The decline of the traditional meringue-style wedding dress has led brides to turn to the knife. Those who feel that they cannot naturally fill sleeker, less forgiving gowns are resorting to breast enlargement.

One company has received 400 inquiries about plastic surgery for weddings since the start of the year.

“Girls say, ‘I need to wait for my fitting’, then turn up later with very high and firm breasts,” said Maria Yiannikaris, owner of the Mirror Mirror bridal shops in north London.

“What we have seen in the past two years is what we call catwalk glamour gowns. We have a lot of slimmer, slinkier dresses in stock at the moment.

“Ten years ago you could not use the word ‘sexy’ in the same sentence as ‘bride’ – it was not considered appropriate – but now most girls want to look sexy [at their wedding] and to show off their figure.”

The beauty of the traditional wedding dress, with its mounds of fabric, was its ability to hide imperfections such as a flat chest or a round tummy.

Katy Kearns, manager of the Wedding Dress Shop, in Wimbledon, southwest London, said: “In the past, women have gone for structured, corseted gowns, regardless of their figure and breast size and shape, as this style is easily worn.

“However, the trend is now influenced by delicate, fluid styles with lots of lace, thin spaghetti straps and no structure at all. There is one dress in particular that is impossible to wear without a perfect pair of breasts or a breast augmentation or lift. The dress has back cross-over straps so a bra is completely out of the question.”

SurgiCare, a cosmetic surgery chain with six clinics across Britain, had 335 wedding-related inquiries last year. So far this year it has received 400 similar inquiries.

Mark Bury, chief executive of SurgiCare, said he found that often women did not leave enough time to consider the long-term implications of surgery.

“We have noticed a panic as women rush to get procedures done in time for the big day,” Bury said.

“They are requesting unrealistic deadlines – so we are turning some of them away.”

Christine Davies, a director of Mya, which has 17 cosmetic surgery clinics across Britain, said: “I would say that the most popular treatment for a bride is breast augmentation followed, possibly, by liposuction on the tummy and hips. These are the areas that these beautiful dresses enhance.”

Naomi Dunne, 22, a business management student from Notting Hill, west London, had a breast enlargement in March ahead of her wedding to Shane earlier this month.

“I decided on the dress before the breast enlargement surgery,” Dunne said.

“The dress I found was amazing but the breast area was bigger than my own breast size. Once I had my breast enlargement it fitted me perfectly.”

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