FIRST: are you absolutely sure that you don’t already have something that you can wear? Have a good rummage. I bet you impulse-bought something at the end of last summer that you have completely forgotten about. If you have something but it is too long/short/tight, dig it out and take it to an alterations place.
If you’ve done all that and you still don’t have anything to wear, my advice is to not delay and start the search for one or two new wedding-guest outfits now. I don’t know when summer-wear became quite such an arms race, but there it is. If you leave looking for wedding gear until even the end of May, all the good stuff will be long gone.
I mostly hate everything I’ve seen so far and I am so sick of florals - although I understand that a loose floral dress means a) you can drop your lunch down it and b) no need for control underwear, which is why everything is FLORAL. So I have had to include some florals because it’s like it’s the law to wear them.
I mostly think Reformation is kind of a clip-joint because what they do is stitch flimsy bits of off-cut fabric together any old how (as long as it is slashed to the thigh!) then advertise it on very slender, sexy girls and flog it for £200+ a go because it’s eco. But I do like this dress and I think it is a modern spin on the floral frock.
My absolute dream wedding guest outfit would be a two-piece: a little cropped bracelet sleeve linen jacket/shelltop and matching dramatic skirt or wide trousers in a green-ish 70s palm print. But no outlet has that kind of vision - three of the closest things I can find are from Boden, Zara, and MaxMara Weekend.
Next, I very much suspect that sometime in January the design team at Hobbs said “We’re going to NAIL wedding guest for summer 22!!” They’ve really gone for it. Most of it is no good, alas - think Coast but kind of unfocussed - but this dress is genuinely pretty and a very good example of the genre. For the ceremony just add a white blazer of which there are thousands available right now.
I have stopped and admired this MaxMara Weekend coat many times, I think it would be so incredibly stylish over perhaps a pair of wide, white trousers and a white blouse, or even a white or cream or pale blue shift dress.
I am including this dress from asos because although it is floral, I feel like it is rather a modern and exciting shape and might just really suit you. And also this marble-patterned thing, also from asos but just that little bit edgier and more interesting.
I investigated Net a Porter because I thought you might want to throw some serious money at the problem but everything looked like a reject from the wardrobe department of RuPaul’s Drag Race, except this from Self-Portrait and even then maybe it looks like a nightie, and not in a good way? Can’t spill your lunch down that one.
That’s all I’ve got for you. God speed! Don't leave it too late, get to an actual shop if you can. If you can’t, order many things and be prepared to send most of them back. Oh, and be careful with Rixo dresses as you’re highly likely to bump into someone wearing the same thing. And they’re kind of shit.
The Hobbs dress really is the best of a pretty poor show this summer. However, if you do go for it, just brace yourself to not be the only gueast showing up in that dress. Went to a wedding two weeks ago and there were 3 of us in the Hobbs dress. Luckily, three different colourways, so we didn't look like a bunch of middle aged extra bridesmaids!
I’ve got 3 weddings this summer the last one being my brothers (so am in all the bloody pictures) I’ve tried rental for the one on Monday but ffs HURR didn’t manage to send it in time. So wardrobe standby dress it is. I will say that rental is really fun and this is the first ‘failure’ you get to try something a bit mad for £50 that you don’t have the confidence to ever buy.
I also would recommend not caring about shoes unless they’re comfy and take white clean trainers for the after party as NO ONE WILL NOTICE or they’ll think you’re a genius.