Weddingchannel Com

The suitors are lining up for WeddingChannel.com--and they're offering a lot more than flowers. This week, the Los Angeles-based Internet commerce firm is expected to announce that the private investment fund of multibillionaire Michael Dell, chief executive and founder of Dell Computer Corp., has invested an undisclosed sum in the company. The investment by New York-based MSD Capital is expected to be inked this week.

Federated Department Stores Inc. is linking its bridal registries with online wedding planner WeddingChannel.com. Federated also said it will buy a 20% stake in Los Angeles-based WeddingChannel.com. Terms were not announced. The arrangement will link bridal registries from Federated's 403 department stores, including Bloomingdale's and Macy's, and online sites with WeddingChannel.

Federated Department Stores Inc. is linking its bridal registries with online wedding planner WeddingChannel.com. Federated also said it will buy a 20% stake in Los Angeles-based WeddingChannel.com. Terms were not announced. The arrangement will link bridal registries from Federated's 403 department stores, including Bloomingdale's and Macy's, and online sites with WeddingChannel.

The suitors are lining up for WeddingChannel.com--and they're offering a lot more than flowers. This week, the Los Angeles-based Internet commerce firm is expected to announce that the private investment fund of multibillionaire Michael Dell, chief executive and founder of Dell Computer Corp., has invested an undisclosed sum in the company. The investment by New York-based MSD Capital is expected to be inked this week.

Wedding industry experts say their business boom starts in late November, continues through New Year's, subsides a bit during January and then finishes with a flourish in February near Valentine's Day. * In ancient Christian times when chastity was thought the ultimate state of virtuousness, marriage was considered a slightly preferable alternative to lascivious behavior.

Like many altar-bound couples, Tamara Travis and Ivor Bok of North Hollywood, who are tying the knot next month at a bed-and-breakfast in Malibu, are availing themselves of that quasi-respectable method of trolling for loot: the wedding registry. But flatware, bath towels and demitasse are nowhere to be seen on this couple's wish list. Available for viewing at www.thehoneymoon.

When the hubby-to-be is a billionaire -- yes, with a b -- his bride-to-be can surely have anything she wants. Absolutely anything. So why bother registering for wedding gifts? Paula Fortunato, a third-grade teacher at a public school -- yes, public -- in Manhattan, is about to become the second Mrs. Sumner Redstone, the outrageously wealthy boss of Viacom Inc., owner of Paramount Pictures, CBS Television, MTV, Nickelodeon and on and on.

It's no surprise that wedding planning Web sites are popping up all over the Internet. A wedding--even a small one--is a huge undertaking, often involving lots of spending on everything from clothes to flowers, food, gifts, travel and services, such as photography and catering. Angling for a piece of the pie are Web sites such as the Knot, WeddingChannel.com, Wedding411 and 1800Wedding.

In a year-end issue that is generating lots of comment--and not all of it positive--Genre, the Hollywood-based gay magazine, includes Dan Mathews, director of campaigns for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, as one of the most important gay men of the century. Mathews is famous (or infamous) for his outrageous protests in the name of "giving animals a voice."

After Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas became a public item, her fashion stylist, Fati Parsia, started getting calls from designers asking, "Are they engaged or not?" And of course, the two actors are famously engaged, so you can imagine the race to design her wedding dress, though Parsia is keeping tight-lipped as to who is calling or is a front-runner to dress one of the highest-profile brides-to-be.

Dear Fashion Police: Now that I've bought all those beautiful (and delicate) hats with broad brims, just how am I supposed to travel with them? Let's say I'm going to a wedding by plane. Packing them in soft-sided luggage is courting disaster. The other option is to put it into an overhead bin and hope it isn't crushed by someone's laptop. Luggage makers used to have hard-sided hatboxes you could check, but I can't find one anywhere. Do any companies still make such a thing?

Kimberly Cashwell harbors a dream shared by many full-time employees: She'd like to be her own boss and work from home. But the 39-year-old Los Angeles resident has raised the stakes in this gambit. She's trying to start two businesses simultaneously, a wedding planning company and a spiritual counseling concern, while working full time as a floor receptionist, handling calls for 12 law firms at a West Los Angeles office building. "How do I make the transition without financial hardships?"