Acts of kindness for brides who lost their gowns

A lot of things could go wrong as you plan your A-lijn Avondjurken wedding. But one thing many brides probably don't plan for is their beloved wedding gown going up in flames.

Sadly, that's exactly what happened to dozens of brides yesterday when a Chicago bridal shop burned nearly to the ground. Eva's Bridals was gutted by a fire that started in the roof and quickly spread throughout the shop and to the building next Sexy Trouwjurken door, according to the Chicago Tribune. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

"I started reading online about brides who lost their dresses," she said. "I think about, when I was getting married, all the different stresses that are involved with that. And then to have your dress go away right before your wedding? I can't even imagine."

Evans wanted to help, so she posted a message on Twitter - where she has more than 50,000 followers - offering to loan her own gown to Vintage Trouwjurk one of the brides who lost theirs. Within minutes, other women were following suit.

"As soon as I did it, a bunch of other people said, 'Oh, I have a dress, I'll loan a dress,'" she said.

So Evans got the idea to create a publicly viewable Google spreadsheet for women who wanted to loan their dresses to enter their information: Size, description, whether they could ship or deliver the dress, contact info, and the like. Fifteen minutes after it went live, 12 women had already responded, offering their gowns to the brides who lost theirs. Brides in need of a dress can browse the spreadsheet to find a dress that would work for them and then contact its owner by email.

"I've had the dress just sitting in the closet for a couple of years now, and I can't use it, so why not donate it to someone who lost theirs?" said Kelly Williams of Raleigh, North Carolina, who offered her dress (pictured above) on the spreadsheet.

Evans hopes to eventually expand what she calls a random act of kindness: "I hope to be able to turn this into a larger project to loan nice dresses to people who maybe can't afford them," she said.

If you have a wedding dress or bridesmaid's dress you'd like to loan to a bride who lost hers in the fire, enter your info on the spreadsheet here.

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