Let's raise a glass to the shoestring bridal party

As artist Georgina Porteous and singer-songwriter Sid Innes tied the knot, they got their priorities absolutely right.

In lieu of gifts, their delighted guests chipped in with bring-and-share party food for the picnic reception in a barn behind the couple's Inverness home, Georgie's auntie made the three-tier cake and her dad provided the music for the party by playing his saxophone.

They had to pay the £70 fee for their licence, but the local minister was so impressed with the wedding plans that he offered to conduct the ceremony for free. And the £1 cost? Ah well that was the price of the bride's perfectly fine second-hand dress, picked up on a 'swop' basis, courtesy of the internet.

Apparently the average outlay for a wedding these days is a staggering £20,000. A breathtaking amount and at a time when so many young couples can't come anywhere near managing to save towards the soaring deposit to invest in their own home.

But the most important thing around this charming little tale was the whole attitude of the couple and the bride's feelings after her big day. She said: "I don't see the point in these massive weddings. We didn't want or need a big fancy affair. We had a ball. The day went beautifully and people said it was the best wedding they had ever been to."

Some might accuse Georgina and Sid of joining the Mean Brigade by tying the knot on the cheap. But they were actually making a powerful point. That weddings are about the promises and the joining together of two lives, not about fripperies and the trappings.

I've known whole wedding parties go to pieces on the morning of the nuptials because the flowers were not quite as ordered or the ribbon on the bride's car was the wrong colour. Not to mention the later catastrophic discovery that Fred was inadvertently seated next to Mary and they don't speak.

Rubbish isn't it? Nothing to do with the marriage vows and with a massive, for some unaffordable, bill at the end of it.

Good luck to Georgie and Sid, I say. Those who think being a big spender is the only way to wedded bliss should take note!