Bargain Pearls

In the classic image of the bride, she's wearing a gorgeous strapless dress, her hair is perfectly coifed in an updo, and of course, she's wearing a beautiful and demure set of pearls. But for those of you not born with a silver spoon in your mouth, your choices to recreate this look are limited to borrowing from a lucky friend, or resorting to imitiations, which simply don't have the luster of the real thing. But somehow, Pearlsofjoy.com has found a way to make genuine cultured pearls affordable. From $110 for 18" of freshwater pearls to a couple thousand for huge 10 mm pearls, each necklace is only a fraction of the price you'd pay elsewhere. My favorite is this 18" long strand of 7.0 mm pearls for only $250. Now that's a silver spoon at a tv dinner price.