Most children are bored at weddings — that's why they invented the kids' table — but Yemi Osunkoya says he was always captivated. "It's a bit of a cliché, but ever since I was about 6 or 7, I would draw," says the Nigerian native. "I'd come back from the weddings and draw what I'd seen. Then I started putting my own ideas into my drawings and not just copying what I had seen."

Osunkaya's gone from gazing at the brides to dressing them. His label, Kosibah, clothes some of the most glamorous aristocrats and entertainers in Britain, where he's made his home. "My whole purpose is to celebrate the female form, regardless of size," the designer explains. "My designs are not stock [pieces] that a client looks at and says, 'I'll have that.'" Instead, he works with his customers over the course of multiple fittings to create beautiful bespoke pieces.

What about the best-known bride-to-be these days, Kate Middleton? Well, the designer is on heightened fashion alert and will be watching on TV just like any Briton — "Anybody who says they won't be is lying, — and he has some ideas about the princess-to-be's dress. (Though, he notes, he is not privy to any inside information.) "I predict she's going to wear something form-fitting," what he calls an amended A-line, "with some form of sleeve — maybe illusion or three-quarter. Covered, but not in a mumsy kind of way." There will be a "wow" factor to the dress, but with a modern twist."

As for Osunkaya, who will be celebrating 20 years in business come September, there are no immediate plans to expand anytime soon: "I'm the sort of person who believes — find your specialty, find your niche. And I absolutely love doing bespoke bridal wear."

For more up-to-the-minute details, see our Royal Wedding hub.