How to get the look: Summer dresses for weddings

This patterned MSGM dress from Girl Meets Dress is great for a British wedding

But I don't even have a boyfriend!

OK, hang on in there Jennifer Aniston, your time is coming. Actually I'm talking about dresses for the nuptials of others. Of which there are plenty right now.

True. I've forgotten how I used to fill my weekends.

Well, it's a token of popularity, or distant blood relations anyway. Nevertheless, at a certain age the frequency makes tough demands on your wardrobe. Vintage country weddings; beachy affairs abroad; slick city do's…

And usually cross-over guestlists. So, not to be all Kardashian or anything, but I don't want to wear the same thing to all.

Consider an occasional hire – unless you're going to wear the life out of that £400 frock, it's worth it and service is slick. This patterned MSGM dress from Girl Meets Dress is great for a British wedding (£69 for 2 nights, girlmeetsdress.com, above) as you can factor in opaque tights if sunshine turns to storms.

That might leave enough in the budget for an all-rounder I can have for keeps…

We love Whistles' Cora midi lace dress: in pink, blue or black, it's a simple beauty – scanty enough on the shoulder for hotter climes and can be given a new lease of life layered under a tight 1950s sweater (£225, whistles.com).