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In my experience there are two reasons for overlarge bundles. The first is (understandable) paranoia. If you do not put a piece of paper in the bundle and things do not go your client's way there is a good change you will be blamed for not putting document "X" before the judge. Clients often have a very different view from their lawyers on which documents are important.

The second reason is that bundles are often prepared by the office junior with little or no supervision and are filed without being checked. I understand this one too because you never recover the full cost of preparing bundles. Judges seem to think it is a much easier task than it actually is and therefore delegating it to someone with a lower charge out rate makes good financial sense. In the family courts no-one recovers costs and so there is overwhelming argument in favour of delegation.

Neither of these are adequate excuses for bloated bundles but they do perhaps explain what happens. Nothing will change until the court simply returns bundles which do not comply with the rules.

I was once involved in a case where there were a wide range of papers which might be relevant but probably were not. I did not put them in the bundle but I took sufficient copies with me in case they were needed. The judge demanded (somewhat tetchily) an explanation of why the documents were not included but when the matter was explained by Counsel I was commended for adopting a minimalist approach. Had all the documents been put in the bundle it would have doubled the size of it.

But yes - if you file a bundle which does not comply with the rules - you cannot then complain if you are the object of a degree of judicial ire.