Vintage Dress Snack of My Own!

OMG is it Friday yet?!

So last week on Offbeat Bride there was a post about a gal name Miranda's parents' wedding. I usually read these and just wish for a scanner of my own so I could share Shawn's Grandparents' wedding photos or my parents' but this time when I read the post I had a mini-coronary.
The vintage dress on the vintage bride: IS MY SECOND DRESS!

Remember my second wedding dress that I found in that thrift store? I wore it before the wedding and then the day after, too. And it is definitely the same dress!

Here's some day-of wedding shots showing it after I altered it!

I think I want to wear this dress again. How would you style it for a dressy occasion without looking too much like a hippie bride?

My DIY Re-designed Wedding Dress

Back when we bought my dress, I found it in a store the good ol' fashioned way and ordered one in the size they... ahem, suggested. It was all-white, all plain and uninspired... at least in the HiLLjO-flavored department. It is made by Forever Yours Bridal style 49209. It's bridal ivory and has allover allencon lace. People say you shouldn't judge a dress on the hanger, but I am telling you: as soon as I saw it on the hanger I knew it was mine.

First I decided to replace the white lace-up ribbon/sash for the corset back with a thick royal blue ribbon tied in a bow with long tails.

Then I decided I wanted a yellow crinoline after choosing a white dress over a colored one like I had originally planned. The crinoline was no easy task, taking multiple attempts to complete, only ending in a husband-made hour-long-heat-set dye process.
To help the crinoline be seen better, I had the front walkway of the hem cut up in my dress in hi-lo hem fashion. It helped you to see my bare feet better, too!

The next thing I wanted was to incorporate some crochet and some bunnies onto the dress. We had bunny cake top, sock bunnies, moss bunnies, yada-bunny-yada... but I made some seriously cute doily-style crochet bunnies. One was for HiLLjO and one was for Shawnie and I think they accented the lace in the dress AMAZINGLY.

One las shot of the bouquet/its wrap/ring/lucky elephant bracelet with my dress as a backdrop and my hair flying characteristically wild.

All our wedding photos here from D. Pohlen