Everyone is going to want to see your ring so when you’re showing off your hand to all your guests make sure your wedding nails are on point.
Planning a wedding is way more stressful than you’d expected and making those decisions on dresses and suits and flowers can be tough. But picking how you want your wedding nails to look can actually be a fun, relaxing part of your planning for a change.
Unlike with gowns or shoes, you can buy a couple of polishes without breaking the bank and try them all on at home as many times as you like until you find the look that’s perfect for you.
Plus, if you buy one and decide you won’t want to wear it on your wedding–you can still wear it the rest of the year.
If you’re feeling a little bolder, this warm, hammered gold lacquer might be just what you need. This creamy formula is easy to apply and is opaque in one to two coats. There are several different shades of gold foil in this metallic so the color is dynamic and has depth.
It really gives that opulent, royalty feeling, especially against creams and whites. This polish is five free, vegan, and doesn’t contain gluten. It does contain vitamin A, biotin, and extracts of cucumber, evening primrose, and chamomile.
Romantique is from Creative Nail Design’s Vinylux line which boasts gel-like staying power without UV lamps or the damage gel manicures can do to your nails. Vinylux is applied to bare nails without a base coat and is topped with CND’s Weekly Top Coat.
Together, your manicure should last chip-free for a week or more. It works by having a formula that hardens when exposed to sunlight so your nail polish actually gets tougher the longer you wear it which is pretty genius. Romantique is a beautiful, sheer pinky-nude which makes a great natural nail alone or as a base for a French Manicure.
This is fairly nontraditional, but I think this soft robin’s egg speckle on a nude base is a really fresh look to wear with a wedding gown. It makes me think of confetti and champagne bubbles.
It’s subtle enough to not overpower your look, but unique enough to leave an impression. Londontown Lakur shows swatches of their colors against a variety of skin tones, which is a fantastic feature, and Cheshire Plains looks especially stunning on melanated skin tones. Add this one to your maybe list and make a splash.
We’re starting out with a really beautiful sheer nude color from Essie’s Wild Nudes Collection. This is a great color if you’re looking to make your natural nails look healthier and bright.
It’s not fully opaque at two coats and you’ll probably be able to see the whites of your nails but that adds to the clean, healthy look of this shade. The formula is a tiny bit thin which is to be expected for a sheer but it’s still very easy to work with.
The more traditional look isn’t for all of us. Sometimes you need to throw on a bold, unexpected red. The Red is about as red as red gets. (Wow, that was a lot of reds.) It’s opaque in one coat, but two really deepens the color.
There’s something really classy about this lacquer while at the same time being such a nontraditional wedding color that it strikes a nice balance for people trying to toe the line between offbeat and traditional. It’s from Oribe, known for their incredible, high-end hair products and was formulated to be flexible which is awesome for people like me with bendy nails.
It’s just so pigment dense! I love it. The Red is eight free and should last you about a week without chipping.
This polish is a long-lasting, cool white with a silver shimmer. It’s a little sheer on its first coat but is opaque and pearly in two.
This one looks a lot more like a white polish than a shimmer and has a slight blue quality to it that would look gorgeous contrasted against warmer cream colors. It’s from Zoya so you know you’re looking at high-quality lacquer and the formula is five free.
Sugarette is a milky silver with a pearlescent, satin finish. When it’s dry, it actually looks like silk fabric to me. It does take a couple of coats and can go on a little streaky for some, but with the slight metallic shimmer, it’s not noticeable.
Smith & Cult is a long lasting polish brand with a thin, but not too thin, formula. The cap might look a little unwieldy, but it actually lifts up to reveal a much smaller twist off top that’s easier to work with.
This polish is eight free and the color Sugarette is limited edition so get your hands on it quick if you think it could be in the running.
Pearl Jammin’ by China Glaze is an iridescent shimmer that reminds me of fire opal. It’s this cool, moonlight blue shade with a warm rose gold flash when the light hits it just right.
I like that it can be worn on its own or as a topper over different nail polish to give it that shimmer effect. This shade is sheer so when worn alone you’ll likely want three coats for full coverage.
Piece of Cake is an opaque light pink lacquer from Butter London. This pastel is close to a white and is a really nice soft, feminine shade to brighten up your fingers. As part of the Patent Shine 10X line, you can expect about a week of wear from this polish and a thick gel-like finish.
If you love a high gloss, this one won’t deliver as much as it promises from the name but a nice top coat will fix that right up. This is one of Butter London’s 10 free formulas so it’s free from 10 of the nastier chemicals often used in nail polish like formaldehyde and DBP.
