No offense to Cinderella, but she sort of had it backwards. The shoe should be at the end of the to-do list for a wedding fairy tale.

After the engagement, first consider the venue, then the dress — then the shoes and other accessories,wholesale underwear experts say. Collectively, they should have a complementary vibe.

"It's all a picture that comes together," says gown designer Reem Acra.

No flip-flops for a formal setting and dress, and satin pumps would be silly on the beach.

Tanya Dukes, accessories editor at Brides magazine, suggests these practical questions:

— How high for the heel? Think of the proportions of the dress, how tall you'll stand and if you are used to wearing heels at all, she says.

— Is the wedding outside? A lawn wedding, for example, could be trouble for a spiky heel.Off-Shoulder Wedding Dresses A wedge would fare better.

— How formal is the occasion? Fabric matters here. "Satin is the traditional choice, and it's a safe bet," Dukes says.uniform costume

And then there's deciding whether you ever want to wear the shoes again.

"Most women don't wear their bridal shoes again not because they're not wearable, but because they're a memento," says footwear designer Stuart Weitzman, who got his start in business in bridal more than 25 years ago. "I make every bridal shoe in dyeable satin, so you could wear them again, but you'd lose the memento, and then you'd wear those dyed shoes once and ruin those 'bridal shoes.' Most women never throw them out."

Weitzman says his success in this market is due partly to an observation by Judith Leiber, founder of the famous beaded bag collection, who noted an "ugly bluish tone" to most wedding shoes. He created a pair out of Swiss lace, won a design award for them and the rest is history.

He sees as much variety in wedding-shoe styles as he does on the street: Women want sandals,Christmas Costume stilettos, platforms and lace booties, but the traditional pump is the most popular.

Shoes often spend most of the big day covered by the gown's hemline, but they can be a glimpse of the bride's personality. The moment the shoes will probably get the most attention is right before she kicks them off to dance, says Acra with a laugh.