I trekked out this afternoon after an invigorating 22 minute TT interval run around my neighborhood to look at some wedding dresses. My companion on the search was Miss Karen Y., another recently-engaged gal who also happens to be one of Chris’s best friends from high school. We visited a posh bridal salon in Winter Park first to get some ideas, but it was hard to seriously consider any pile of fabric that sported a price tag of $3771.79.

:eekb:

Shopping for formal wear has always been problematic for me, not because I am hard to fit–I’m actually a stock size 6 in dresses since skirts are a lot more forgiving of muscular quads and small waists than jeans are–but because I know how to sew and can’t help but mentally tally the cost of materials in my head when I look at something off the rack. It’s very hard to shell out $3771.79 for a gown that only adds up to $56 worth of fabric, beads, and notions in my brain. It’s like going out to eat and paying $15.99 for a chicken salad that you KNOW only cost the restaurant $1.50 to make.

Following the advice of fellow frugalites who have been down the aisle before me, Karen and I headed to the David’s Bridal in Altamonte Springs to check out more reasonable options. I tried on six dresses from their main selection that ranged in price from $299-$599. Three of them passed muster, a tank topped dress just didn’t sit correctly over my shoulders (not bony enough, I think!), one halter top corset stitched monstrosity with a massive tulle overskirt was just a “Hell NO!”, and one strapless number had beading and bias gathers just didn’t go together correctly. I took down the numbers of the two dresses I liked the most along with some notes so I could look for a similar dress pattern later, but then decided to see if I could track down the mythical Clearance rack that Kyra and a few other fit ‘n’ frugal chicks had mentioned. I finally found it buried behind the size 18 rack and dug through the meager offerings until I had three dresses in hand.

I tried all three of them on and guess what?

Dress #9 looked as good as the two $499+ dresses I had written down, fit perfectly without alterations, and had a $199 price tag.

$199 was key, because I had noted earlier that the store was running a sale. Dresses $199 and below were only $99.

So I bought it.

Checklist Item–Wedding dress: Mission accomplished in 2.5 hours for $116 including $10 garment bag and sales tax.

And I said no to the veil that the dress consultant brought out.

There’s no way I am going to pay $149 for 2 yards of white tulle with $0.99 worth of beads sewn on the hem attached to a cheap white plastic comb when my entire strapless A-line dress with tastefully beaded bodice only cost me $99.

Sheesh.

Since I just saved myself the effort of making my dress, I think it’s time to learn how to make a veil and headband, eh? I’ll even splurge and budget a whopping $10 for the project since I got such a good deal on the dress.

:jester:

Through November 30, 2006, Amazon.com is offering 10% off all Polar brand heart rate monitors sold by Amazon. Third-party sellers are not eligible for the discount.

The coupon code to enter at checkout is: POLARNOV

Here are a couple of the models they offer. I’m looking at the F6 or F11 as an upgrade for my very basic Omron HRM. Pity the F6 women’s model only comes in pale pink! :tongue: