Signature: Barbara Ann Kaufman

More women will get married next month than any other time of year, and Barbara Kaufman is completely surrounded by wedding dresses. Odds are, if you’re a bride reading this—and you choose to preserve your dress for posterity—Barbara Kaufman is the one who will prepare it for a lifetime, and the next.

It’s a service offered at Rome Preservation on Government Street in Mid City, but an intricate process that is nurtured under Kaufman’s love and care.

Kaufman grew up in tiny Wilson, La., in East Feliciana Parish. In 1967 she moved to Chicago for six months. When she realized it wasn’t for her, she moved to Baton Rouge. She soon got into the dry-cleaning business “and I can work any machine you’ve got,” she says.

A huge fan of Southern University athletics, Kaufman attends Greater New Galilee Baptist Church. The spry senior can pack as many as eight wedding gowns in a day. So how many has she handled in her career?

“Oh, Lord, can’t count that high,” she says with a laugh. The process, which on the average costs about $250, is laborious. It starts with an analysis, because, as owner Janet Poche says, “every dress is unique. Barbara goes through this thoroughly with every customer.”

Kaufman cleans every dress herself by hand.

“I love my job,” she says. “I’ve done nothing but cleaning my whole life.”

When the dress is ready for processing, Kaufman’s step-by-step process shines. “First I put my dress in the box and straighten it out. It’s gotta be straight.” Then come the layers of acid-free tissue paper. She inserts a cardboard bust to form it and then ties the dress down to hold it in place forever.

“See how it looks?” Kaufman asks proudly.

To finish, she might add the veil or pictures, the couple’s wedding invitation, the announcement from the newspaper—whatever the bride wants.

And then it is sealed.

“Saved forever,” Kaufman says. “Forever.”

By the way, Kaufman, a widow, does her personal laundry at the store, too.

“At my house?” she says with a grin.

“I don’t even own an iron. I’ve had a cleaning job all my life, and I’ve never been dirty.”