A wedding deserves to be celebrated with a feast. And whether traditional or unconventional, elegant or riotous, minimal, theatrical, formal or relaxed … every wedding party should reflect the personalities of the couple. Yet in recent years, a wedding has become an excuse for a display of wealth.

Once just a party for friends and family after the service, it is now not unusual for a wedding celebration to be a three-day extravaganza, with lavish parties the night before and the day after. The average cost of a British wedding is shocking – £30,000 according to one recent survey. Some say it is all down to the example set by vulgar celebrity weddings, splashed over glossy magazines, but I think it is more due to the influence of a highly developed professional wedding industry.

Epic feasting does have its place. In some of the poorest parts of the world a wedding can last several days. It is a chance for a community to come together and a welcome, deserved escape from the difficulties of life. No one should deny them that. On such occasions guests often bring food, flowers and gifts of cash to the couple.