Kapusta,
A) Costs have been reduced, and for a typical “yeshivish” or chassidish chasunah, there’s not much more to cut, short of what Mammele described.
B) A tallis is not exactly a luxury, nor a great expensive.
C) Again, depends on what’s expected. It’s not correct to expect something which would be embarrassing. I’m also not sure it would save a lot. I’m kind of with you on vorts. I really wish we could do away with those, but again, you can’t ask a poor chooson/kallah to be the trend setter.