A century of iconic brides · 1920 — 2026
The Most Stunning Celebrity Wedding Veils of All Time
Updated August 2026 · now featuring every decade to Taylor Swift
From ‘the Rachel’ cut to Birkin bags, there is no denying that famous women shape our style. Never more so than on their wedding day. Follow our timeline through more than a century of the most stunning celebrity wedding veils of all time*, see the original brides, and discover how each iconic look lives on in our studio.
*Wedding veils were first worn in Ancient Greece, and while we are certain the well-known women of the time wore beautiful veils, there is rather inconveniently no photographic evidence — so our timeline begins at the turn of the last century.
The Golden Age of the Juliet Cap
The Juliet cap wedding veil was the favourite of brides from 1910 to 1940.
Shop ‘Jules’ →
Mary Pickford
Quite possibly one half of the first Hollywood ‘it’ couple, Mary Pickford married Douglas Fairbanks in 1920 in a stunning veil with a cloche-style headpiece typical of the era. Her cathedral-length silk tulle veil cascaded to the floor for a romantic, ethereal look.
Ingrid Bergman
Another icon of Hollywood glamour, Ingrid Bergman also chose a Juliet cap veil in 1937. With a beaded headpiece and voluminous tulle, she added a chic, luxurious finishing touch to the simple lines of her wedding dress.
Wartime Elegance
Ava Gardner
The austerity of wartime meant fewer veils in general, and those that did appear were shorter, with Russian net bandeau veils becoming popular. When Ava Gardner married Mickey Rooney in 1942, she wore a polka dot tulle blusher-length veil in a dark blue shade — perfect inspiration for a vintage bridal look, and the spirit behind our polka dot veils.
Shop Bandeau Veils →
Queen Elizabeth II
When the then Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip in 1947, she chose an elegant pure soft silk tulle wedding veil. Understated and draping delicately over her shoulders, it complemented the lace appliqué detailing of her dress beautifully.
Hollywood Royalty
Elizabeth Taylor
Married eight times in her lifetime, Elizabeth Taylor wore a beautiful silk style tulle veil for her very first wedding in 1950. The whisper-light fabric added movement in contrast to the weight of her satin wedding dress, for a perfectly traditional bridal effect.
Shop Silk Style Tulle →
Grace Kelly
Known for her elegance and sartorial taste, Hollywood star Grace Kelly chose a timelessly beautiful lace-trimmed veil for her royal wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956 — around ninety yards of tulle, finished with lace and seed pearls, worn over a Juliet-cap-style headpiece. Find her spirit in our semi lace edged veils and our lace Juliet cap veil ‘Verona’.
The full Grace Kelly veil story →“Grace Kelly is the veil brides still bring to us most often, nearly seventy years on. We must have sewn hundreds of lace edges with her photograph propped up on the workbench.”
— Sarah, Founder of BrittenHeight, Volume and a Decade Off
Priscilla Presley
In the Sixties, wedding veils took a back seat to the simple aesthetic of the time. But in 1967 the wedding of Elvis and Priscilla Presley gave us a memorable veil with extra height and volume, teamed with a sparkling crown. Add some sparkle of your own with a crystal scatter veil.
Bianca Jagger
And the Seventies? The decade the veil famously sat out. When Bianca Jagger married Mick in Saint-Tropez in 1971, she paired a Yves Saint Laurent skirt suit with a wide-brimmed hat — proof that the boldest bridal statement is sometimes no veil at all. We respectfully disagree, of course.
The Diana Effect
Princess Diana
The ultimate iconic bride of the Eighties. Princess Diana’s taffeta wedding dress, designed by the Emanuels, was oversized and highly detailed — and her veil matched the drama, with more than 150 yards of ivory tulle scattered with hand-embroidered sequins. Yet worn back from the face, its clean cut edge balanced the look, creating one of the most memorable bridal images of all time.
Every royal wedding veil, in full →The Minimalists
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy
The bride who defined quiet luxury before the phrase existed. For her secret island wedding to John F. Kennedy Jr in 1996, Carolyn Bessette wore a bias-cut silk slip dress with a whisper of silk tulle — a veil so light it barely registered, which was entirely the point. Her look is the blueprint for our barely there veils, the sheerest tulle we make.
Not sure which era is yours?
Feel every tulle we make before you choose — from 1920s silk to barely there.
Order Veil SamplesThe A-List Decade
While many Noughties marriages did not survive, the veil styles of the decade live on.
Jennifer Aniston
When Jennifer Aniston married Brad Pitt in 2000, her elegant, minimalist wedding veil paired with an intricately beaded dress became the must-have look for brides of the moment.
