maybe next I should go skydiving!

I'm not totally opposed to spending a decent amount of money on a wedding dress, but sadly, even with all my searching, I have not found something in a store that I absolutely fell in love with. But, there were two that I liked an awful lot. I just had a hard time committing all that money to something that didn't absolutely blow me away. So, I scoured ebay, oncewed.com, preownedweddingweddingdresses.com, and did about 1001 google searches before I gave up on the idea of finding something used that I liked for a reasonable price. This led to the self-realization that I have expensive taste. There are lots of beautiful, simple-ish dresses to be had for under $300...but that's not what I want. And I'm definitely not spending $1000 on a dress that someone has already worn! What is a girl to do?

A few fun forums (at weddingchannel.com, kvetch.indiebride.com, and windsorpeak.com), despite their occasional negativity, convinced me that I could get a custom-made dress for a reasonable amount of dough, in a reasonable amount of time, if only I am willing to risk paying for something I have never even seen, let alone tried on. I can't say that I'm an overwhelmingly gutsy person, but being at my wit's end, I went for it. Yes, last week I sent money (don't get too anxious about that part, PayPal was invented for this very reason) to a man in China who has a somewhat flimsy grasp of the English language (makes me wish I knew a little Mandarin - French hasn't done much for me when it comes to wedding planning!), so that he can buy some fabric in a color interpreted by his eyes via a computer monitor and with it create some sort of fanciful concoction that I am meant to fit into and theoretically look good in on my wedding day. Whew. Needless to say, I am anxiously awaiting my masterpiece, and obviously I will let every one know if it turns out badly. If not, you will be able to see it about 5 months from now!

I am from here forward dubbing myself the Evel Kneival of wedding planning.