Your Essential Pregnant Wedding Dress Shopping Guide

If your wedding date and baby due date are around the same time, planning can be a bit challenging. Naturally, you want a maternity wedding dress that makes you feel like a million bucks, but you also want it to fit your growing body and keep you comfortable from morning until night. We’ve created this pregnant wedding dress shopping guide to make finding the perfect frock for you and your bump a cinch.

This is your essential pregnant wedding dress shopping guide.

Let the bridal shop know ahead of time

When you’re pregnant, wedding dress shopping can be tough. Whether or not the bridal boutique you plan on visiting requires you to book an appointment, you’ll want to call ahead of time and let them know you’re in the market for a gown that’ll fit your growing bump. This will ensure that they recommend styles that’ll work for your body. Seriously, the last thing you want is to fall in-love with a figure-hugging gown only to realize you won’t be able to rock it on your wedding day.

Bring reference photos

We highly suggest doing a bit of research before you set foot in a wedding dress store. You’ll want to find photos of women who are rocking a bump so that you set realistic goals for your gown. Skip super-tight silhouettes and look for something that complements a body with a baby on board and will be comfortable throughout the day. Check out #maternityphotos and #maternityphotoshoot on Instagram for plenty of inspiration. 

Plan for later, not now

Speaking of planning, you need to focus on what your body will look like on your big day, not what it looks like right now. That doesn’t mean you should wait until the eleventh hour to go maternity wedding dress shopping, it just means you’ll need to be mindful of how your body will change. Look for a gown that’s made of a flowier fabric and/or has a wedding dress silhouette that works with a bump (like an empire waist). This will ensure that you look AND feel great when your big day arrives.

Be prepared for alterations

Your body changes when you’re pregnant and your wedding dress might have to, too. While you have a vague idea of how big your bump will be on your wedding day, nothing is certain. Be prepared to make a few trips to a seamstress in the weeks leading up to your wedding to ensure you can fit into your gown on your big day. They may need to add extra panels so that your dress fits you perfectly.

Go for two dresses

If you really want to choose style over comfort, only do it for half your wedding. Go for a more stylish pregnant wedding dress for your ceremony and wedding portraits and then switch to an easier, breezier outfit, like a stylish jumpsuit or flowy dress for your reception. That way you get the best of both worlds.

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