The wedding hijackers are putting people off

A new survey says that the cost of weddings is putting folks off getting married.  This is quite a shame, as the dreaded "cost" is a case of the Emperor's new clothes.  People have been brainwashed to believe that nuptials can't take place unless decent amounts of wedge have been thrown at the rock (forget it if you don't spend a whole month's salary says a diamond specialist's press office), Hen and Stag extravaganzas (only several days abroad will suffice), the dress (bespoke dahlink), the flowers (enough to bring on a chorus of hayfeverish sneezing in the Church) and the honeymoon (this must be somewhere suitably exotic, exclusive and secluded (this extended time alone together must surely be a contributory factor to the divorce rate).  It is all tosh -- a wedding can be done cheaply if you're concerned with the act of getting married rather than the exhibitionism of The Big Day. But that's not to say that, if you have the reddies, a grand affair isn't a nice thing.