The couple did sign a magazine contract after all, but guests received a confidentiality clause to sign along with the suede wedding invitations. A security guard claimed the couple had cancelled months ago but asked the castle owner, the Earl of Carnarvon, not to tell anyone.Highclere was the venue for Jordan's lavish pink wedding last year - around the time Cheryl Tweedy was insisting: "We're not going to do a mag deal. However, reporters found the gates wide open and a marquee being dismantled. Rights had been sold to OK! magazine for £1m and there was much talk of tasteful little details such as a monogrammed diamante coat for Buster, the bride's pet chihuahuh. The footballer's wedding - dubbed by some as the tackiest of the year - had been expected to take place at Highclere Castle in Berkshire.

"We wanted a big do, and we both fell in love with the place," said Stephen, 37. "We wanted to do our own thing, but people are definitely influenced these days by celebrities. They want to be seen to be keeping up with the Joneses."The press could not keep up with the Coles yesterday. But 20 per cent go into debt.The Atkinson betrothal took place inside the Great Hall at Allerton Castle. The good news for fathers is that 80 per cent of couples now pay for their own event. The cost of a wedding is typically three times more than people expect. Other recent wedding requests have included a bar made of 2m-thick blocks of ice with the names of the couple engraved on it, and a Yo-Sushi style conveyor belt for a rice and raw fish supper.This summer, 230,000 couples are expected to marry in Britain, spending nearly £4 billion.

"They want a taste of the life that the new celebrity footballers and their crowd experience."A couple asked him for a mirrored dancefloor after seeing one at the party thrown by the Beckhams before the World Cup. White doves are the must-have accessory this summer, even for young lovers marrying in the local parish church."People want more than the usual three-course sit-down meal in a bog standard marquee," said Marc Sharer, a partner at Taste wedding planners. The meringue wedding dress, symbol of Eighties excess, is back in fashion Stretch limos are taking the place of Rolls-Royces. "We are over the budget," admitted Natalie, 26, an accountant from Scunthorpe. "But then again, most people are over their budget."Influenced by the ostentatious weddings of David and Victoria Beckham or Jordan and Peter Andre, even couples with uncelestial budgets are saving up for a bit of bling on their big day.