Beat the credit crunch - book a church wedding, says bishop

The Bishop of Birmingham, Rt Rev David Urquhart, will help engaged couples slice a huge chunk off the cost of their wedding at the National Wedding Show in Birmingham this weekend.

He will be introducing visitors to the show at the NEC to the 'three V's' for choosing a church wedding: venue, vicar and vows.

With regard to venue, Bishop Urquhart will explain that all you need for a legal church wedding - in one of the Church of England's 16,000 places of worship - costs from as little as £350, and that couples can save even more by holding their reception at a church.

The other two V's, vicar and vows, refer to how the Church is in a unique position to offer support up to and beyond the big day, and give couples the meaningful vows ("for richer for poorer...") that are the ideal way to begin married life.

"The credit crunch has left us all reassesing our values and priorities, not just our financial situation," says Bishop Urquart. "A church wedding reminds us that love is a priceless gift from God. That's why I'm encouraging people to 'think church' when they are planning their wedding."

Bishop David is joining the team at the Church of England stand on Sunday afternoon, where the show's visitors will be able to plan their wedding online using the interactive website www.yourchurchwedding.org.

Around 1,000 couples a month are using the website, which contains 25 choices of popular hymns for weddings and 12 readings from the Bible. The planner merges the names of the bride and groom into the marriage service, which can be used as a discussion-starter when meeting the vicar to plan a church wedding.