1981 Wedding Gown Just Named No. 1 Most Iconic Wedding Dress in Soap Opera History
In 1981, to please Dame Elizabeth Taylor, the ABC soap opera General Hospital aired the record-breaking wedding of Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) and Laura Webber (Genie Francis). Now, over forty years later, Laura's wedding dress has climbed its way to the top as one of daytime television's most legendary.
The dress was named the most iconic wedding dress in American soap opera history by People Magazine.
Looking back on the dress, Francis told People, "The dress was made of silk taffeta, which wrinkles terribly, so I couldn't sit down, and the ground was wet, so my high heels were sinking into the dirt."
According to ABC7NY, at the time of the wedding, an estimated "one in fifteen Americans watched the show," with the wedding watched by over 30 million viewers.
When Luke's character was introduced on the show, Francis shared with the Television Academy Foundation that executive producer Gloria Monty had a vision for the character and for Laura's perspective of him.
"Luke was someone like no one else you've ever seen in the world, and he is fascinating to you." She shared. The actress continued to explain that Luke was someone who was "just a little bit dangerous but utterly fascinating. The character was someone that Laura just "couldn't figure out."
Following almost a year on the show, the series made the controversial decision to have Laura raped by Luke in a moment of rage in the campus disco. However, the series backpeddled the choice and later labeled it a "seduction," before ultimately addressing the action and calling it out for what it is. Francis shared that she didn't push back at the time because she wasn't sure where the story was initially headed, and instead was young and naïve and playing it for what it was. "I was following instructions like a good soldier."
The storyline would play out over the course of multiple years, as Luke and Laura went on the run together, solving the mystery of the "Left Handed Boy," and then worked together to save the world from the evil Casadine family that attempted to use the "Ice Princess," a rare diamond, to freeze Port Charles and then the world.
During that time, the nation became swept up in their love story, including Dame Elizabeth Taylor, who called up producers and agreed to make a cameo appearance on the ABC soap opera in exchange for the series marrying off her favorite characters.
Thus, in November of 1981, Luke and Laura were wed.
Fans wanting to appreciate the wedding dress are now unable to. Francis revealed in a 2006 interview with Today that "they wanted to put that in the Smithsonian," but they were unable to do so because the dress had been stolen.
General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC and streams weeknights on Hulu.
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This story was originally published July 4, 2026 at 6:04 PM.