The Dress

This ethereal A-line dress, Azazie's "Renesmee" gown, offered exactly what I wanted for on my wedding day, and may be what you're looking for as well. The tulle sleeves fall over the bust and back to form a unique split capelet, which flares out dramatically when you lift your arms! A chapel-length train, trimmed with lace appliques, offers a bit of drama, but not so much that it weighs you down. The empire waist gives a bit of definition to the bust, but leaves the rest of your body unrestricted. This is a very unstructured gown--Azazie calls it "maternity-friendly." It might not show off your curves the way some dresses do, but it's extremely comfortable, and does not require extensive shapewear!

The pictures are (in order) from the Azazie website, a detail of the shawl/capelet/sleeves over the bust on this specific dress, a full-body side view of this specific dress, and this dress with the bustle done up.

Please note that this dress has been extensively altered from its original form, and sustained some minor damage during my wedding (I wore it all day and night--it held up remarkably well.) One of the bustle points fell off at some point during the night, and another ripped straight out of the tulle layer of the skirt, leaving a quarter-dollar-sized hole in the tulle. The hole is not easy to find, and could be easily mended with an applique over the hole, but it should probably be fixed before the dress is worn again.

The dress has been professionally cleaned, but the small hole has not been mended.

Alterations

The original skirt of the dress has four layers: two tulle, one lace, and an opaque fabric. One of the tulle layers, and the lace layer, have been removed (on me, it helped the skirt hang better.) I no longer have the fabric, and cannot provide it.

The dress has also been resized to fit me (see measurements listed); it's now closer to a Size 14. It has also had a three-point American bustle added to both the tulle and opaque layers of the skirt.