PRICELESS: Archana and Subash wrote in their wedding announcement in Kantipur, "We want to publicly announce that we began our married life on 13 October without any unnecessary costs, and will donate the money to various charitable organisations."

A quarter-page ad in Kantipur announced the wedding of Archana Dahal and Subash Bhattarai on 24 November? but theirs was no ordinary wedding. No extravagant ceremony with pricey invitations, dowry and lavish party. Instead the couple opted to give all the money their parents had set aside for the occasion to charity and have a small, humble gathering at a temple.

Less than a week after the ad appeared, the couple received an overwhelming response with more than 700 emails and 400 SMSs from Nepalis who had read the announcement from all over Nepal and abroad. Some were deeply touched while others wished they had foregone a lavish affair in favour of something less costly.

A man from Qatar seemed irked that the couple hadn't decided to marry earlier: "If you had," he wrote in his email, "I wouldn't have to leave my pregnant wife, so I can pay off the loans we took for our wedding. I would've known that there was another option."

Subash, who works for the Jaycees and Archana who works at Nabil Bank in Damak, are an educated and savvy couple who want change. Subash wanted to set an example in Damak and he fought hard to convince his parents to sanction his marriage, while his wife was easily convinced. "It's not about rejecting your culture," she says, "you should be able to spend only as much as you can."

"We thought what we were doing would be something new," says Subash, "but there were lots of people who replied to our ad, saying that they were doing the same."

Chakra Bohara and Gita Mainali Bohara in Dang are one such couple who spent as little as they could when they tied the knot five years ago, while Rajan and Durga had a similar approach. "Instead of using the money for our wedding," said Durga, "we saved the money to finance our further studies."

But marriage counselor for the online matrimonial service nepalmatrimonial.com, Shrijana Singh Yonjan says that cases like these are exceptions. Many young people such as Chakra and Gita who have intercaste marriages usually conduct the marriage by themselves, often fresh out of college and have no choice but to be frugal. They do it because their decision hasn't been accepted by their parents. "The majority of Nepalis," she says, "still attempt to prove their affluence with lavish weddings." While many youngsters are now opting for court marriages, it's still usually the parents who decide on the format of the ceremony.