Thank you everyone for the input! It seems that opinions are quite mixed. But in a way that is good. I guess I can't really go too wrong here. And I can play it by ear to an extent. Whatever seems best on the day I can pull out of the closet.
Sveta, the Pliner booties are too "stumpifying" for my legs unless I wear dark hose. I can do that, of course. But it darkens the look quite a bit. I am not against wearing them in theory. I am wearing them with the pants in the fuchsia jacket look.
Re footwear in our house: we ordinarily wear slippers all the time indoors, but for this event will be wearing shoes and allowing our guests to wear shoes. And yes, the bride knows the floors are very cold. She says she does not care.
I could wear the dress with darker hose and/ or the skirt with darker hose. I could also wear the skirt with the gold shoes, Angie -- although those shoes are my least comfortable option.
I went shopping and made a purchase of a sparkly tunic sweater. It probably won't be necessary for this event but it might come in handy over the season anyway. Will post in a separate thread.
Thanks all for your thoughts -- very useful observations and I think what I will wait for a final decision -- once I figure out what the others are wearing I will go from there.