JUST when you thought it was safe to go back to the department store, model Kate Moss has proved that suggestions of the demise of the more vulgar wedding list have been greatly exaggerated.

The list for her July 1 wedding to Kills guitarist Jamie Hince, according to national newspaper reports, allegedly contains requests for 14 crystal ashtrays from the antiques’ store Talisman.

She has also apparently asked for crates of 2002 Louis Roederer Cristal champagne at £1,833 each, a £4,750 cocktail set, a pair of mugs (£19.50) a pair of tea-strainers (£12.95) and a £5,000 cutlery service.

How different from the home-life of that other well-known Kate who, for her wedding to Prince William, eschewed expensive gew-gaws and instead asked for donations to 20 small charities supported by herself and her husband-to-be.

Just days before Moss’s alleged list hit the media, Kate and William revealed they had raised more than £1million for good causes.

Add to this the unconfirmed reports that our other royal bride, Zara Phillips, was requesting John Lewis vouchers from her guests and it looked as if the tide of nuptial acquisition was abating.

Let’s face it, if you have either got a home or, like Kate Moss, you are reportedly worth more than £30 million, why do you need all this stuff?

As one recently-married Bournemouth man explains: “We’d been together for a while before the wedding so we had all that we needed. We did get some presents but you live in fear of receiving six fondue sets.”

To many of us Brits the wedding gift list still seems a little alien – especially when it asks directly for money.

But the concept started life in 1924 at the Marshall Fields department store in Chicago as a means by which the happy couple could co-ordinate the gifts they needed to set up home together.

Very few couples in those days would have risked social wrath by “living in sin” and therefore would not have had the chance to accumulate the cutlery, crockery and linen they might need.

This type of wedding list still flourishes, according to Beales. “Cutlery, crockery and homewares are still high on couples’ lists,” said a spokesman. According to Debenhams, Le Creuset pots and pans are the favourite items requested.

However, fans of bridal websites will know that it’s fashionable to ask for money to pay for anything, including the honeymoon, “experience days” and even, in some cases, educational courses for the bride or groom.

Wedding magazine editor Catherine Westwood reckons guests prefer to be told what to buy.

“People do want to buy you a present and it’s better to say what you want rather than a random selection which is a waste of their money,” she says. “Going off-list is definitely not to be encouraged. It’s rarely a good thing.”

But supposing you really do have everything your heart – and home – desires?

Well, there are still options without going the Moss route. In 2007 the NSPCC launched its Celebrate and Give service, whereby those marrying could direct well-wishers to their own wish-list of goodies, and other big charities such as Oxfam also operate a similar scheme.

And the delightful Vintage Wedding List allows well-wishers to purchase retro and antique pieces for the bride and groom.

And if you are still stumped over what to do, then thank your lucky stars you are unlikely to end up with the gift bestowed on one unfortunate American couple. On a website devoted to the weirdest wedding gifts, one horrified bride announced she had received: “A plastic dog poo.”