Wedding dress vendors in Britain said they have recorded sharp increases in sales of white wedding dresses for pregnant brides.

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Tiffany London, founder of online maternity wedding dress seller Tiffany Rose, said she sold 1,000 of her dresses in 2008, a 50 percent increase from the previous year, The Daily Mail reported Friday.

"It's been amazing to watch our maternity bridal range take off," she said. "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."

The Daily Mail said an estimated 20,000 pregnant women tied the knot during 2008, making up 10 percent of the country's first-time brides under the age of 45. The British Office for National Statistics said most of the pregnant brides were between the ages of 25 and 29 and were between three and five months pregnant at the time of their nuptials.