How best to pay subtle homage to a destination wedding without distracting from a perfect-on-its-own look? There are ten reasons (maybe twenty, if open-toed shoes are on the docket) why a strategically selected polish shade can give its own clever nod to a modern ceremony. Whether it’s a stop at your hometown’s city hall (perhaps in Essie’s dove grey “Go With The Flowy” lacquer) or a sound bath-inspired reception in Joshua Tree wearing KB Shimmer’s sandy “How You Dune?” tint, there’s a shade that, with a bit of imagination, makes sense for every rich-with-meaning venue.

It’s a request that boutique salons are hearing more frequently, as couples eschew traditional churches for vacation settings. “Our favorite Montauk or Nantucket wedding pedicure is CNH on your toes,” says Sarah Gibson Tuttle, the “mani-obsessee” and founder of L.A.’s lounge-y Olive and June salons. “It’s the blue jeans of nail polishes that suits your ‘something blue’ and feels perfectly preppy.” For a more subtle wrist-down shade, the soft rosey tint of her GH polish is a universal option for a “goes-with-everything baby pink for the prettiest, glowy-est manicure.” It’s the kind of connect-the-dots approach that finally offers airtime to those cutesy color names on the flip side of every tiny glass bottle. Why not Guishem’s sundress yellow “Aurora” shade for vows under the Northern Lights? What if Smith and Cult’s iridescent lavender-flecked “Take Fountain” offers its own dose of opulence to that English garden? Dare to dream.

Below, 14 polishes worth the trip: