Pregnant Bridal Party

What a special and exciting time for your family and friends! I can understand why you d be disappointed your loved ones may not be there for your special day but try not to let it dampen your spirits. One of the positive things to come out in recent years is the many ways we ve discovered to include people in events virtually if they can't be present. I have not had this specific situation but my fh and I both have had a big death in our families this year and the idea that they won't be at the wedding sends me into a spiral. The thing that helps is to focus on the happy and joyful things write out the positives and just be present in the love that is surrounding you. There are no guarantees in life cherish every moment and choose happy whenever you can. Sending you a big hug its ok to be sad or disappointed but in the big picture you have so many joyful things going on right now. Feel your feelings they are valid but try your best not to stay in them. Wishing you the most wonderful wedding day!

I understand your disappointment. It might help to remind yourself not to let it steal your joy in your day.

It is some consolation that people can participate remotely. They can watch and they can even share their voices ... give a dreaded speech how happy they are for your marriage. Hopefully though it works out that these can join in person.

There's a lot going on, and a lot of good things!! I can understand the sadness and joy all at the same time, my best friend became pregnant shortly after our engagement (like everyone says, we shouldn't put our lives on hold!), and she's due the day of our wedding so she can't come either- I was this weird super excited and happy for her but so sad I couldn't have her with me yet trying to hide that because I just wanted her to feel happy (I know she was bummed though because she did a COVID wedding with just immediate family and the rest of us on zoom- it was nice to see her still, but I know we both had envisioned our wedding days a bit differently...with both of us by each other's sides!). We really can't put anything on hold now at this point though, knowing how the world is. It's tough because many of these life events have bittersweet feelings about them! But I know she's a friend for a lifetime, and I'm hers as well, and that we'll have tons of memories to make even still. But I get it!! Sending you a big hug!!

Pregnancies totally ruined my bridal party, LOL. Originally I wanted my childhood best friend N (closest thing I have to a sister) to be my MOH and two other girls J (a close friend) and K (who played a pivotal role in my husband and I starting to date) to be my bridesmaids in our east coast wedding. Well K ended up pregnant and due a month before our wedding, so I didn't ask her, and J ended up engaged and planned her wedding for the same day on the west coast, so I didn't ask her, but it was fine because N was the only one I really needed. We picked out a dress for N, who lives four hours away, and then two months before our May 2020 wedding Covid happened. Then 10 days before the original wedding date, my mom was diagnosed with cancer and had an uncertain prognosis, so we decided to legally marry that day because we didn't know if she'd live to see us married if we delayed, but we rescheduled our celebration with friends and family for the following year. Come fall, N ends up pregnant and due within two weeks of our rescheduled 2021 date, so she drops out, and then when RSVP time comes J (who I never asked to be a bridesmaid but was really excited she would now be able to attend) ends up declining and skipping the wedding entirely due to her first trimester of pregnancy and just not wanting to do anything social while having morning sickness. I couldn't imagine having any bridemaids if N wasn't there, so I ended up with no bridesmaids at all.

It was all very sad for me at the time, but I'm no longer bitter about it. Now that we have a little one of our own, I really just feel so incredibly grateful to be able to share the bond of motherhood with my close friends. Also, having gone through the whole pregnancy and postpartum bit I really can't blame them for being cautious about traveling during pregnancy or signing up for any commitments while attached to an unknown schedule. Its impossible to reliably predict what anyone's pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum recovery experience or timeline will be like. I have now had both a wedding and a baby and can say without hesitation that babies are definitely a bigger deal than weddings.