Bride gifted wedding dress after first lost in fire

Agnieszka Uliasz said she was "so happy" to have a replacement gown similar to the original - which took a year to design and make

A bride-to-be whose wedding dress was destroyed in the Dagenham tower block fire has been gifted a replacement.

Agnieszka Uliasz and her fiancé Lukasz Kurek "lost everything" when a fire broke out at the Spectrum Building on 26 August.

Ms Uliasz had spent a year working with designers to finalise her £2,500 custom gown.

But it was lost in the fire, along with the possessions of more than 80 people who were evacuated from the building.

'So happy'

Ms Uliasz was gifted the replacement dress, which cost around £3,000, with only a few weeks before the wedding.

It was given to her by Amore Bridal, the family-run wedding dress shop in Southbury where she bought her first dress.

"My dream was to get something similar," she said. "Maybe not the same, but similar.

"I am so happy."

The couple, who are Polish, had just over a week to find a replacement dress before they flew back to Poland for their ceremony on 13 September.

Ms Uliasz said that without the help of the bridal shop, her "wedding dream" would not have come true.

"We'll not give up," she said.

Mr Kurek added: "She looks beautiful in this wedding dress."

The couple had just over a week to find a replacement dress

Leyla Ali, who designs dresses for her daughter's shop Amore Bridal, said: "It did take us a year to make that dress, but this is very, very similar.

"It's as outstanding as the other one."

It was also "completely handmade, top to bottom," she said.

She said offering Ms Uliasz the dress was "the least we could have done".

"We did what anyone would do really. If that had happened to me I would be shattered," Ms Ali said.

"She's a beautiful bride. I hope she has an amazing day. I'll be happy to see them smile."

Leyla Ali said offering Ms Uliasz the dress was "the least we could have done"

The couple said they were told by the London Fire Brigade that while their second floor flat had not been burned, "everything was lost" to water damage.

They had brought Ms Uliasz's completed wedding dress home two days before the fire.

"We left everything we had in that flat, we only grabbed our phones and the dog and we ran out," Mr Kurek said.

"There was not time. You know you have to run fast. We are very glad we are alive, that is the most important thing."

He added they were both "happy also for all the residents, that everyone survived".

"We lost everything. But there are so many good people willing to help us with the difficult situation," he said.

"We really appreciate that, and want to thank everyone that is supporting us.

"Nothing is going to stop us now. We're going to come back and rebuild our lives, it's going to take some time, but we're never going to give up."