In Egypt, weddings get costlier as economic hardships deepen

Nadia Mohammad Salem and her husband Mohammad al-Sayed pose for a picture on their wedding day, in Cairo, Egypt November 9, 2018. Picture taken November 9, 2018. REUTERS/Hayam Adel

CAIRO (Reuters) - Nadia Mohammad Salem started saving up for her wedding long before she got engaged. But getting married proved far more stressful than she'd imagined when her husband proposed a year ago.

The number of marriages across Egypt fell by nearly 3 percent in 2017, according to official data, and a lot of that appears to be down to rising costs.