Thank you for this wonderful article from our Guest Contributor Helen Bradford…
While in the past, brides were expected to wear plain nail polish on their wedding day, over the last few years, there has been a great change in bridal nail trends. Plain nails are very common among brides because they go perfectly with white bridal gowns, but what if you were hoping to break tradition and go with something completely different for a change? Perfect wedding nails don’t have to be boring – here’s what you can do to make sure your bridal manicure is on point.
Spicy French manicure…
One of the most popular looks for brides was the classic French manicure – it made girls show off their nails and didn’t look out of place when paired with a white wedding dress. However, trends change rapidly, and over the past seasons, there have been many cases where brides decided to upgrade’ their classic French manicures and add a little something. Instead of plain nude and white, why not have your French manicure with crimson, gold, or emerald? What is more, you can have them done in blue and use it as a part of your “something blue” tradition.
Go ombre…
Ombre nails are gaining popularity and for a good reason – they are chic and stylish, but still elegant enough for any bride to rock them on the big day. If you’d like to have ombre nails, you have a lot of different options to choose from. Similar to the French manicure, ombre nails can be done with plain beige and white nail polish, or you can make it more interesting by adding a touch of different colors or even glitter. If classic French manicure sounds boring, you can experiment with ombre instead – it’s less formal, and it goes wonderfully with pretty much any nail length and shape.
Rhinestones for days…
Brides who adore their long nails usually want to show them off, and there’s no better way to do it than by embellishing them with rhinestones! Girls who are used to wearing plenty of bling on their nails certainly don’t want to break this tradition when they get married, so picking the right design becomes imperative. If you don’t want to cover all of your nails in rhinestones, you can decorate only one or two, but if you want to sparkle, feel free to go wild. Large, statement-making rhinestones will really glam-up your nails and you can improvise and come up with different stylish designs.
A touch of gold…
If you like paying attention to the tiniest of details, why not use this big day to sneak in a love note for your future spouse on your nails? There are brides who like to draw hearts and scribble initials on the soles of their shoes, but why not do it on your nails instead? Pick any natural nail polish you want and you’re your nail technician write letters on two of your nails – ‘lo’ on your middle finger and ‘ve’ on your ring finger. Matte nails are perfect for this because they make the details really stand out, but you don’t have to pick matte if you don’t want to. If you don’t want to write ‘love’, you can always put your initials in gold on one of your nails. It’s discreet enough to blend in but interesting enough to stand out in all of your photos.
Soft glitter…
There are brides who can’t get enough sparkles and glitter, and what better way to add some more than to have a perfectly manicured glitter-y nails on your big day? What makes things even better is the fact that nail polishes with glitters have been so popular over the past few seasons, that you can find dozens of different styles, and easily pick the one that’s perfect for your big day. Silver, gold, rose gold, glitters with a touch of color – anything you like! You can also wear glitters as an accent, or you can go all in and have sparkly nails. You can even add details in different colours to make the glitter stand out more.
An accent nail…
Accent nails have been a thing for a while now, and they are noticeable but not over-the-top, which makes them perfect for a wedding look. If your wedding dress has silver or gold detailing, you can always have one nail done with silver or gold accents. You could also add decorations in different colors so that your nails match your colour palette. The best thing is – you can go as ‘wild’ as you want: you can have one of your nails covered with crystals and glitter to that is shines just as much as your engagement ring, or you can have discreet details and stickers.
Whatever nail look you choose for your wedding, the most important thing is to make sure that your nails are the right shape and length so you can still use your hands on your big day. Other than that, there aren’t really too many limitations: blend in, stand out, be discreet, or go over the top. You are the bride, and this is your big day – the perfect excuse to get that dream manicure you’ve always wanted.
