It is very weird the way the church and state are all tangled together in England. I think that the root of it is not "churches are pretty, registry officers are ugly" (after all, lots of people have civil ceramonies in castles and stately homes) but a much more complicated set of unvoiced prejudices that go "church weddings are _real_ weddings and registry office weddings are a cheap imitation for poor people and divorced people and foreign people". But people don't articulate this, they just feel strangely pressured into having a church wedding because registry office weddings are "bad", and then are annoyed and upset that the church wedding is not the wedding they want (especially because church weddings on the telly usually are completely made up) and this comes out in bitching about the vicor being an arse because they don't really understand what they've chosen to do or why.

(Or maybe I am too cynical)