Jennifer Winget’s wedding dress had a veil with her dogs’ names

On July 16, actor Jennifer Winget tied the knot with her partner William Ishmael at an intimate church ceremony in Wales. The couple met in Singapore 14 years ago through mutual friends at a barbecue thrown by Ishmael, though they started seeing each other only in 2023. Following a beach proposal at sunset in Koh Samui, the actor married the Singapore-based businessman in the same church where the groom was christened as a child. “I’d visited the church a few times before while I was in Wales, and every time I was there I just felt this quiet sense of peace. It felt like the perfect place to bring our two families, cultures, and worlds together,” Winget says.

For the ceremony, the bride wore a bespoke Karleo gown that brought together three textile traditions: Lucknowi chikankari, Kashmiri tilla work, and the Mumbai-based label’s signature lace.

When Winget visited the Karleo studio in Mumbai along with her long-time stylist Vinita Makhija for her first consultation, they didn’t bring a mood board or silhouette references. Instead, the process began with a conversation about how she wanted to feel on the day. “Both Will and I are minimalists at heart,” she says. “This wedding was about bringing together two very different parts of the world, and I wanted my gown to reflect that. It wasn’t so much about heavy embroidery than about creating an emotional connection with the dress.”

The brief for Makhija was clear. “A lot of minimalist brides reference Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, but that’s not what Jennifer wanted at all. Because she wasn’t getting married in India, she wanted Indian elements. My earliest references were white gowns with work on them from Galliano’s Dior and [Alexander] McQueen, but not in an Indian zardozi sort of way,” she explains.

To bring the vision to life, the stylist tapped Karan Berry and Leon Vaz of Karleo. “They are one of the few designers in India who only make white wedding gowns and also consult with international brands,” Makhija says. “I wanted someone based here who understood a global sensibility.”

For the silhouette, the team settled on a fit-and-flare A-line shape in chiffon and georgette with an illusion-mesh neckline and cap sleeves. The bodice featured a concealed corset that took on the main role before the skirt fanned out below. The romance came through Indian textile craft. The base of the dress was adorned with floral motifs in Lucknowi chikankari, while the veil featured intricate Kashmiri tilla embroidery. Berry and Vaz added balance with their signature lace. “The main challenge was the different weights of the work. To bridge the gap between the lightweight Lucknowi chikankari and the heavy Kashmiri tilla, we added a third dimension with our signature lace as a medium-weight balance,” the designer duo explains.

For the chikankari element, the atelier worked with Lucknow-based label Nandini Agarwal. Nearly 30 chikankari artisans worked on the dress, adding lightweight micro pearls to maintain the chiffon’s drape.

The veil carried a more personal narrative. Artisans from Kashmir Looms embroidered a crest featuring the couple’s names and wedding date and the names of Winget’s dogs, Oliver and Breezer, in Kashmiri tilla across sheer tulle. “A wedding gown isn’t just something you wear on one of the biggest days of your life. It should tell your story,” Winget smiles. “My dogs are family. Sadly, they couldn’t be there physically, but I wanted them with me in some way. Will shares a very special bond with Ollie too, so it meant just as much to him. My Breezer boy passed away a few years ago, but he’s always felt like my guardian angel. Having their names embroidered onto my veil felt like they were walking beside me that day,” she adds.

The commission unfolded over three months and three atelier meetings with two rounds of fittings. 

In true minimalist fashion, her hair, makeup, and jewellery on the day remained understated. Makeup and hair stylist Manny Samra put her hair into an elegant chignon with face-framing ringlets. She wore pear-shaped diamond drop earrings and a custom mangalsutra from Ekatra Jewels. The wedding bands, made by Ekatra as well, were engraved with the wedding date, while the bride’s featured an oval-cut diamond. For her ‘something borrowed’, the bride wore a diamond tennis bracelet from her friend Simone DCruz.

Initially, Winget wasn’t convinced she needed an outfit change after the wedding ceremony. “Honestly, I told Karan and Leon from the start that my wedding gown had to be comfortable enough for me to wear all day. But I thought it would be nice to have something a little more relaxed and different for the after-party,” she says.

For the celebrations, Berry and Vaz created a satin minidress with tonal gloves and a cropped veil, worn with a crystal-encrusted headband. “It was chic, modern, and exactly what I had imagined,” says Winget.