Fashion Forward: Mail Order Bride

Forget the Saturday afternoon bridal salon rumble: the anxiety-infused quest for the perfect dress (and accoutrements). Mass and class retailers and e-tailers have gotten wise to the world of wedding, and if it’s not easy and breezy for the bride, it’s game over.

We’ve culled from some of our favorites: gowns, shoes, jewels and invites to find you the best and brightest wedding web stars. Ladies, start your mice, click your way to time and money savings, and lower your carbon footprint by flying in the talent.

The Dannijo.com sisters make exquisite jewelry that channels sophisticated bohemia, and hipster haute. A simple column dress is transformed into bridal rock goddess with their affordable, collectable and covetable creations. Rubylane.com is the vintage jewelry Mecca, culling from dozens of decades of divine decadence.

Zappos.com has the best customer service (and curated shoe picks) in web-land. Bridal lead Hongyee Hoang states, “Current trends in bridal are feminine details such as flower accents, and pearls on the dresses. We work with our brands to incorporate these trends, as well as prints and ornamentation into the shoes. Brides and bridesmaids seek unexpected pops of color: fuchsia, blue and apple green. With everyone’s hectic lives, it’s difficult to arrange group-shopping trips, especially if the bridal party lives around the country. If something doesn’t work, ship it back on us.”

Thelimited.com launched an edited line of silk and cotton wedding dresses at recessionista prices: one dress is titled Romantic, and the other Elegant, and retails for much less than many bridal ateliers at a cool $298.

Jcrew.com was the first to hit the catalogues with a rainbow’s worth of fantastic dresses for brides and bridesmaids, designing several figure-friendly styles in unified color ways for a variety of body types. With shoes and bags to match and solutions for the groom, it’s a mix and match treasure trove.

Anntaylor.com give brides sage, no fuss, advice: “Every woman has tried on enough dresses to know the cuts, colors and fabrics that work best on her. Our web site is user friendly - the bride can pick a color scheme or style that she wants to stick with and let her bridesmaids take it from there. The goal: a dress that perfectly fits the occasion, but one that you’ll love so much, you will want to wear it again and again.”

Former Frederic Fekkai accessories designer Jennifer Behr is our beyond the veil alternative, with gorgeous, retro-inspired hair jewelry (to be recycled on a hot date later!). jenniferbehr.com

offers the wedding shop experience online for brides and bridesmaids, from the engagement party all the way to the honeymoon. Brides can call the wedding stylist hotline and start their virtual bridal shopping experience with a Nordstrom Wedding Stylist. The wedding stylist team will cater to the busy ladies in your life (who may reside in a variety of time zones). Nordstrom’s online bridal service offers what brides and their attendants need most: advice, solutions and most of all time.

Leila-hafzi.com makes ethical and eco-conscious gowns for the Royaye Sefid Bridal Red Carpet collection. Ethereal silk chiffon, romantic and retro, these drapey delights are equally at home on the beach or in a ballroom.

Enter Etsy Wedding Team: the confluence of crafters and designers that take out of the department store and into the divine. With hundreds of superior vendors, innovations and offerings, your one of a kind veil, brooch or necklace is customized for one girl: you. http://etsyweddingteam.ning.com/

The expected cream and black invites not doing it for you? Check out the wildly creative invitation ideas at the Etsy stars of Bonmoment.com. Retro, rockabilly, 1930’s travel posters and even sock monkeys are all inspiration. ABCDdesigns.com creates romantic wedding, event and bespoke stationary that delights and inspires. Izzy and the Bean creates zesty, organically themed, and whimsical wedding stationary http://www.etsy.com/shop/arippke

Princesslasertron.com makes floral fantasies: in vintage felt and buttons. Her adorable heirloom bouquets, corsages, hair adornments, and boutonnières never wilt, will always bring a smile to your face, and are keepers long after W-day.