WeddingChannel.com, named for the couple in O. Henry's Gift of the Magi story, has signed up national chains Neiman Marcus, Williams-Sonoma, and Crate & Barrel for its launch. The San Francisco-based company has also signed deals with local stores such as Gump's in San Francisco and Portico in New York, and specialty stores like REI.

Brides who register at any of the participating stores - either in person or online - will be able to access the registries online. Guests can buy either through the WeddingChannel.com site or through the retailer. WeddingChannel.com receives a commission on all sales made through its site.

Retailers having been testing the online registry waters for a while now. Major department store chains including J.C. Penney's and Federated, which owns Macy's and Bloomingdales, have wired their registry programs to meet the needs of modern couples.

Federated recently agreed to acquire a 20 percent stake in WeddingChannel.com, one of several sites that aim to help couples through the whole wedding process.

Other wedding sites have gone into the registry business themselves. In April , Comcast Corp.'s QVC television shopping service invested $15 million in TheKnot.com, producing a site where couples could register directly online.

The WeddingChannel.com model, however, adds an interesting twist, allowing couples and guests to work with multiple merchants at one site.

'Bold move'
"It is a fairly bold move for the chains to partner up to distribute their registries, because a lot of them were hoping they could maybe own 100 percent of the dollars," said Ken Cassar, an analyst at Jupiter Communications in New York. "With multiple vendors they increase risk that they won't get 100 percent [of the business], but at the end of the day they realize the value will be far greater if there are more opportunities to sell."

The average couple registers at three different stores, so creating a centralized site will benefit the couples and their guests, said WeddingChannel.com CEO Rebecca Patton.

"We recognized that there was a certain set of stores that brides and grooms love. They've been registering there for years and they will in the future," said founder DiLullo. "The wedding gift market is around $17 billion, so it's a very big market and a lot of players. But there's no one approaching it the way we are. The foundation of the market are the premier stores, and there's no one bringing together this way."

WeddingChannel.com will sell some of its own products online, focusing on things that the couple buys, like attendant gifts and party favors.

DiLullo and her co-founder came up with the idea for the site as and entry for a student competition at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. One of the contest's judges was a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Beyers, which eventually decided to back the startup.

Expansion plans being considered
"We never made it to the second year [of school]," DiLullo said.

While the site is currently focused on weddings, Patton said the company sees potential in other areas.

"There's clearly an opportunity. The Internet enables a kind of communication that wasn't available earlier," she said.