Celebrity wedding veils · 22 May 2022 · Portofino, Italy
Kourtney Kardashian's Wedding Veil: The Mini Dress, the Statement Veil — and How to Get the Look
Wedding looks are usually led by the gown; Kourtney Kardashian's was led by the veil. When she married Travis Barker in Portofino on 22 May 2022, the dress — Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda — was a white satin mini, cut short and kept deliberately simple. Above it rose one of the most personal veils a couture house has ever made: a long sweep of tulle scattered with floral lace appliqués and hand-embroidered, at its centre, with a depiction of the Virgin Mary and three words beneath. She explained the design herself:
“When @dolcegabbana suggested putting Travis’s head tattoo of the Virgin Mary on the handmade lace veil with the words from his tattoo: family, loyalty, respect underneath, I got chills and knew how special that felt.” — Kourtney Kardashian, on Instagram
We've made wedding veils by hand in Bath since 2007, and personalised embroidery goes into our tulle every week: words, dates, whole drawings. Here is the story of the veil that outshone its own dress, and how to make the idea entirely your own.
The look, on record
What she wore
- The date and venue
- 22 May 2022, Portofino, on the Italian Riviera: the couple's lavish Italian ceremony, after a Las Vegas moment and a Santa Barbara courthouse wedding.
- The dress
- Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda: a white satin mini dress, short and corseted, kept simple so nothing competed with what sat above it.
- The veil
- A long tulle veil with floral lace appliqués, hand-embroidered at its centre with a depiction of the Virgin Mary and the words “family, loyalty, respect”.
- The tribute
- The Virgin Mary is a replica of Travis Barker's head tattoo, and the three words come from the same tattoo — a couture copy of the groom, stitched into tulle.
- The second veil
- The statement veil was for the ceremony. For dinner she changed into a mini veil, the same bridal signal cut short for the party.
- The formula
- Mini dress plus statement veil: the dress supplied the silhouette, the veil supplied the train and the meaning.
View Kourtney Kardashian’s post about her wedding veil on Instagram
Chapter one · The formula
The veil that outshone the dress
Shop ‘Amber’ →
A wedding dress and a wedding veil usually negotiate with each other. A full gown with a long train asks the veil to keep out of the way; an embellished bodice asks the tulle to stay plain. Kourtney's look ended the negotiation by giving each piece a separate job. The mini dress carried the silhouette: clean satin, corseted, finished at the thigh. The veil carried everything else, lace and embroidery and the train itself. Guests saw a short dress and a train that seemed to belong to the veil alone, pooling behind her along the stone terraces of Portofino.
The formula is practical, too. A short dress with a long veil gives the ceremony all the gravity of a cathedral gown, then sheds it in one gesture: lift out the comb and a formal bridal look becomes a party dress. It flatters in photographs, because sheer tulle never hides a short hemline; the shape of the dress reads straight through it. Later in the evening a mini veil, as Kourtney wore for dinner, keeps the bridal signal going without a metre of train to manage between dances.
Chapter two · Make it personal
Embroidery turns a veil into a love letter
What made Kourtney's veil famous was not its length or its lace but what it said, and only one bride in the world could have worn it. A veil is the largest blank canvas a bride carries: metres of sheer tulle, seen from every side, kept forever afterwards. Embroider it, and it becomes an heirloom with a message inside.
This is work our workshop does every week, by hand, in Bath. Our words embroidery stitches a phrase of your choosing into the tulle: a line from your vows, a lyric, a name. Our date and initials embroidery marks the day itself, discreetly, where only those who look closely will find it. And for the most personal version of all, our handwriting embroidery reproduces real handwriting. You upload a photograph of the words, written by whoever you love, and we embroider the writing itself, loops and slants and all: a late grandmother's signature, a partner's note, three words from a tattoo if that is your story.
Kourtney's is not the only famous embroidered veil, either. Hailey Bieber walked down the aisle under tulle carrying her vow along the hem — the other great modern argument for a veil that speaks. We tell that story in our guide to Hailey Bieber's wedding veil.
Shop handwriting embroidery →
Your questions, answered
What was on Kourtney Kardashian's wedding veil?
Kourtney Kardashian's wedding veil was a long tulle veil scattered with floral lace appliqués. At its centre, Dolce & Gabbana hand-embroidered a depiction of the Virgin Mary — a replica of Travis Barker's head tattoo — with the words from the same tattoo, “family, loyalty, respect”, stitched underneath. She told the design story in her own Instagram caption.
Can you embroider a picture on a wedding veil?
Yes. Embroidery is worked directly into the tulle, so a veil can carry almost any personal design. At our workshop in Bath we sew words, wedding dates and initials, and even your own handwriting: you upload a photograph of the writing and we embroider it exactly as it was written. See our handwriting embroidery service.
Do short dresses work with long veils?
Beautifully. A short dress leaves the veil the whole silhouette to itself: the tulle becomes the train, so the bride keeps the drama of a cathedral gown with the freedom of a mini dress. It is the exact formula of Kourtney Kardashian's 2022 wedding look, and it photographs well; the clean line of the dress reads through the sheer veil.
Did Kourtney Kardashian wear a short veil?
Yes: after the ceremony she changed into a mini veil for dinner. A short veil keeps the bridal signal of tulle without a train to manage, which makes it a favourite for receptions, city weddings and second looks. Our short styles include the elbow-length ‘Amber’ and the shoulder-length ‘Adeen’.
Keep exploring
One chapter in a century of iconic veils
Kourtney's embroidered tulle sits in a long line of bridal moments that made the veil the story, from Grace Kelly to Hailey Bieber. Trace the whole line in the most stunning celebrity wedding veils of all time, or begin your own chapter with our handmade wedding veils — each one sewn in Bath, and any of them yours to personalise.