THERE'S no hiding from it, weddings are a lot of hard work. There's the months of preparations, deciding over bizzillions of choices on more subjects than a Blockbusters quiz book.

It costs thousands of pounds and can be emotionally draining. But there's one thing that makes it all worth it. If you are lucky, it will be with you for many years to come and will bring you great joy.

Yes, that's right. I'm talking about presents. I know, yes, that the big win here is eternal love and so on. But come on. A wedding is like the best Christmas ever.

Not only do all your friends and family have to buy you a present. But they have to stick to the list that you give them. Most years you ask for this and that, hope that someone will pick up on your subtle hints and optimistically open your gift; only to realise that it's not a Playstation 3, but a Lynx deodorant gift set from Boots. And a funny smelling one to Boot (sic).

As evidence of the power of the wedding list I refer to a story from a journalistic colleague of mine. One of his best friends was pretty intelligent and went on to be a doctor, a proper big earner by all accounts.

The wedding was lavish and expense was not spared — the kind of do where it's rude to eat only the pickle and leave the cheese. It was the kind of wedding where, and I kid you not, they put plasma screen tellies on their gift list.

And people bought them. Genius. I think my mate ended up buying a pepper pot. He couldn't afford the set as getting the salt would have cost another £35. Now if you're one of my guests and are beginning to sweat you can rest easy. I know exactly where I'd find a £35 condiment holder if I asked for one. So I'm not going to be asking for high value gifts on our list.

But it is difficult to know exactly what to do about the gift list. Lucy and I have lived together for almost six years and have more than enough stuff to fill our small studio apartment. I like the idea of our friends helping to set us up in our first home as man and wife.

But I don't know why, but asking for money seems a bit cheeky. I do like the idea of asking people to pay towards a honeymoon but ours is already taken care of.

Maybe we can ask whoever looks after the wedding presents to keep them at their house until we find a home? But I know one thing, there's room in our flat for a Playstation 3.