Why is wedding photography so much more expensive now than when my parents got married?

A lot has changed in photography since your parents’ wedding. Chances are that when your parents got married, wedding photographers typically worked from set shot lists and only took the photographs that they knew would sell after the wedding. This led to cookie-cutter wedding photography that left every wedding album looking almost exactly the same. The true story of the day was left untold. Your parents’ photographer probably took fewer than 200 photos at their wedding. Today’s wedding photojournalists may take 10 times that many as they document the unique story of a couple’s wedding day. Digital wedding photography has led to advancements in wedding albums, too. Today’s wedding albums are original works of art with custom-designed layouts that are produced using the same methods employed for art books and magazines. This is a time-intensive process that requires all of the skill, talent, and artistry that professional wedding photographers already bring to their viewfinders.