Does anyone's idea of a dream wedding include swollen feet and morning sickness?

Going to a wedding or seeing a wedding dress in a shop window can make you think back to your wedding day. For me it was reading a story about a woman whose water broke during her ceremony.

When I tied the knot I was well into my second trimester. I was big. I was tired. My boobs were HUGE and already a tiny bit -- how shall I say? -- leaky.  

Was mine a shotgun wedding? Nope. My husband and I had already planned to get married and had reserved the venue. Then I found out I was pregnant (BTW, before you judge me, I got knocked up by having premarital sex!!) and the wedding was not for 5 1/2 months. 

Think shopping for a wedding dress is stressful?  Try doing it when you don't even know how big you'll be. Getting fitted for a wedding dress makes about as much sense as decorating a house you haven't bought yet. The sad part was that I already had picked out my dream dress.  A satiny form-fitting sheath dress. It fit me perfectly -- I was in the best shape of my life. I soon realized by the time I was ready to say "I do," I'd be lucky to wear it as a glove.

Ironically, finding a maternity wedding dress isn't easy. The choices are um, slim.  And frankly, most are pretty darn hideous. I tried the lone offering at Pea in a Pod (a maternity store), but it was too big -- apparently designed for women on the verge of crowning. To try it on, they give you a specially designed pillow to simulate your projected girth on your special day. In a pinch, I suppose you could use the pillow for the ring bearer. 

Then I toyed with the going the Emma route -- searching for an empire-waisted number but most didn't allow for a bulging belly. Finally, after months of searching, even at one point having my measurements taken for a custom-made dress (the seamstress had no idea how to calculate how big I might be when the dress was completed) I found a dress that I bought several sizes too big and had it taken in three days before the ceremony.
 
In order to make the whole thing work, I wore more foundation garments than a woman twice my age: a girdle, Spanx and a push-up bra to give the illusion I had a waist. I did feel bad for my little unborn girl trying to make her appear "smaller." I only hope I didn't give her any negative body issues before she was even born.    

I have to admit I was a little disappointed not to be that picture-perfect vision in white I had always imagined on my wedding day, but now as my daughter is nearing three years old, it thrills me to know she was at our wedding. I hope she enjoyed the chicken.