Ahead of schedule and under budget, w00t!

It was serendipitous... I found my dress just two weeks after he proposed. David's Bridal was having a fall clearance sale, so Mom and I didn't waste any time. Mad props to the salesgirl at the Durham store, by the way -- I told her my price limit, and she didn't try to pressure me into something more expensive. In fact, she found me the perfect dress way below budget! I was trying on the final dress of the day and loving the way it looked, when she dropped the bomb that it cost $99. Yes, you read that right. A two-digit number. I found my dream dress, and it's cheaper than the one I wore to prom.

This is not my dress:

This is not my dress either:

... Come on now, you don't honestly think I would post my actual dress on a public blog, where (gasp!) my fiance might see it? So, I can't show you what it looks like, but I can show you what it's definitely NOT: Not frouffy, not lacy, not ball gown-y. No veil. Not strapless -- I don't want to spend my wedding worrying that Ginger and Mary Ann are going to pop out and say hi. (Strapless dresses seem to be all the rage, judging from the David's Bridal inventory. Me, I just don't get it.) And it's not a bright toothpaste white, either, because that hue makes me look like a vampire (the corpse kind, not the sexy kind).

So, you'll just have use your imagination for the next 319 days until I can post the actual picture. Meanwhile, I also found my shoes ($40, thanks to a coupon) from DSW.com:

They're made by Rocket Dog. I have the low-heel version of this shoe in every color, and they're surprisingly comfy. So, in case the heels get ouchy, I'll have the same (shorter) version of this shoe with me to change into. Since it's an outdoor wedding, no stilettos or anything that'll sink into the ground (thank goodness!). Red is my absolute favorite color. In a happy coincidence, my shoes match my bridesmaids' dresses almost perfectly.

I also bought my jewelry already and am anxiously awaiting its arrival:

I hope this looks as good in person as it does on the website! I found this moonstone and silver set for $128 at novica.com, another pleasant budget surprise. (I had allotted myself $150 for jewelry, but took advantage of a Cyber Monday sale.) Plus, what I love about Novica (affiliated with National Geographic) is that the items are handmade by artisans in foreign countries, and this program gives them a living wage for practicing traditional art forms. This set comes from India. Moonstones are sacred to the Goddess and feminine energy, which seems very appropriate for the wedding. The hard part will be not wearing this set until October!

In summary... Dress? Check. Undergarments? Check. Shoes? Check. Jewelry? Hopefully check. Budget? Looking good. Especially since my awesome Mom paid for the first two items.

Wow. Just wow.

I am addicted to advice columns. Carolyn Hax, Dear Prudence, Miss Manners, even Hints from Heloise if I get bored. So, I was reading one of those the other day (I think it was Ms. Hax, though it may have been Miss Manners...), and saw a letter from a woman who had gone to a friend's wedding by herself, only to be stuck at a table making small talk with 9 strangers for a 10-course meal that lasted 7 hours. (Yes, that's what it said... seven. May be an exaggeration, but 10 courses does sound excessive and time-consuming.) By the time the meal was over and the dancing and mingling could begin, the letter writer was so tired that she went home.

Let's file this one under #thingsthatareNOTgoingtohappenatmywedding. One more reason to have a decidedly un-stuffy barbeque buffet...