This week’s blog is dedicated to my aunt who lost her battle with cancer two months ago. While going through her pictures in preparation for her memorial, we found her wedding album with all of her old receipts and planning details. I thought it might be fun to share the information from the past with all of you and take a look back at how pricing and details have changed when compared to today! In light of the fact that it’s Mother’s Day on Sunday and also the 1 year wedding anniversary for my cousin Traci, I thought I would compare my aunt’s retro wedding to her daughter’s more current affair.
First and foremost, just to give a reference of the difference in financial status, the average salary in 1974 was $8,030.76, according to the national average wage index. In 2009 (since 2010 has yet to be updated), the average salary was $40,711.61 – that’s 5 times the money that was being made in a 35 year span.
My aunt was married on May 18, 1974. Her invitation had a picture of a bride and a groom kissing on the front of it and the scenery appears to be a forest of some sort, which already screams “1970’s.” She was married at St. Christopher Church in Metairie and had her reception at the Champagne Room on Jefferson Highway, which was one of the most expensive reception halls at that time, according to my mother! The church, from my mother’s memory, was free as long as you paid the priest and gave “a little something” to the altar boys. My aunt had a 3 hour reception for 300 guests and the package included food, alcohol, the wedding cake, engraved napkins, coffee service and the use of palm trees, which was apparently serious back then! The service charge was 15% and the grand total - $1656.25 (which breaks down to $5.52/head)
Her daughter, Traci, was married on May 8, 2010. Her invitation was on plain ivory thicker card stock with black print which is more traditional in this millennium – no picture, no fold, just a straight forward invitation! She was married at St. Patrick’s Church in New Orleans and her reception was at the Chicory on South Peters, which was brand new at the time of Traci’s wedding. St. Patrick’s charged $2,000.00 plus a coordinator fee, plus a fee to the music director and “a little something” for the priest. She had a 3 hour reception for 275 guests, which included food, alcohol, tables, chairs and linens, but no palm trees, however the Chicory provided potted plants for Traci to use if she do desired and she did!
Service charge is now 20% and the grand total was almost $25,000 (which breaks down to $90/head tax and tip included)
My aunt purchased her invitations from Gem Printing, who is still in business and a company that I use regularly today. As a matter of fact, Traci ordered her invitations from GEM as well! For my aunt, 200 invitations and printed envelopes totaled $47.18. For Traci, 175 invitations, printed envelopes and thank you cards totaled $175. The most remarkable thing about finding the Gem Printing receipt was not the price. It was the fact that the receipt is exactly the same in 1974 as it is today – the only difference is the address!
Some other comparable prices were the photographer which was $140 for my aunt and $1800 for Traci. Something that I found interesting about the photographer’s contract back then is that you paid the photographer in full once you picked up your product, not before the wedding/on the day of your wedding, and your order was ready 6 weeks after the wedding. Today, IF the photographer has the pictures ready, the bride certainly has not picked her pictures in enough time to produce an album 6 weeks after a wedding. The only other receipt I found was for flowers. I did not find a total for my aunt’s final order, but I can tell you that her bouquet was $15.00 versus Traci’s which was $150.00.
What we can learn from this look back is that although the average salary has increased by 5 times the amount it was 35 years ago, the cost of a wedding has increased by a heck of a lot more. The reception alone is more than 10 times the amount today as it was in the 70’s. I think there are several contributing factors to why weddings have become so commercial and out of control, but one of those factors has to be the very generation that this blog goes out to: The Baby Boomers. The moms that got married when my aunt got married and grew up in the same time when times were tough, money was tight and women did not have their own money. Now, moms want to give their daughters everything they had and then some and since a lot of these women work, they can do just that. So next time you are fighting with your mother over wedding decisions, remember that they just want more for you, although how far these moms will go is a different entry all together. We can at least give them reprieve this weekend – it is Mother’s Day after all!
Traci, Sam and I were so sorry to hear about your Mom. You have our sincere condolences. We are grateful we had the change to meet your Mom. You are definitely in our thoughts.
ReplyDeletePhotography sure has changed since 1974. The obvious change was switching from film to digital. This big change came at about 2002, when Canon came out it's it digital rebel and canon 10d bodies. These were the first camera bodies that worked with the lenses photographers already had and were affordable. Both were 6 megapixels, the digital rebel body was $1,000. Before this most digital bodies were in the $6,000+ range.
The change between digital and film really changed up the photographers work flow. Back in the day the photographer would show up with about 6 rolls of film with 24 or 36 exposures on each roll. So They were taking about 216 photos maximum. Most of the photographers work was finished that day. After they were done shooting they would drop the rolls off at the local lab who would develop the film and color print out the old style photo proofs. The photographer would pick these up put them in a proofbook and deliver them to the client about a week later. Then you would pick out your photos for an album from this proofbook, and you were not allowed to keep these proofs, but you could usually purchase them for a few hundred dollars more. Your proofs were also not color corrected or airbrushed in anyway. Sometimes if you paid extra both services could have been done for the final slip in album. A big deal back then was being able to purchase your negatives from a photographer so you could make your own prints. That was big extra bucks and impossible to get from your photographer. So a brides memories were about 20 photos in the final album.
Digital just changed everything. The biggest differences are is the end product and the photographers work flow. Back in the day we were just dropping off the film to the lab and submitting orders to the lab. These days we are taking thousands of photos at each wedding. I take about 3,000 for each day. Instead of spending an hour driving to the lab to drop off the work, I now spend about 40-50 hours on each wedding sorting though them, color correcting them and touching up every single image by hand in photoshop. The photographer does all the work now and not the lab. Which is probably why the cost up front has changed. We tend to give about 1,000 final images for each wedding. While some photographers don't give out discs these days, 90% do - and the brides get to keep every single image on disc . They get a lot of memories. They get to make their own prints. They get to have choices on B&W and color options. The new flush mount albums are worlds away from the 20 image slip in albums of even 1999.
Dramatic changes indeed.
Thanks Sandra. Yea, we were definitely shocked when she passed away! The best things is that she was there for the wedding, and we all had such an amazing time - pictures to even prove it!
ReplyDeleteWhen Kelly started writing, I was amazed at so many things! Pricing is an obvious change, but waiting to get paid until it's all said and done! That doesn't happen in any industry these days! It's all really interesting to compare the two! And I'm sure, just as much as I loved every aspect of my wedding (and I do mean every, except for maybe a certain person at St. Patrick's), my Mom enjoyed her wedding all the same!