Weddingbee boards

I just got my dress a couple days ago (I bought it off the classifieds here ). It's beautiful, even more so than in the pictures! Unfortunately, the zipper broke when I went to try it on and it's a little tight in the back. I'm thinking it would be easy to add some fabric in the back with lacing to make it into a corset type back, so then there'd be some give and take with the size. I'm also thinking of adding a bustle for the reception.

I'm going to ask around and see if I have any friends or relatives that could do it for me, but if not, I'm not sure I could afford to pay for alterations and it seems like it would be pretty easy to do (I some sewing experience, but not a lot). Has anyone done this themselves before? How hard would it be?

I don't have pictures of me in it yet because I just got it, but here's a link to the original photos from the seller:  http://classifieds.weddingbee.com/topic/lazaro-3813-replica-gown-size-8?replies=2