Wheelbuilding / Wheel Building / Wheel build help

1) The rims I'm looking at have an internal rim width of 17.9mm and external of 25mm. Will that be okay for 25mm tyres? (I'm limited by guards)
2) Generally speaking, for a road wheel how many spokes should I put in the front? (I'll have 32 in the back)
3) For a strong set of wheels (with carbon rims) does anyone have any spoke recommendations?

1. Yes, pretty much ideal
   
2. If you're not racing, you might as well use 32 front too. The increase in reliability is large, the decrease in speed is small
   
3. Normal 14g double butted spokes are fine for pretty much anything, and there's not much to choose between any of the even slightly reputable brands. That's DT Competition, Sapim Race, ACI, Pillar, CNSpoke etc. If you're a porky lardass going off road touring with the kitchen sink strapped to your bike, the ones with 13g bends are worth having, e.g. DT Alpine III or Sapim Force, assuming they play nicely with your hubs.