Introduction
This is my mom's dress, the only picture I have right now (since she and all her photo albums are 1,700 miles away). Ugh, I could not keep those sleeves! So '80s. I want to alter it so that it fits me and doesn't have those sleeves. I also want a tulle-styled skirt.
Research Points:
I. Is she okay with me using it? She and I are both so excited about the idea of altering it to make it mine. So we're on the same page, so that's good.
II. What do I want to keep? I haven't gotten a better photo yet, but I imagine that I'll keep the integrity of the bodice. Lace or beaded or any style, really, can be beautiful. It looks good to me from here. 
III. What to cut off? I will definitely get rid of the sleeves. Small straps or strapless or cap sleeves or whatever, I don't care. (When asked for his preference on sleeves, Alex basically said no sleeves, no problem. So he would mind if it was too modest. Good to know!! It's his wedding, too, for God's sake.)
IV. What do I want to add? I am 5'8", my mom was (and is) 5'4". She was a size 6, I'm a size 10 on good days.
. A. How do I add length? I would have to look at it to know. I feel like just sewing a hem onto the bottom wouldn't look right, unless I really altered the style of the skirt.
. 1. Can I reuse components of her skirt? If the fluffy petticoats/layers of tulle/whatever are long enough, I could keep those underneath. That would save money, and I wouldn't have to limit myself to a flatter dress because of budget if I already had all the petticoats from my mom's dress.
. 2. If I can't use skirt materials, what will I use? Well....I discovered this discussion this morning, and fell in love with the blue dress.
. 3. Can I just buy this dress? I want to buy this dress!! I despaired that I would never find it.
. 4. Can I look up other similar dresses? When I googled "professional pastel blue tulle," tons of similar designs/dresses showed up. Like this, which looks almost identical, all the way down to the style of the sleeves, and the ribbon she tied her bouquet with.
. 5. Can I make a new, longer skirt with tulle? So I started looking at tulle. I followed links to Etsy.com, and started making a list of tulle colors I found. I can buy tulle on Etsy to create my own style of skirt. I can't sew it myself though, but I was planning on the alterations being done professionally anyway. I'm not making my own wedding dress.
. B. How do I add width? Somehow I need to make her size 6 dress into a size 10 dress.
. 1. Can a 10 fit into a 6 dress at all? I know they're changing the size parameters of dresses these days. What used to be a size 6 would be labeled as an even smaller size today. I might be huge compared to this 1993-version of a size 6.
. 2. Will I have to undo more of the bodice than I want to? If I don't fit, I might have to take the dress apart at the seams and stitch it back together. If I can't even pull the dress over my head and past my chest, I will need to take out the waist somehow and open up anything that was taken in at my mom's fitting.
. 3. Can I zip it at all? I'll see if I can just cover the zipper with material. I actually found these cool things that you zip onto both sides of the zipper, and they fill the area that you need with a lace-up design. Again, it was on Etsy. Yay!
Wedding Gown Zipper Replacement Ivory Satin Adjustable Fit Corset Back Kit
One image for this product showed a size 4 dress with and without the zipper replacement back, and a size 8 fit into the dress when adjusted with this piece. Sounds good to me.
. 4. Can I take the bodice apart and use sleeves material as panels? Again, this would be done by a professional...And I'm not sure if the bodice and sleeves are even made from compatible materials.
. 5. If I can't use original bodice material, can I even use her dress? I think I could still use the neckline. Or I could use her lace to tie my bouquet, or to make my veil.
. i. What do other people do? I made this board of before and after pictures from people who've refashioned their mom's dress, and a lot of them don't even use very much of it. Lace is very reusable as far as I can tell.
. ii. Will Mom be okay with me using so little of it? She said if I couldn't use it that it would be okay. I'm the only daughter, and that really helps simplify things.
V. Who will I get to do the alterations for me? Alex's mom has lots of connections, and she is great at finding things.
. A. Can I do it myself? I have helped a friend to make a dress for cosplay, and it turned out beautiful (even though the fabric was stretchy and it got some pulls and tiny holes in it while trying to get her old sewing machine to work). I've sewn my own capes, two of them, with a sewing machine. I also did some work by hand, such as the gathering. But I can't fabricate a bodice all on my own. Mom's dress would have to fit me pretty well in order for altering it to be easy enough for me to do on my own.
. B. How much will it cost to have it altered? I have no idea. Google doesn't know, either.
. C. Is it going to be cheaper to just go and buy a wedding dress? If it's more than $500 to alter the dress, I'll just buy a new dress. I'm pretty sure that if I can't use my mom's bodice for mine, since I won't be able to make my own bodice, I will have to buy a different dress anyway.
Conclusion
I will be able to use my mom's wedding dress. However, it is not long enough for me, and if it cannot be made long enough through alterations, I will buy colored tulle to make a custom skirt to attach to the bodice. It also will not be big enough in the bodice, and if it cannot be widened through alterations using extra material from the sleeves or other original materials, I will buy another wedding dress to wear. In that case, or if the possible alterations will be too expensive, I will keep the dream alive by using the dress's lace for my veil or other materials for ribbons to tie my bouquet.
P.S. If I use blue tulle for a skirt, then the dress will be something old (1993), something new (new tulle), something borrowed (mom's), and something blue (blue tulle).
