For many years it was one of the biggest wedding taboos, the blushing bride walking down the aisle with a baby bump.

But these days much has changed. In 2008 around 20,000 of all UK brides were actually pregnant on the day of their wedding - that’s an incredible 10% of all brides aged under 45.

Bridal boutiques supplying maternity wear are reporting increased sales of maternity wedding dresses, and figures have revealed that more and more brides who are in the family way are choosing to walk down the aisle in a traditional white wedding gown.

Tiffany Rose, an online business dedicated to selling maternity bridal wear confirmed that their online sales soared to 1,000 maternity gowns in 2008, a 50% increase on 2007.

Founder of Tiffany Rose, Tiffany London said:-

“It’s been amazing to watch our maternity bridal range take off.

We’ve seen a steady growth in over the last few years, and it’s still growing. It’s really a reflection on our society: we’re much more open-minded than we once were.

More and more younger couples are choosing to live together before they marry these days. And when they do get married, it’s more acceptable for the woman to wear white, even if she is pregnant.”

The office of National Statistics revealed that the majority of pregnant brides are aged from 25 to 29 year, with most being between 3 and 5 months pregnant on the day the wedding. How many brides to be would have the hen party and baby shower on the same night?

Being a bride-to-be can be a stressful time in a woman’s life as can being a Mother-to-be can be, but being both at the same time, whilst exciting is surely enough to frazzle enough the steadiest of nerves.

But walking down the aisle sporting a bay bump needn’t take any of the enjoyment away from your wedding day.

In today’s market, maternity wedding gowns for pregnant brides are not the sack like wedding dresses for pregnant brides of yesteryear; in fact many of them are as elegant and as pretty as standard wedding gowns.

There are now a multitude of styles available to the expectant bride, including off the shoulder and strapless styles to suit any size of bump and skirts vary from empire line, to full skirted and even fitted.

Well-designed and stylish wedding dresses of georgette and lace are being crested with the pregnant bride in mind. A quick scour of the internet reveals well cut feather woven maternity bridal gowns and floor length cocktail style maternity dresses.

If you discover that you are expecting a baby after you have purchased your wedding gown, or indeed have a growth spurt before your big day, remember it is possible to have extra panels sewn into your gown by an experienced seamstress.