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Bridesmaid dress shopping w/ a pregnant bridesmaid?

irishangel0413irishangel0413 member
First Anniversary First Comment
in New Jersey
I am looking for any suggestions for shopping for bridesmaid dresses for my 4 bridesmaids - 1 of whom will be 8 months pregnant at the wedding.  Since my wedding is a year and 3 months away - let me explain a little. My FBIL and his wife are planning on getting pregnant with their 2nd child in the spring ~ a plan they have had in place for quite a while as it is very important to them to have their 2nd baby before their first turns 2 (Their son will be 2 in Feb 2013). I respect their plans and what they are trying to do but want my FSIL to still be a bridesmaid in the wedding. I am trying to plan in advance as far as chosing a dress with either an empire waist or something that comes in maternity sizes but I am hoping for suggestions as to places to shop that others with similar situations have dealt with and had positive outcomes or just suggestions in general as to how I can make this work so FSIL ends up with the same dress as the other girls and making sure it fits the day of the wedding.

I apologize for this being so long - it is very important to me that she be a bridesmaid so any and all suggestions would be appreciated!

 

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Re: Bridesmaid dress shopping w/ a pregnant bridesmaid?

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    kasabbykasabby
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Most places carry dress lines that have maternity dresses as well. I am in a wedding in November and one of the BM's will be about 8 months pregnant and the line she picked at maternity dresses. I would think you could just order the dress that you want to get in a bigger size as well to accomodate her.
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    smw42smw42 member
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    edited December 2011
    I think that us as brides think that this is a much bigger deal that the stores do. I'm in a wedding with two pregnant BM's as and we were shopping for gowns every store we went into was extremely accustomed to dealing with pregnant bm's and can help you with styles and measuring/sizing issues.

    I would go to the stores you're already thinking of and like, have the girls try on styles they and you like, then ask the sales associate which out of the styles you like would be the easiest to alter for a preganant bridesmaid. Also- getting PG is not a perfect science, so you can't guarantee how big/small she will actually be by then! Good luck!
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    mbcdefgmbcdefg member
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    edited December 2011

    You're really putting the cart before the horse here.

    I can definitely appreciate wanting to get things done ahead of time, but shopping for BM dresses over a year out is really not a great idea. They could gain/lose weight in the meantime, and then you'd have to start from scratch.

    Plus with the whole pregnancy thing - it's not as easy as saying, "We'll get pregnant in the spring." You can't plan out a conception to the month or even the season. Even if they were able to time their first child's conception perfectly, that may not be the case for #2.

    I really, REALLY think you ought to hold off on ordering the dresses right now. Go ahead and browse now if you wish, but I really wouldn't order them now. Wait until about six months out to place the order. And when you go to a bridal shop around that time, they will be able to tell you which designers offer maternity gowns, and they may also have ways to predict how big a pregnant bridesmaid might be ... I've heard that some shops have fake bellies, for example. If nothing else, the staff there have likely dealt with pregnant bridesmaids quite often and will have some suggestions for you.

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    JoBell123JoBell123
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    edited December 2011
    First off, I agree with mbcdefg.  She's not pregnant yet, so you don't know that she'll be eight months pregnant for the wedding,

    What my SIL did was order the dress a few sizes larger in anticipation of possibly being pregnant.  BUT we also ordered the dresses 6 months out.  I think you should hold off until closer to the wedding.  Then order the dresses.  Even if she's not yet pregnant then she can order the dress a few sizes larger at that point.

    And just try to keep it an empire waist if the dress doesn't have a maternity option.
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    cutiepie12702cutiepie12702
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Wow, I agree that you are first of all shopping way too early for bridesmaids dresses and secondly for assuming she will actually be 8 months pregnant - or pregnant at all for that matter. Just wait until it gets closer to the wedding to make any decisions at all to see what the actual situation is.
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    irishangel0413irishangel0413 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Let me clarify a little - we are not actually shopping yet. I know that she may not be pregnant by the time of the wedding or may not be as pregnant as she plans on being. We are just starting to look around at styles and colors for dresses but FSIL is hesitant about being a bridesmaid because of the possibility she might be pregnant and would not be able to match the other girls for fear it would be a nightmare for me. (FSIL was asked not to be a bridesmaid in her own sister's wedding last year bc she was pregnant with her 1st and the bridesmaid dress her sister had chosen could not be altered to fit her at 6 months pregnant). I feel so horrible for what she went through last time I just wanted the info to do some research now to reassure her it will not be an issue if she is in fact pregnant when the time comes because it is so important to me that she be a bridesmaid.

     

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    rutgersgirl82rutgersgirl82
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    edited December 2011
    You could also order extra fabric too. I had a pregnant bridesmaid (6mo) and she ordered extra fabric (in addition to ordering a larger size dress). It wasn't specifically a maternity dress but the dress allowed for an extra fabric panel to be easily sewn in if needed. You can keep that in mind for an option too. 
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    MCRM22011MCRM22011
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My matron of honor and ONLY attendant is pregnant - about 7 mos. She refused to buy anything until July - 1 month before our wedding - in order to have a better idea about her size. Honestly, it's difficult to assess how much weight you are going to gain when you get pregnant. Luckily all we were looking for her was a black dress - short or long. But would you believe that she had to try on over 25 dresses?? So many just fit her awkwardly or made her feel uncomfortable. It was a very challenging process and I was happy to only have 1 attendant at that time --- if I had other bridesmaids, I would have been very stressed!

    Just a suggestion IF your bridesmaid does become pregnant --- choose a fabric and color and let the bridesmaids pick their own dresses. That way, she can purchase the dress when she feels comfortable and pick a style that suits her at THAT Time (not months out when she is barely showing). She doesn't know what will flatter her until she's actually a few months pregnant. My matron of honor hated how she looked in so many dresses!

    Good luck!
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    mbcdefgmbcdefg member
    5 Love Its First Comment Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    FSIL was asked not to be a bridesmaid in her own sister's wedding last year bc she was pregnant with her 1st and the bridesmaid dress her sister had chosen could not be altered to fit her at 6 months pregnant

    Oh, wow, that's awful. I can't believe that bridezilla put a stupid DRESS over her own sister. What a jackass.
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    xstarx05xxstarx05x member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_bridesmaid-dress-shopping-w-pregnant-bridesmaid?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:68fef5df-4c8c-42ff-a8c7-945bc1d0ed92Post:6c2b5e18-618f-4da0-8ca6-85bc4c64b5fc">Re: Bridesmaid dress shopping w/ a pregnant bridesmaid?</a>:
    [QUOTE]I think that us as brides think that this is a much bigger deal that the stores do. I'm in a wedding with two pregnant BM's as and we were shopping for gowns every store we went into was extremely accustomed to dealing with pregnant bm's and can help you with styles and measuring/sizing issues. I would go to the stores you're already thinking of and like, have the girls try on styles they and you like, then ask the sales associate which out of the styles you like would be the easiest to alter for a preganant bridesmaid. Also- getting PG is not a perfect science, so you can't guarantee how big/small she will actually be by then! Good luck!
    Posted by smw42[/QUOTE]

    <div>This. Tell FSIL she has nothing to worry about :)</div><div>
    </div><div>Alternatively, your BMs could wear the same color in different styles.</div>

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    cindyn9178cindyn9178 member
    5 Love Its First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I think your best bet on style would be empire waist, something flowy instead of fitted...or you could just choose a color and let the girls pick out their own styles. If you did black, then she could buy any dress off the rack anywhere and not have to worry about the color matching...
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