Good {will outlet} Friday #16 Woodland Wedding

Its Good{will outlet} Friday again, and the end of the Woodland Wedding post week!

  This last post is about a dress.  I've seen a few wedding dresses in my days of outlet center shopping.  None of them have been especially nice looking, but I like a good challenge.  This week's outfit: The dress, necklace, shoes (even the supplies used for the bouquet) are all from Goodwill Outlet Center.  For everything you see, I paid less than ten dollars.
This beautiful dress started as a very ruffled, southern belle thing that even a Disney princess would be too embarrassed to wear.  After washing it (with a lot of bleach) I used a seam ripper to remove the sleeves and some of the ruffles. Thin straps, made with cream colored velvety ribbon, simplify the dress and give it a sophisticated feel.  Washing and updating this old fashioned "Little Bow Peep" dress took me less than a day and required very minimal sewing (just to attach the straps).

Every so often, I find pretty jewelry that's still in tact. This strand of creamy white glass beads with an intricate gold clasp is so pretty. It brings to mind a treasured family heirloom brought out just for a happy bride to wear on her special day.  It would look beautiful in a wedding.  What I really like about the necklace is that the beads seem so organic, almost like ivory or shell.  Its much more interesting than the typical string of pearls.

At first, I was combing the blue bins for a pair of dainty gold flats or sandals to wear with the dress for these photos, but this pair of simple green suede flats changed my mind.  At an outdoor wedding, comfortable shoes are very important.  I always love when the bride chooses one quirky thing to wear on her wedding day, so if this was a real wedding, mine would be the green shoes.

The bouquet is one of my favorite parts (after the dress, of course).

So, I'm sure you've seen the beautiful brooch bouquets that people have been putting together, right? If not, search it on Pinterest - you will find dozens.  I haven't seen many brooches, but I DO see all kinds of gaudy clip-on earrings in the bins!

 This arrangement was made from silk flowers in different shades of pink, cream and white glued to a styrofoam ball.  The collection of 'brooches,' or clip-on earrings, were attached to the center of each bloom to create a  elegant and recycled bouquet.
What a great way to make something wonderful with items that would otherwise be tossed, don't you think?

*These amazing photos were taken by by Molly Heaven-Hoyle. Contact her at mheavenhoyle@gmail.com