What to wear to a wedding: Fashion must-haves
PUBLISHED: 11:00 05 May 2016

Claudine shift dress in pale peach punctuated by a monochrome crochet overlay, £295, and Georgia layered full midi dress in black and white geometric jacquard, £425, both by L. K. Bennett at Fenwick Canterbury and Tunbridge Wells, www.fenwick.co.uk
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The date’s in the diary, the present bought, but you haven’t got a thing to wear? Here’s how to be the perfect wedding guest

Victoria says...
The wedding season is in full swing but with all the excitement comes a bit of a daunting feeling. You’ve got to get an outfit to wear.

Clients always ask for something they can wear again which is ‘different’ to what I find in their wardrobes. While it’s easy to go for the dress, matching bag and shoes, what happens after? I find that people blindly spend £500-plus on an outfit for a wedding they’ll never wear again yet the thought of spending £700-plus on a new summer wardrobe fills them with dread.
There is the contrasting rationale that we don’t go out as much as we used to, so when a wedding comes along it’s a great excuse to dress up, but there is a balance. This season is feminine with pastel colours of lace, pleats, silk and embroidery, so finding an outfit for a summer wedding that you can wear again should be easy.

Instead of just dress options this summer, there is an array of culottes, midi skirts and cropped trousers to choose from; so try something new, you may just like it. If you want to play it safe, a good-fitting shift dress with perfectly selected accessories and a hat is always a winning combo. If you already own a shift dress, maybe look to add a blazer or jacket to make it look more like a wedding outfit, add a belt, stunning necklace or statement earrings (but never all at the same time please ladies, pick one).
Rules have always been: don’t wear white, don’t wear black, not too short, not too exposed. However, in my book, depending of the theme of the wedding you can break these rules; as long as you don’t turn up in a maxi white or ivory dress, you’re good to go.

Wedding venues and themes are so varied these days you can have more fun than what might have been traditionally expected. Even if it is a church ceremony, it’s such a small part of the day that you can wear a simple cover-up then remove it for the wedding breakfast and evening party.
Most department stores have a great selection of wedding guest outfit options, the only fear is that everyone will have the same idea, so the key’s in the styling; it personalises an outfit and makes it yours.

If you want something different, try your local boutiques, they will all have options available that no one else will. I personally recommend doing this and if you’re stuck with accessories ask the store buyer, they will already have considered that, so just ask.
Follow Victoria @wardrobefairy