Newlywed Melanie Fiteni Agius took wedding planning to another level when she realised she would be walking down the aisle as a mother of three.
When her then-fiancée proposed, Melanie – a mum to a 12 year-old and an 8 year-old – immediately set about finding her dream dress, but she was in for another big surprise; a new addition to the family.
With a fixed wedding date and her heart already set on a beautiful ivory creation, she made the decision to have the dress altered in a way that would motivate her to lose all the baby weight in time for her walk down the aisle.
“It wasn’t easy to lose 18kgs in less than a year”, Melanie tells OurWedding. “But with determination and the love and support I received from my family I was able to reach my goal.” However, fitting into the dress was not Melanie’s only concern. As a new mother, she worried about being able to feed baby Lindon throughout the ceremony, especially since Lindon is lactose-intolerant.
Unable to rely on other feeding resources, Melanie had to find an alternative route to fulfil her motherly duties on her big day. Thankfully, the one-shoulder design of the dress facilitated this and the bride was able to enjoy her wedding day while still nurturing her young son.
Sharing her wedding experience, Melanie stresses that the design of the dress had a big part in the successful outcome of her day. “You can’t plan fate and sometimes, a baby comes along like ours”, Melanie says. She stresses that the implementation of breastfeeding options within the design of both wedding and bridesmaid dresses would be a very relevant addition to modern couture, and can save new parents a lot of unnecessary anxiety on such important occasions.
Do you think breastfeeding friendly wedding dresses should be more widely available?