27 wedding guest dresses I'd be excited to turn up in

And be packing for that summer holiday immediately after...

I’m at that age now where I have maximum a couple of weddings a year and to be honest, I’m grateful for that. Don’t get me wrong, I love a wedding but when I had handful after handful from May to October in my late twenties and early thirties, the allure of another weekend of travelling, small talk and a champagne hangover starts to dwindle. These days, every wedding I go to is a very close friend or family and it’s gone from ‘ugh what am I going to wear’ to ‘oooh what am I going to wear’. I love an excuse to dress up and celebrate love and now they are fewer and further opportunities to do just that, the thrill of dressing for wedding season is back for me.

I find wedding guest dressing anthropologically fascinating because it’s one of those things where cultural differences really play out. One person’s dressy is another person’s casual, some countries do black tie as standard while for other’s it’s the anomaly. I posted a dress I wore to a fun cocktail-party London wedding the other day (same dress as the semi-sheer Doen below) on Tiktok and one user cared to tell me if I showed up to her wedding in a dress that showed my knickers she’d have me physcially removed which I throughly enjoyed. Thankfully, my friends let me stay and I wasn’t the only sheer dress at the party either. The beauty in all of these divided opinions is that there are no real rules with wedding guest dressing anymore, although I stand by never, ever wearing white unless the bride and groom are really wanting to make a black and white ball happen. I’d also always maybe check what colour the bridesmaids are wearing so you don’t look like you’re trying to join the gang. I definitely tailor what I’m wearing to the wedding and couple in question while (hopefully) staying true to my style. Are they Charlotte and Trey-style traditionalists or a DJ and fashion designer respectively? Is it in an English country garden or an Italian palazzo (still never beeen to the latter but hoping there’s still time!)? The list goes on but you get the jist… You know your friends so judge the vibe and have fun with it.

I’m definitely a dress person for weddings, or maybe a skirt and top, so that’s what this list, predominantly, is. I know some people love a jumpsuit but personally stripping naked (sometimes with difficulty depending on the zip situation) in a portaloo every time you need the bathroom is not my idea of fun so I tend to avoid. But if I saw a girl wearing one of the below, I would definitely be asking ‘where is your dress from’ in the aformentioned portaloos.

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Acne Studios hammered-crepe dress | £750
A great all-rounder for just about every kind of do as long as you don’t mind a thigh split.

Asceno silk twill dress | £465
Easy, breezy, beautiful and no need to stress about bloating which is always a winner for me.

Nanushka shirt dress and matching trousers | £465 and £395
Diverting from dresses off the bat but this set would so cool for a city wedding and you can wear both of them seperately with everything else you already have in your wardrobe when you’re not in wedding mode.

Tove gathered jersey dress | £426
Tove is always my go-to for speical occasion dresses. They’re cool but classic all at the same time.

Arket silk dress | £150
For that glam wedding in Italy I might get invited to one day.

Dries Van noten silk halter dress | £1445
This is honestly my fantasy wedding guest dress. It’s utterly timeless and the shape is very me. *sighs wistfully

Sir the Label cotton and silk dress | £370
I’d take this straight from the chapel to a hot summer night on holiday. I’d wear with these flats for alfresco dance-all-night nuptials (the best kind of nuptials I think).

Doen silk dress | £503
I was toying with whether to include this as I’m sure some people might deem it too close to white… But let’s be real, it’s not white and and the floral saves it. To be on the ultra safe side I’d pair with a colourful cropped jacket or silk coat of some sort (pink, red or baby blue) to really drum the point home. Alternatively, it’s a tres jolie bridesmaid dress your maidens couldn’t not thank you for.

Bernadette Antwerp | 745 euros
I know I overuse the word chic but this is exactly that. Obsessed.