The Dress

When I imposed a $300 budget on myself for the wedding dress, I didn't anticipate the journey on which I was about to embark. You see, there seems to be a cartel that increases prices exponentially if the word wedding is attached to any item. White dresses can be reasonably priced. And don't get me wrong, I know a lot more goes into a wedding dress, but the prices were astronomical in my not so humble opinion.

I went from store to store, trying to find a nice gown in my budget. I decided renting would be a great option, but the truth is, renting is now rare, and the only place that I found that would rent, still wanted more than my original budget... sigh! I even looked into borrowing a dress from one of my friends and tried several of them on. None of them fit. What I was trying to keep simple was becoming quite a big process.

After visiting multiple stores, both alone and with many friends in tow, I was just about to put down well over $500 for one of the few dresses I actually liked. But I had one more store to visit, Bridal Expressions. They had a rack of "old 2007" models that they needed to clear out to make room for a new shipment. I found THE dress and it only set me back $99. With alterations, etc., I will be well below my budget and will have the dress of my dreams!

I even found my white patent leather go go boots to go with the dress!

This experience has caused me to give serious thought to our reception. Women spend inordinate amounts of money on wedding gowns that they get to wear twice, once for bridal portraits and once for the wedding. I think every woman who comes to our reception should wear her wedding dress. When we spend this much money, we should be able to wear the darn things several times!

Lance on 12/14/07: Men, you don't need to wear your tuxes.