Katie Holmes
Long, graceful, and with a hint of structure, Katie Holmes chose a horsehair two tier wedding veil for her marriage to Tom Cruise in 2006. Truly captivating.
Shop ‘Atlas’ →
Royals Set the Trend
From 2010 onwards, a new generation of royal — and royally famous — brides set veil trends that reached across the globe.
Kate Middleton
Kate Middleton chose a pure silk drop wedding veil with a semi lace edge in 2011, worn over her face down the aisle and coordinating perfectly with the lace sleeves of her Alexander McQueen gown.
Shop ‘Clarence’ →
Shop ‘Amara’ →
Amal Clooney & Kim Kardashian
Extravagant length and exquisite lace motifs met barely there tulle in the truly stunning veil worn by human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin at her Italian wedding to George Clooney in 2014. That same year, Kim Kardashian’s Givenchy cathedral veil proved that full-length lace drama was back for good.
Meghan Markle
Dramatic and beautiful, Meghan Markle’s five-metre drop veil in crisp silk tulle — hand-embroidered with the flowers of all 53 Commonwealth countries — complemented her brilliant-white, off-shoulder minimalist gown at her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
Hailey Bieber
The veil that launched a thousand embroidered veils. Hailey Bieber’s 2019 cathedral veil carried the words “Till death do us part” embroidered along its edge — and seven years on, brides are still asking for it. Recreate the idea with your own words: our personalised veil embroidery adds any phrase, date or initials to your veil, hand-sewn in our studio.
The full Hailey Bieber veil story →
Shop Veil Embroidery →
View Hailey Bieber’s wedding post on Instagram
The Veil Renaissance
For the first time, the brides posted it themselves. Each entry links to the bride’s own wedding post.
Ariana Grande
Short, sculptural and finished with an oversized bow at the back, Ariana Grande’s 2021 veil turned minimalism into a statement — and made the bow veil one of the most requested styles of the decade. Ours is called ‘Margot’.
The full Ariana bow veil story →
Shop ‘Margot’ →
Kourtney Kardashian
Kourtney Kardashian’s 2022 Portofino wedding flipped the formula: a mini dress with a dramatically embroidered veil, proving the veil can be the whole statement. Pair a shorter veil with personalised embroidery for the same effect.
The full Kourtney veil story →
Shop ‘Amber’ →
View Kourtney Kardashian’s post about her veil on Instagram
Sofia Richie
The wedding that relaunched ‘quiet luxury’. Sofia Richie’s 2023 South of France wedding in Chanel came with clouds of soft tulle — volume worn effortlessly. Our extra-wide voluminous veil ‘Blair’ gives exactly that fullness.
Shop ‘Blair’ →
View Sofia Richie Grainge’s wedding post on Instagram
Olivia Culpo
Olivia Culpo’s 2024 Dolce & Gabbana bridal look brought the lace mantilla veil roaring back — a frame of Spanish lace worn close around the face, at once traditional and unmistakably fashion-forward.
The celebrity mantilla revival, in full →
Shop ‘Ines’ →
View Olivia Culpo’s wedding post with Vogue Weddings on Instagram
Lauren Sánchez
At her 2025 Venice wedding, Lauren Sánchez chose high-drama Dolce & Gabbana lace from head to toe — all-over lace in the grand Italian tradition, echoed in our all over lace mantilla ‘Siena’.
Shop ‘Siena’ →
View Lauren Sánchez’s wedding post on Instagram
Taylor Swift — the veil the world is waiting for
The most anticipated bridal reveal of the century. Taylor Swift married Travis Kelce in a private ceremony at Madison Square Garden — phones checked at the door, and not one official photograph released. Yet.
What we do know: the gown was Christian Dior Haute Couture by Jonathan Anderson, with an ‘Old Hollywood’ brief. And one broadcast description gave veil lovers everything and nothing at once:
A long veiled train and Old Hollywood glamour point to three possibilities our studio knows intimately: a sweeping cathedral-length veil, an elegant drop veil, or — the romantic’s choice — a lace Juliet cap straight from the golden age at the top of this page.
Read our full expert prediction →The moment the photos are released, our studio will analyse the veil in detail — style, length and construction — and update both pages the same day.
Shop ‘Eleanor’ →
A century of icons — now find your own look
Choosing the most stunning celebrity wedding veils of all time is no easy task — so many famous brides have worn beautiful veils on their big day. We hope this century of icons gives you inspiration for finding your own. Every Britten veil is handmade to order in our Bath studio — online, and by appointment in the Britten boutique.