Wedding lists - a blessing for guests

One of the most gratuitous and exciting aspects of wedding planning for any husband and wife-to-be has got to be compiling the wedding list.

Instead of stressing over how many guests they can afford to feed at the reception or how financially-extravagant the wedding dress can be, they can sit back and think about what they can look forward to receiving from their loved ones to help them set up home.

It used to be that guests would give the bride and groom their blessings and maybe an envelope with a solitary £20 note, but all that has changed and now giving has become much more personalised.  

The beauty of the wedding list is that there will be no getting the same toaster twice or a cutlery set that is simply the wrong taste - couples can get everything they want.  

Daily Mail reporters Tanya Gold and Anne Shooter see the wedding list in a negative light, saying: "The message is: your input is not required. Kill your imagination. Destroy your sensitivity. Give us the spoons. Or you will not be invited to the wedding."

This is simply too harsh and really not the case. If anything, sending out a list along with the wedding invitations is the best thing the bride and groom can do for their guests - it takes the stress and the effort out of deliberating over potential presents, and means they can simply walk into the registered store or go online and make their purchase in no time.

What kind of wedding list have you opted for?