Wedding with a Velcro baby

[Needafairygodmother]

BIL's wedding this summer. I'm generally a right old scruff (can't be doing with make up, heels etc) but try to make an effort for weddings and this one is a pretty posh do. However will be breastfeeding (baby will be 8 months old), older two are flower girls and OH has wedding duties, so need to be practical and comfortable as I feel it will be a long day... So I was thinking a jersey wrap dress and shawl/pashmina for easy feeding access & coverage. Would jersey fabric be smart enough? Or will I just looking like I'm going to work? Are there any other types that would be better, plus a bit more flattering on my mum tum? I'd prefer something long but I'm only 5'3 so a maxi dress would probably swamp me (although I am quite handy with a sewing machine if necessary).
Also, baby is very clingy at the moment and is living in
the sling. May be out of this phase by then but unlikely and will probably make things much easier use a sling on the day. So I'm thinking would it be acceptable to go basic on the dress get a sling in a pretty fabric instead? The way things are at the moment likely to see more of that than the dress anyway! Probably no one's going to notice me, esp with cute baby in tow, but I don't want to let the side down.
Help please!

Are you any good with ring slings? You could hire one to coordinate with your dress.

I haven't tried one yet but there's a brilliant sling library near me and was planning on going this week. TBH I'd rather spend money on a sling that I'll use lots than a dress that I'll wear once!

Ive attached photos as i can't seem to copy the links but give you an idea. I would go for maxi or midi easy to move about in and hide anything you don't like. I would hire to co-ordinate the sling if you have to wear one as pp suggested.

Thanks I quite like the last one, is it a skirt and top? That might work too with the feeding.

Op there's an excellent Facebook group if you're on Facebook, called 'Can I breastfeed in it?' It can direct you to lots and lots of high street clothes that are breastfeeding friendly!

I'd second hiring a nice sling/carrier (I have a gorgeous Connecta which, honestly, some days is the nicest thing I'm wearing!!)

Thanks, just had a look and the liberty ones are so pretty!

Yes skirt and top I wore similar to a wedding when ds1 was younger. Makes a change from all the dresses.

I was going to suggest a gorgeous ring sling or wrap with a plain dress. If you're wearing a sling of any descriprion then consider the cut of the dress and type of material - with some dresses you'll end up looking crumpled when you take the sling off (this is one of my pet hates about wearing my slings, as it writes off half my wardbrobe if I want to look neat and tidy when I take it off!). A jersey dress would be ideal, not to crumply and there are feeding options too if you pull the dress down and were a nursing or crop vest underneath if you're worried about modesty.

I wore an M&S floral jersey full length dress (I'm 5') with a scarf thing to a recent wedding, and I totally fit in in the photos (in my opinion). I think it would be perfect.

I don't wear dresses day to day, so this one has become my afterbath robe, and DS2 still calls it my soft dress and comes for a snuggle when I wear it.

Just a thought, he might be a Velcro baby now, but is there a chance with lots of family and people around he may be distracted and quite happy to go to others, so a sling may not be necessary? I love a good family wedding or party with little ones as other then breastfeeding there's always someone else that wants a hold and I get to enjoy a lot of the day baby free!

I went to a couple of weddings when breastfeeding and found a top and skirt combo worked much better for feeding.

I didn't breastfeed (couldn't - mastectomy) but DS was always in a sling and whenever we went to event I wore a plain but smartish jersey dress with him in a really beautiful sling.

Kokadi do some amazing ones, their Wunderland and Magicland patterns are gorgeous and they do them in a range of colours, they release new colours every so often. They do slings in woven wraps, ring slings and mei tais www.kokadi.de/en/. I have their Ewan in Wunderland, which is their haloweeny/gothic one with wolves howling at full moon and bats flying, the quality is amazing and they are so soft.
Firespiral www.firespiralslings.co.uk/all-wraps/woven-wraps.html also do some gorgeous slings and they're made in the UK and as soft as clouds. I wore their navy Starmap one with a navyndress and silver shoes to a wedding and got loads of compliments. Other than that Oscha, Natibaby, Cari Wraps make beautiful slings. Little Frog are also fantastic, and a lot cheaper than the others with very fast delivery and excellent service.

How about a dress like this? www.amazon.co.uk/Happy-Womens-Maternity-Sleeves-Shower/dp/B00TSN8IAE/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1494075065&sr=8-10&keywords=Jersey%2Bdress&th=1&tag=mumsnetforum-21

I've ordered quite a lot of jersey dresses from amazon and have been shocked very impressed at the quality and fit, I thought they'd be a bit rubbish for the price but all the ones I've had have been great and look just as nice as my expensive jersey dresses. I get lots of compliments wearing them too.

I wore a jersey wrap dress to a wedding when DS was just over 3 months and I was still BF every 2-3 hours and I found it super easy. It did feel a little casual, but not by the time I'd added massive heels and a hat.

The other thing I was worried about was milk sick so I made sure I picked a pattern so it wouldn't show marks as much.

Thanks all. I think I'll try out a mei tai and a ring sling at the sling library next week to see what we get on best with first and also try and go on dress recce. Also have to get something cute for baby to wear but that's the easy bit :-)

Jersey can look smart, especially with a baby attached to the front , if you keep it new