy]

My sister was 7 months pregnant at my wedding. She couldn't find a maternity dress that would work so she bought two of the dresses from Talbot's and hired a seamstress to use the extra fabric from the second dress to make a larger skirt for her.

She's the one on the far left
http://images.snapfish.com/344%3A%3A65523232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E2328%3D%3C26%3D524 %3DXROQDF%3E23234%3A83585%3A9ot1lsi
It looked great.

[Hula1974]

Mandy - We're going with the halter top because out of all the top options, it was the longest. So I think it's a good choice. Do you have any idea what extra fabric costs? It says on the website you can order it.

Jane - That's exactly what I was thinking of doing with the top portion of the dress! Turning into an empire waist by taking the bottom portion (boobs to hips) and attaching it to the smaller one. Using pleats like your sisters. That really came out great. Thanks for posting the pic.

[Atlanta_eBride]

I had a BM that was 8 months pregnant and we did seperates. Since it was from my wedding 12 years ago I'd have to dig deep for some pics, but you would never know by the pics that she was even pregnant unless you knew her - because even after 2 children she's still a size 2.

[j.d.l.102205]

My sister (MOH) will be about 4 months pregnant. She shouldn't be showing too much, but this is her 2nd child so sometimes they show a little quicker. She isn't wearing a maternity dress. It is just a simple A line, but the lady that is gonna alter it for her said there was so much extra material that they will have no problem altering it for her. Also the lady apparently works quickly so she can have it altered almost the last minute, which is good for growth. I apologize I don't have any pictures, she's out in Las Vegas and I haven't seen her in it. She's also very short and they have to cut almost half the dress off to hem it so if they need extra material they are gonna take it from there.

[Kingdono]

My SIL had a BM that was 8 months at her wedding. They waited until they could measured and just ordered a bigger size then the seamstress fitted the dress. I don't have pics but she looked great.

Trish

[PrincessButrcup]

I was just in a wedding where one of the other BMs was pregnant. She ended up wearing the same dress that we wore, but had it altered. We weren't sure how it was going to look (it was a 2-piece strapless dress), but it came out much better than we imagined. Here are some not-so-great pictures (without faces to protect the privacy of others).
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b78/cmrb734/untitled.jpg http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b78/cmrb734/ImageServer.jpg http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b78/cmrb734/ImageServer2.jpg

And full length (next to the bride)
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b78/cmrb734/untitled1.jpg

[amy_awesome]

My sister was five months PG at my wedding. My BM dresses, picked out long before anyone had an inkling that I'd be getting a nephew four months after the wedding, were a 2-pc Jim Hjelm - strapless top and a-line skirt. We had ordered her skirt with extra length because she's quite tall and likes to wear ridiculous shoes, which turned out to be the thing that saved us when we had to fit her dress. We had also ordered the top piece according to the manufacturer's measurements, but it was huge, so that helped too. Anyway, the seamstress just fit the top two days before the wedding, and then moved the zipper on the skirt so that it would fit over the top of her baby bump instead of where her waist was. She looked fabulous!
http://www.webmuseum.com/amywedding/images/4240_dana_with_girls_best.jpg (on the right, next to my handsome groom)
http://www.webmuseum.com/amywedding/images/4218_mrandmrs.jpg (at the top of the stairs, one of the only side views I have online)

[lisainpink]

I had two pregnant bridesmaids, and one who delivered 4 weeks before the wedding.
The girl with the dark hair on the far left is 8 months pregnant here. The dress she ordered comes in maternity or regular (she is wearing the maternity version).
The girl who is 2nd to the farthest to the right is also pregnant. She was not pregnant when we ordered dresses, so her dress was altered the week of the wedding. The dress fit fine with no alterations 2 weeks before the wedding, but then the week of- she popped. They let the dress out 4" in the waist and hips and a couple in the bust.
The girl to the right of me (the bride :D ) had a baby 4 weeks before the wedding. We odered her a dress 3 sizes too big- just in case she didn't lose the baby weight. The dress shoppe had to do major alterations to get it down to her size.
Hope this helps.
(All the dresses are from the Jasmine Bridesmahttp://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d639b3127cce93f3548b4dbc00000016108AZtWTRs0Zt_ id lines: B2 and Bellsoie- sp?)

[jenji]

at my brother's wedding one of the BMs was pregnant. she was about 5 months along. She just wore the same dress as the others in a larger size and just had it altered down to fit her.
She's on the far left
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4dc38b3127cce9b1be1fb69c800000035108AcsWjJy1aNc
In our wedding, DH had a groomsmatron who was 7 months PG. We told her she could wear anything she wanted. preferably black or black and white. she had a seamstress make a dress for her
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d829b3127cce9b1be662893500000016108AcsWjJy1aNc

[IzzyJune2006]

Hi,

I am looking for a maternity dress for a wedding I'll be attending in September. I'm not in the party, but being pregnant just makes it that much harder to shop.

I am leaning towards ordering this dress from David's Bridal. F12899. I'd love to see pictures of pregnant bridesmaid to get an idea.
I'm hesitating on color between azalea, clover, or apple.

http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/c4/5/AAAAAtWXcRAAAAAAAMRfOw.jpg?v=1201193371000

[MSH]

Hi,

I am looking for a maternity dress for a wedding I'll be attending in September. I'm not in the party, but being pregnant just makes it that much harder to shop.

I am leaning towards ordering this dress from David's Bridal. F12899. I'd love to see pictures of pregnant bridesmaid to get an idea.
I'm hesitating on color between azalea, clover, or apple.

http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/c4/5/AAAAAtWXcRAAAAAAAMRfOw.jpg?v=1201193371000

I've attended 2 weddings at 8-9 months pregnant in a dress very similar to this one. It had the same gathering of fabric and empire waist. It worked perfectly, plus I have been able to wear it PP as well. Mine is not a maternity dress but with the cut it was perfect.