Where are the best places around to shop for a wedding dress? (The relevant tag seems mostly concerned with alterations.)

Um, particularly if one is not of the type who has thought about such things all their life (or, y'know, ever) and thus had no idea how far in advance people expect you to plan and so the event is a little over a month away leaving no time for the apparently usual 2-3 month wait. (Speaking entirely theoretically, of course, because no reasonable person would be in such a situation, right?)

Even better would be great places to rent a dress, because it seems absurd to buy one when I'll only need it the once. (Why is it so much easier to rent a tuxedo, an item whose owner could reasonably wear it time and again?)