I did it with DH, SIL and her DP. We didn't hire a guide as we've all walked, climbed or skied on glaciers before. The ridge descent to the gearing up point was fine for us. It had snow on it and fixed ropes. If it's icy you may need crampons to get down it, but it's usually doable without.
I carried my skis a-frame style on my rucksack. It takes a bit of getting used to but you have your hands free. We had bigger bags than most and we had all our own crevasse rescue kit. Some guided groups seemed to have rather less individual kit, or perhaps they were wearing normal piste skiing clothes and we had a bag of mountaineering style layers.
If you hire a guide they will help you with your skis and your kit if you need. They can hire you appropriate skis and kit if you need it. They should teach you (briefly at least) what to do if someone does go in a crevasse or get injured. You'll also get priority on the lifts.
The skiing isn't difficult overall. It starts off wide and sweeping. There's one steeper section as you pass down the side of the seracs (red standard), followed by a narrower bit around the bottom of them where there are crevasses then then glacier opens out again. You can feel the ridges of snow filled crevasses in the lower section as you ski over them.
There wasn't enough snow to ski back to town when we went, so we came down on the train. Be prepared to be shocked by the signs on the stairs up to the train that show you just how far the glacier has receded in the last 20 years.
It's a big day out, but worth doing. And you'll get to see the new glass bridge at the Midi.