A typical kosher wedding for 200 guests now costs the hosts £55,000 - or £130 a minute - and significantly more if held at a top London hotel.
Our investigation has also found a significant "kosher premium" at prestigious venues. The Dorchester charges £15,000 more for the hire of its ballroom for a kosher event - £18,500 as opposed to £3,500. A spokesman explained that the disparity was because kosher functions required an outside caterer.
Synagogue leaders and the JC's Money Mensch, Martin Lewis, have warned that couples are starting married life in debt having organised lavish parties to "keep up with the Cohens".
Senior Reform movement rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner said: "There's almost a superstitious feeling about the wedding, that if you get a perfect wedding you get a perfect married life. I think that is disproportionate. The two things are not necessarily aligned.
"The more you spend, the more pressure there is and the less successful you will be, quite possibly."
At the other end of the spectrum, more people are turning to wedding gemachs, who can help keep the price of the celebration down, supplying some essentials without charge in cases of need.
And to encourage those of limited means to have a kosher wedding, a United Synagogue service can arrange a party for 120 for under £3,500.
