Maternity Wedding Outfits

[MildWest]

Hi ladies am hoping someone has some inspiration. We?ve got 3 weddings coming up over a period of 6 weeks. I?ll be nearly 24 weeks for the first one. I?m 21 weeks now, and don?t really have a bump, just look a bit tubby! I have an empire line dress from Monsoon that will probably do for the first wedding, and maybe the second.

But, as everyone keeps telling me (grr) I don?t have much of a bump for 21 weeks. If bump has a growth spurt in the next few weeks, the dress I have now will be useless. So, can anyone suggest a good place to shop for maternity wedding outfits? Dress or trousers and top combo would probably be best, and one wedding is in Italy, so something nice and airy! I?ve looked on Isabella Oliver but they?re a bit pricey and all seem to be a similar wrap-style which I?m not too keen on. Help!!

At 20 weeks I wore my usual "going to a wedding" dress.

At 26 weeks I wore a pair of white linen trousers from Fun Mum and a blousey top from Gap Maternity, dressed up with silver ballet pumps and a little red shrug cardy thing from Sainsbury's!

Crave maternity is good for weddingy things too.

Next have some lovely maternity clothing and not too expensive either!

Try Pumpkin Patch - I got two dresses, both in the sale, £12 and £14, but I will be 35 weeks when I go to the wedding at the weekend...

I would have a look at non-maternity dresses as well as there is loads of empire-line stuff around at the moment which will probably fit.

I went to a wedding last weekend at 28 weeks and was going to wear a dress from oli.co.uk, which still fit fine (I just bought the next size up) but ended up in a (comfier, cotton!) dress from Uniqlo (again non-mat) and just dressed it up with accessories a bit.

If you're buying from Pumpkin Patch then it's worth trying to make it to a shop as if you order online then you're paying postage all the way from NZ - or I think you can phone a local shop and ask them to post you stuff for half the postage because it's only coming from the UK. Something like that (I was in a shop last week and the woman was explaining this to me but baby has eaten my brain!).

Doh - meant to say, I've heard Debenhams have some good (non-mat) empire line stuff as well

There's a really cute strapless chiffony floaty blue and white dress in Gap at the moment (around £40).. I can't find a picture of it but it would be very wedding guest with a little white cardi..

Don't buy maternity stuff, it's mostly mumsy and waaay too expensive. Go up a size and cinch in under the bump with a silk scarf. I've been endlessly creative in this pregnancy and haven't bought any maternity clothes, the few bits I've been given I wear around the house as I wouldn't be seen dead in them (apart from v expensive Seraphine skinny jeans!!)

I have a wedding to go to at 23 wks (21 now) so have also been looking. I've seen a nice-ish dress in Topshop and also one in M&P (which I can't find online at the mo). Both under £50. What I have found is that maternity dresses tend to be more flattering as they kind of highlight the bump and make the rest of you look your usual size. I'm a size 10 with a fairly small bump too. Plus they make you look obviously pregnant, which can be nice if you have a small bump!

Brilliant, great tips ladies, thanks. I did think about getting bigger sizes, but they tend to be to baggy round the top half!

I got myself a gorgeous dress from Ebay for my brothers wedding!

It's a M&S one & I got it for the bargain price of £8.50 - it' like new as the lady only wore it once!!

I don't know how you feel about Ebay but it's fab for Mat clothes as they get such little wear - especially dressy outfits!!

monsoon have quite a few empire style dresses

Kew, believe it or not. Light cotton, silk neck & sashed empire line dresses. Low-ish V at neck, cap sleeves. Hide pregnancy bingo wings (maybe that's just me!) but displays a bit of cleavage. Shape emphasizes the bump (so makes the rest look smaller), boobs and slim parts of arms. I have a couple for work and wore one to my cousin's wedding with a wrap - they're really comfy as well as smart. They were 50 quid each, and wash really well.

I'm not a fan of pregnancy wear in general, other than Gap maternity tops. I live in Sweaty Betty roll-down trousers and my Kew dresses, after disappointments with Formes, Blooming Marvellous and Isabella Oliver. Normal clothes you can adapt are a damn sight cheaper, and I figure they'll be handy the first few months after, too.

i got married when i was 36 weeks pregnant and got a lovely outfit from Formes. It was more expensive than i was hoping to spend, but it made me feel really glam! and the lady in the shop was so lovely, very helpful (and tactful, i was huge!!.....)

I'm going to a wedding in August (will be 28 weeks) and planning on getting this from Next.

DH works at Next so I'll get a discount

eBay has some gorgeous things, my only worry with that is that I'm stuck with them if they don't fit or suit me, whereas if they Next dress doesn't then I can just take it back.

Actually - has anyone ever seen a Next store that actually stocks their maternity range? The huge one by Ikea in Bristol doesn't, neither do the stores on Oxford Street and Regent Street in Bristol

I asked recently and apparently they aren't stocking the maternity range anywhere any more, you can just get it online (which is a pain in the arse, and annoying as it means you have to pay postage )

Am in a similar situation - am being a best (wo)man in September when I will be 17 weeks! I was supposed to be wearing a suit - hmmmm. No idea how big I'll be by then - I'm already spreading so that's not boding well... Luckily the groom has been very understanding and has let me sort myself out as long as I stick to the colour scheme, which is purple/black if you happen to spot anything.......

sorry for hijack!

Rhian82

My local Next does.. (Im in West Sussex)

Not a huge range...a few different styles of tops and jeans but handy as thats what i spend most of my time in.

babyignoramus -

Depends on the depth of the purple in thier colour scheme but would this be any good?

Just jazz it up abit with some glam accesories?

dress

babyignoramus She doesn't seem to have many in at the moment, but this comes in black and dark purple and I think is lovely (I've just bought it for a couple of weddings though hasn't arrived yet so can't tell you what it's like in the flesh). It's actually a breastfeeding dress but should fit fine at 17 weeks and can then be used afterwards as well.

Otherwise most maternity places seem to do black frocks (I got a nice one in the Blooming Marvellous sale, which was cheap and flattering).

Jigsaw are selling a lovely jersey dress which isn't maternity but fits over the bump. They do it in blue and orange and dressed up with some nice shoes and maybe a fascinator or hat could work well. I will be wearing my blue one to a summer wedding in August when I will be 28 weeks.

The great thing about it is that you can dress it up or down too so you can wear it before/after the wedding.

Unfortunately Jigsaw don't having a working website so I can't paste a link.

Its 48 pounds which isn't a bad price for a really nice good quality dress, and you can wear it after baby too!

Just to reply to my own post, my dress arrived this morning and I love it - it's much brighter than it looks on the ebay page and is a fabulous Ribena/Silk Cut purple colour. The sizing is also more generous than she suggests on ebay - I got a large, which should only just fit my poor pregnant boobs, but there's plenty of room for expansion when my milk comes in as well.

How about some trousers and a chiffon top.

White trousers will look great in Italy - if you can keep them clean!

Have a look at these white trousers www.everydaymaternity.com/twill-maternity-trousers-p-265.html

with this top

www.everydaymaternity.com/twill-maternity-trousers-p-265.html

You can always get a few tops, especially if some of the guests will be the same.

A friend wore the big white wrap from Isabella O recently at a wedding - and it look great, although she does have a very neat bump and is 6ft - so that helps!

MJB x