Wedding Dress Disaster: Bridal Shop Reaches Out After Dresses Go Up in Flames
Frantic bride-to-be gets surprise gift just weeks before her wedding.
Nov. 19, 2010— -- When a Chicago-area bridal shop went up in flames this week, so did the dreams of dozens of brides-to-be whose burned dresses were left among the rubble.
Eva's Bridal Shop in Oak Lawn, Ill., was destroyed by the fast moving fire Wednesday. Only a handful of dresses were salvaged.
"I just wanted to look like that princess for that one day," bride-to-be Casey Aulisa said. "It's really hard."
Ashley Kuhl also lost her dress, as well as four of her five bridesmaids' dresses.
"I looked good in it," she said. "I felt good in it and it has some special touches."
Kuhl has had her dressed picked out for more than a year.
"I ordered it in July 2009," she said. "It's been in the works for a while."
With her wedding scheduled for Dec. 4, two weeks away, Kuhl was at a loss for what to do.
Enter Renee Fennell, owner of A' Paris House of Bridal & Fashion in Michigan City, Ind., which boasts one of the largest selections of wedding dresses in the Midwest.
Fennell has offered to outfit not only Kuhl but all her bridesmaids -- for free.
"Thank you," Kuhl said when she heard the news on "Good Morning America" today.
Fennell said she knows what Eva is going through. About 20 years ago, her family-owned store, then located in downtown Chicago, lost everything in a fire.
"I am a firm believer in karma," she said. "What goes around comes back and we just want to help."
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