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What 15 US first ladies' wedding dresses looked like

  • Martha Washington's gold silk damask wedding gown is on display at Mount Vernon.
  • Laura Bush bought her two-tone wedding dress straight off the rack in 1977.
  • Melania Trump's Dior wedding gown held 1,500 crystal rhinestones and pearls.
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Martha Dandridge Custis married George Washington in 1759 in a gown made from gold silk damask fabric.

A replica of her wedding dress, along with a cream silk petticoat and sequined shoes, are on display at Mount Vernon.

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Frances Folsom wore a gown of ivory satin when she married Grover Cleveland in 1886.

Cleveland was the first sitting president to get married in the White House. After the wedding, Frances had her dress altered into an evening gown that she wore for formal events. According to the History Channel, the fabric was so stiff that the dress could stand up by itself.

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Lou Henry married Herbert Hoover in 1899 in a dark gown and wide-brimmed hat.

The couple met in a geology lab at Leland Stanford University. Herbert proposed via telegram while on a mining trip in Australia, and they wed at Lou's parents' home in Monterey, California. 

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Eleanor Roosevelt wore a long-sleeved satin gown covered in Brussels lace and accented with tulle.

"My own dress was heavy stiff satin with shirred tulle in the neck and long sleeves," she wrote in her autobiography "This Is My Story" of her 1905 wedding to Franklin D. Roosevelt. "My grandmother Hall's rose point Brussels lace covered the dress, and the veil of the same lace fell from my head over my long train."

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Bess Wallace married her childhood classmate Harry Truman in 1919 wearing a gown made of white georgette and faille.

She paired the dress with a white hat and a bouquet of Mrs. Aaron Ward roses.

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Mamie Doud married Dwight Eisenhower in 1916 in a beaded gown with scalloped ruffles.

Mamie was known for her polished sense of style. She also popularized the "Mamie pink" color that became prevalent in home decor in the 1950s.

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Jacqueline Lee Bouvier wore a wedding dress designed by Ann Lowe, a Black seamstress who did not receive credit for her work in her lifetime.

According to the Smithsonian, Lowe was told to enter through the back door when she arrived to deliver the wedding dress and bridesmaids' gowns. She is said to have responded that she'd take the dresses back if she wasn't allowed to enter through the front and proceeded through the door. 

With its portrait neckline and full skirt in ivory silk-taffeta, Lowe's design remains one of the most iconic wedding dresses of all time, but she wasn't credited for her work and died relatively unknown.

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In 1934, Lady Bird Taylor married Lyndon Johnson in a spur-of-the-moment ceremony.

Johnson proposed to Taylor on their first date, but she thought it was too soon. He showed up at her doorstep unannounced 10 weeks later and asked again. They got married the next day with a ring from Sears that cost $2.50.

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Betty Bloomer Warren married Gerald Ford in a blue satin dress in 1948.

The lace on her hat came from a parasol that belonged to Gerald's grandmother.

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Barbara Pierce married George Bush in 1945. They went on to spend 73 years together.

Her wedding dress is on display at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas.

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Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter wed in 1946 and have been married for 75 years.

For her wedding day, Rosalynn wore a white mid-length dress with a black vest on top, paired with a boutonniere, a white hat, and white gloves.

In the photo above, the couple stands in front of an image showing them on their wedding day.

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Nancy Davis married Ronald Reagan in a wool skirt suit with white lapels in 1952.

She accessorized the dress with a birdcage veil and pieces of lace in her hair, and she held a bouquet of tulips.

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Laura Welch wore a two-toned tan dress she bought straight off the rack when she married George W. Bush in November 1977.

The couple met at a mutual friend's barbecue in July and were engaged by September.

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Michelle Robinson wore an off-the-shoulder gown when she married Barack Obama in 1992.

She paired the dress with drop-pearl earrings and a floor-length veil.

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Melania Knauss married Donald Trump in a satin Christian Dior gown that held 1,500 crystal rhinestones and pearls.

Vogue named her gown the "dress of the year."

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