The first battle has begun...

The store where I ordered* my dress and veil from burned to the ground this morning.

After a lunch of homemade chili and a small caesar salad, I'm feeling a bit better than I did when I first heard the news. I need to get to work now, and forget about it for a while. I won't be able to find out details of what to do next until a little while has passed, and the store has gotten its bearings. I'm going to try calling them next week. (They have a prom dress store across the street from the bridal salon location. I'm hoping their computer systems were connected to each other, and that all records of bridal orders weren't lost in the fire...)

My prayers are with the firefighters that got hurt while trying to battle the blaze. And also with the girls who have weddings in the immediate future, and who's dresses were being stored at the shop, possibly still being altered, and/or having just arrived without even being tried on for the first time at all. Jesse's general manager at the Moose has a sister who falls into my prayers...her dress had already arrived, and was waiting for her to use it in her June wedding. Now it's gone, and the poor girl is going to have to try to find a new dress very quickly. Thankfully, she's a petite girl, so hopefully that will aid her in her abbreviated search for a new perfect gown.

UPDATE: Just read this story in the KC Star. All is not as lost as I thought. But some is...apparently, they lost all records in the fire, as they had recently consolidated their two stores into one, and they no longer have the second location across the street I was hoping they would be able to rely on for back-up record keeping. They're currently trying to remember all bride names that they were dealing with. Holy crap. Holy, holy, holy...go and read the story for more info.


*My dress wasn't there...it's not due to arrive until late April, thank goodness. But I do wonder what will happen to all the records of our transactions, as well as the design notes for the veil and tiara I ordered last week. I'm sincerely hoping that the designer took the design info home with him, since he doesn't actually work on his designs there in the store, but rather just uses it as a place to meet with brides and to partner with the company in order to sell his designs.

When my dress is due to come in, I don't know what we'll do. They were supposed to store it for me (part of the purchase price of the dress is a $75 "storage fee"), and they would alter it if it needed any altering, and all that good stuff.

Lots of questions and no place to get answers from. Very frustrating. And very, very sad...