This "something borrowed" comes from DressOfALifetime.com in S. CA. This is a great site with: custom design services; off the rack, celebrity, European, and bridesmaid dresses. They also sell accessories. They offer more variety than is generally found at big stores.

This is the best article I've found on picking a dress by body style. Most articles tell you about the dress silhouettes and make you read them all to figure out which will work best for you, this one starts with your body type and helps you select a dress silhouette to flatter your figure.

DressOfALifetime.com is an online company that specializes in custom-made dresses. Owner Meredith Kolod, started the company two years ago in her reaction to her own wedding dress search. "I was very dissastisfied with what was out there. I wanted to give [brides] the option of having a more customized dress," Kolod said.

Dress of a Lifetime has an online catalog of dresses they can make, or a bride can combine a few patterns or sketch her own and have Dress of a Lifetime make it for her. A bride can also have a designer gown nearly replicated for a fraction of buying designer. "You've got these gorgeous gowns, but brides can't afford them," Kolod commented. "We can't complete replicate designer gowns but we can bring designer style and quality gowns at an affordable price."

Customer service at Dress of a Lifetime also is a high priority. It's a small company that works with a few brides at a time and Kolod is available after hours. The average dress is around $750; time from approval of the dress design to delivery is six to ten weeks. "We send them the sketches to have them approved free of charge. Usually we go back and forth several times. From there after they approve and sign and date the sketches, we can start making the gowns and picking the fabrics."