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Preeti Desai, Miss Great Britain who helped launch the survey

British Asians would consider marrying outside their religion in order to find the perfect partner says a new survey.

The largest annual survey into British Asian relationships and weddings revealed that 52% of British Asians would marry outside their religion.

It also found that a third of British Asian wedding cost over £30k and most attract large numbers of overseas guests, according to the BT Together International Asian wedding survey.

The survey results, have been released in conjunction with the Asian Wedding Exhibition 2007 from a poll of over 1,000 Hindu, Muslim and Sikh men and women.

Preeti Desai, Miss Great Britain and the face of BT Together International at the Asian Wedding Exhibition 2007 said: "The majority of British Asian weddings (72%) have over 300 guests, and to add to the stress between 10% and 20% of invited guests live overseas.

"Most people said that the number of calls made to friends and relatives overseas increased in the run up to their wedding.

"When you're able to discuss wedding plans with friends, relatives and suppliers overseas for just 6p a minute, at least that's one less financial worry!"

"Whenever I call my relatives in India they always ask me when I'm going to get married! BT's survey makes me think that I'd better start saving now before I meet the right man!"

The BT Together International survey also reveals a contrast between the Asian community's more traditional values towards romance compared to the general British population.

The nationwide average age for marriage is 31 years for men and 29 years for women yet not a single Asian respondent thought it was ideal for a woman to marry in her thirties.

Amongst Asians, the majority (77%) of people believe the ideal age for men to get married is 26-29yrs while nearly half (44%) said the ideal age for females started much younger at 22-25yrs.

Attitudes on living with a partner outside of marriage also differed significantly from the national average.

Only 56% of Asians would cohabit with their partner before getting married and almost two thirds (64%) said they'd live with their in-laws after tying the knot.

Otto Rosenberger, Head of Voice, BT said: "Planning your wedding can be both an exciting time and a stressful one, especially when you have family, friends and suppliers in other countries who you need to consult with to make it all happen.

"BT Together International can help remove some of this stress by offering cheap calls abroad without the hassle of calling cards."

Yogesh Kanani, founder of the Asian Wedding Exhibition, said: "The Asian Wedding Exhibition increasingly attracts suppliers from the Asian Subcontinent as our customers look further afield to create their dream weddings.

"The trend for overseas suppliers, coupled with an increasing number of overseas wedding guests makes BT Together International, which eases communication between the UK and South Asia, the perfect partner for the Asian Wedding Exhibition 2007."

The Asian Wedding Exhibition 2007, takes place on 17 and 18 February at the Alexandra Palace in North London.

10:38am Tuesday 13th February 2007

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