I have five weddings this month and the funny thing is almost all the brides and grooms-to-be were born in the year of the rabbit, are 30 years old. Either it's an auspicious year for rabbits or 30 is the age when people feel ready to take the plunge, settle down, give up their careless ways and finally become grown-ups.

I am sitting at the wedding dinner of one of these five couples (I forget which) and I realise that eight out of the 10 people on my table are single alluding to the fact that despite this torrent of matrimonial ceremonies in October, the majority of my friends are still very much single.

"Do you feel any pressure to get married?" I ask my friend, Ben, who is 30.

He shakes his head. "I don't feel I'm ready yet."