A beach wedding may be a cheaper option?

Marriage may be for better or worse, but it is definitely for poorer, with the average wedding now setting couples back �61 a minute according to new research.

In total, getting hitched today sets a happy couple and their family back a hefty �25,500 - the equivalent of �1 a second.

In recent years, the cost has soared well above inflation.

Tying the knot in the 1970s cost just �1,850, a mere �4.40 a minute or �43 in today's money.

Happiest day

The figures calculated from the Office of National Statistics include the cost of wedding presents, transport plus accommodation costs paid out by guests - and assume a wedding lasts seven hours on average.

Today's couples marry for good and appropriate reasons, which include love, companionship and a deep sense of care for each other Christine Webber, psychotherapist

The cost of the big day has become more expensive over the decades, particularly in the 1990s.

In the 1980s, the average wedding cost �10,625 or �19,000 in today's money.

But in the 1990s it increased to �15,525 or �24,700 at today's prices.

Psychotherapist Christine Webber believes couples are becoming more choosy about their nuptials.

She said: "Today's bridal couples have lived a lot more than those marrying even just a generation ago. They are more sophisticated. They've acquired more worldly goods. They are usually more financially secure.

"And the female partners don't need to get married in order to gain status and security - or even to have babies.

"All this, in my view, means that today's couples marry for good and appropriate reasons, which include love, companionship and a deep sense of care for each other.