Painted nails/french manicure on the day

I will be having coloured toe nails and a french manicure on fingers. If my nails arnt the best condition i will have tips on for the day. Not a fan of fake nails to be honest.

I went to a wedding where the bride had her nails painted cerise pink (to match the bridesmaids and flowers) - it look lovely!

Though I think bold colours on nails look better on shorter nails, not so harsh

I've had this discussion with my mother - I informed her that I will be having my nails painted red. Her response was "Your not a hooker". She doesn't really like the look, although I do wear red on my fingers and toes almost everyday and it's my "thing" - which OH also loves.

Just lately i've been practising at having a french manicure and I am getting used to it, so I think I am going to have a traditional french polish with some nail art matching the flowers on my dress on my finernails and red toe nails which will peek out of my peep toe shoes.

I think I'm going with a subtle pink on mine. Dont think I want a french manicure but havent entirely decided yet.

I used to get nail extensions put on all the time but it completely ruined my nails so I have tried just having a french manicure on my natural nails but it doesn't seem to last very long or look that great (my nails are naturally quite short) so I was thinking of having a colour to match flowers on the day.

I think I'm having acrylic nails attached just before the wedding as they will look nice for the honeymoon too and plus someone else will have to carry my suitcase (in case I snap one) lol....

Thinking of having purple or at least a lighter purple on fingers and toes for the wedding along with a white transfer heart or something just on my pinky finger nails.

I also think its worth trying how you want your nails, with your wedding ring on too, so you can get a good feel for how it will look in photos etc - Im finding the look of 2 rings on my finger really bizarre but was much happier when I tried the wedding band on when I had false nails on

I totally agree I think my engagement ring stands out too when my nails are a good strong colour, Im also debating wheter to have an orangy peach to match bridesmaids or the french manicure, I must admit im swaying more towards a colour? I would have my own nails but would probably have gel colour put on them so they wouldnt chip

I'm not going to have particuarly long nails just (hopefully) all the same lenth and filed to be square/oval......I know what you mean with a long nail and a bright colour.

My BM's will probably be in purple which I don't think would work as well as the hot pink (dam me for letting h2b choose the colour scheme!)

Have you tried gel overlays? You can have them just on your own nails so it doesnt add length and then they just kind of peel off, rather than needing to be hacked off like acrylic

Hi Belinda,

No I havent tried Gel, I just go to a nail bar that only does the acrylic ones so i'll have to give gel a whirl in the new year to see what its like as my own nails are so flaky and chip and break really easily!

Ive never had gel myself but a girl I work with has gel and her nails look so lovely and never ruined. Think it tends to be pricier than acrylic though

My nails beds are flat so my nail does not grow above the end of my finger, resulting in hands looking like boys hand with nails that look like theyve been bitten (neverhave!!)

Over the years ive tried various super grow formulas and altho it strengthens my nails to almost rock like, because of the flatness my nail does not curve corrcetly.....so cannot have a nice french manicure on them

Have had extensions for about 3yrs now, have them off every 3mths to let my nail breath and stuff but wouldnt dream fo not having them on the day! I dont have white tips, i have them with just clear over them and have them short short so they look as real as possible!!

I am considering having a very neautral, almost nude colour on my nails...like a beige almost...it will make my ring stand out and hopefully make my hands look more elegant and less manly!!

Love the idea of coloured nails - was considering red, but nothing else is red!! My scheme is white ivory and midnight blue! x

how about having some diamonds dangling off the ends too to really WAG it out ?

at my first wedding I had the acrylics and stark white nails and then on my ring finger a little diamante stuck on the nail!!

I might look into the gel stuff though as we have a place near work that does shellac which I think is like the nails inc 3 week manicure.

I'd love red nails but as nothing else is red would look a bit odd!!! Maybe gold haha

I've had gel overlays and I loved them! I've always bitten my nails, but I did a really good job of growing them for OH's brother's wedding last year (where I was singing, so people would be seeing my nails a lot from holding the music!). They just painted what looked like thick gloopy nail varnish over my own nails, then added the white tip and dried them in a UV machine thingy.

You can get tip extensions if you want, but I was quite happy with the length, they were just really weak from having been bitten for so long. You can also paint over them in whatever colour you want and when you remove the colour with nail varnish, the white tip is still there.

One of them popped off when I went on holiday a few days later and a couple started lifting, so I (very naughtily) peeled them off. They did a fair bit of damage to my nails, but that was because I picked them off, rather than having them removed properly.

I definitely want to have them again for my wedding.

Personally I hate french manicures - I think they look a bit chavvy (sorry to those who love them!) but that is probably from all the chavs who have them done badly. Natural nails looks better than falsies any day if you can get your own nails nice which I know can be a real problem. I'm lucky as my nails are fairly tough so I shall start looking after them for a few weeks before the wedding. I'm going to have my nails a pretty pink as we're having a pink colour scheme.

That is what I used to think too, and probably due to seeing so many acrylic french manicured nails. A few weeks ago I had my own nails shellac'd in french polish. Shellac lasts for 2 weeks and is no more damaging than normal nail polish. Here is my french manicure:

I'm definitely having mine shellac'd, but remain undecided on whether that will be french polish or a demure pink.

@ililacit - they look lovely! I'm def now going to have a trial run with shellac.........perfect excuse for getting my nails done for xmas now!!!

I think it's a good idea to try these things out now. That's what I was doing, and now I appear to be a regular shellac'r! I also think it's a good idea to start a few months before the wedding (if going au natural) so that your nails will be in tip top condition for the day.

My friend has acrylics as her nails don't grow properly and after many years of searching various nail bars has finally found one that makes them look very natural! On me though they make me look chavvy and I also look an idiot trying to ever do anything with them!!!

My nails are just a bit shorter than Ily and there is a place near work that does shellac so going to see if they can fit me in today!! hehe!

Ok i'm now googling shellac?? Never heard of it but if it doesnt ruin your nails I am definately up for trying it!