The shops are full of floaty dresses and fancy hats. Stately homes and posh hotels take big adverts to tell the world about their lavish catering facilities and elegant rooms for that special occasion.

Yes, it's that time of year again when everyone suddenly seems to be getting married. It's hard to believe that marriage is supposed to be going out of fashion. There are two weddings in our family this year. Both couples are very much in love and deeply serious about the commitment they're taking on, and we're all truly happy about it. But there's still an awful lot of work involved in organising these special events, a lot that it seems you just can't do without.

Apparently, couples now spend an average £17,249 on their wedding. You hear of some who say they can't afford to marry, simply because they haven't the money to spend on a lavish wedding day. That's in spite of the fact that you can get married, even in church, for around £100. It's the frills that are expensive, not the ceremony itself. The hen and stag nights, the wedding dress, the bridegroom's suit, outfits for bridesmaids, parents of bride and groom - and these days probably for the couple's children too. Then there's the food, the venue for the reception and perhaps the ceremony as well, the sit-down meal followed by the evening disco - and the honeymoon in some exotic location. All that to organise, all that expense - no wonder the total comes to a sum to make any couple blench and think again.

Contrast that with my own wedding back in the sixties. No hen or stag night beforehand, a church service, a dress I made myself, one bridesmaid in a dress her mother made, and a buffet reception in the church hall afterwards. There was no evening function - we were at our honeymoon hotel by that time, reached by train in the day. It was a pretty typical affair.

But then, in those days, the parents of the bride traditionally paid for the wedding, and they decided how much was spent on it. If they hadn't much money - as mine hadn't - then you had what they could afford. In any case, there were only two places you could get married, in your local church or chapel, or at the registry office.

It's the difference between a home-made affair and a major industry catering for couples who prefer to organise the whole thing themselves, and often pay for most of it. Which is fine, and a relief for the parents, but does mean they face a huge amount of stress and expense just as they're coming up to this most important day in their lives.

Isn't there a danger that in the midst of all the preparation they'll sometimes forget what it's all about? That they'll think of the wedding day as an end in itself, after which, by some magic, they'll automatically live happily ever after?

So, what I wish for the two couples in our family who are getting married this year is not just a very happy day. But also that 30, 40, 50 years from now they'll look back on it as just one important step in an enduring relationship. They'll have had their ups and downs, but I hope they'll find that they've come out at the other end with a love and companionship forged in the fire, tried and tested, sustaining them into their later years.