4 ms·

>According to The Knot’s annual survey, the average wedding in 2017 cost $33,391, a slight dip from $35,329 in 2016, but still more than half of the median annu

by astura 8y ago

>According to The Knot’s annual survey, the average wedding in 2017 cost $33,391, a slight dip from $35,329 in 2016, but still more than half of the median annual household income in the United States. Uhhhh... I absolutely hate when the media uncritically (or at least without context/a disclaimer) parrots The Kont's "Real Weddings Survey" as meaningful, because, IMO, this number is somewhere between very misleading and complete bullshit. Some issues: -Selection bias - only includes people who sign up for wedding websites, (or in the case of Brides magazine’s “American Wedding Study,” subscribe to wedding magazines) which, by definition, excludes people who have reasonably priced weddings. People whose weddings are a BBQ in the backyard aren't signing up for wedding websites and subscribing to wedding magazines. -Reporting on average without including median, which is much, much less. One million dollar wedding can skew the average very high, and like I said before, the low side isn't even included in the data set to offset the Chelsea Clintons. -Conflict of interest - the wedding industry itself is the only one reporting these figures and the wedding industry has a vested interest in reporting astronomical numbers because it gets you primed to spend spend spend. https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/03/average-wedding-cost-published-numbers-on-the-price-of-a-wedding-are-totally-inaccurate.html https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/03/average-wedding-cos...

giarc 8y ago
I agree with most of your points, but this is a broad assumption that is likely not true "People whose weddings are a BBQ in the backyard aren't signing up for wedding websites and subscribing to wedding magazines."
- astura 8y ago
  People who are looking to spend money sign up for wedding websites and spend months wedding planning and their free time talking about wedding planning online; people who are looking to have a basic celebration don't get anything from hanging around a wedding website. Picking up a cake from the grocery store bakery hardly requires extensive planning. My wedding reception was a huge party at our house (we have a big house that can accommodate tons of people) and the total cost was maybe $300(?) in food and booze, perhaps a little more, but definitely less than $500. If our house wasn't big enough renting the Italian American Club that's down the street for a day couldn't cost more than a few hundred dollars. The ceremony itself was just the two of us signing some papers in an office at city hall the total cost $100 for the JP and ~$30 for the registration fee. I couldn't imagine signing up for wedding website. Why on earth would I want to? What would I get from it? "inspiration" for toppings on the pizza we ordered? A discussion on the merits of cherry tomatoes vs grape tomatoes in the toss salad?
  - Broken_Hippo 8y ago
    I can't agree more. I had plenty of time to plan a wedding. I knew I was getting married: After all, I moved to a different country a few weeks later. But what the heck would I use a bridal magazine for? Why would I want to sign up for a wedding website? We didn't even have presents nor a ceremony. Just some folks together in my mothers backyard. Granted, we sorely missed out on having folks come in costume, but that's quite alright.
    - analog31 8y ago
      People start reading bridal magazines years before they get married. They are treated to splendid weddings of celebrities and in the movies. They've seen the best and worst of wedding events. In addition to magazines, there are wedding industry shows in every town, where vendors show off their wares. Disclaimer: My spouse and I also missed out on a hollywood wedding -- we were in grad school at the time, and didn't want to spend any of our families' money. And I am now in the wedding industry, as a musician playing in what I would call "low budget" bands, typically for people who are on their second wedding.
      - Broken_Hippo 8y ago
        Ah, wow. Reading them years before they get married never really occurred to me. I have never really been into weddings and the surrounding ceremony I guess. I am on my second marriage and honestly did more for the second than the first (the first was a simple courthouse wedding, no reception). I would mention here that I really don't think I "missed out" on the whole fancy wedding, but "luckily was able to avoid it" :)
  - AlexTWithBeard 8y ago
    Same thing here. $300 for the wedding. The money saved went towards mortgage downpayment.
  - onemoresoop 8y ago
    We are living in a increasingly narcissistic culture, and theoretically wasting a huge amount of money which could be used in infinitely more practical ways is buying people one thing more and more people crave for, narcissistic supply.
rchaud 8y ago
Often times, it is the reports themselves that mention average and not median. If you want their full data set, you usually have to pay out the nose for their 'premium service' or whatever. At the end of the day, this article isn't investigative journalism. It's not different from articles where they obtain a quote from an email or phone call with a university professor on some topic, without a critical analysis of that professor's research focus, conflicts of interest, etc.
86carr 8y ago
I like the way you think
paulddraper 8y ago
How can someone with a straight face report mean wedding cost against median salary? So little jounalistic quality/scientific integrity.
- sk5t 8y ago
  Unfortunately, it's very challenging to hire wedding scientists nowadays, since the HFT firms have snapped them up.
  - paulddraper 8y ago
    I'll settle for journalists with an understanding of high school stats.
your-nanny 8y ago
Agree, but to be fair, backyarders are not the target market here.
C1sc0cat 8y ago
And ignores cultural aspects Indian (Asian) weddings can be Huge - in the UK in my relatively small county town we had one a few years back that had 600 guests.
qzw 8y ago
Very good points. Reminds me of the DeBeers-sourced "average cost of engagement ring" and the auto-industry's "average cost of new car" figures. It also takes advantage of the colloquial interpretation of "average" as meaning "normal". I think it all comes down to the endemic "journalism by press release" nature of a large portion of news media. But good journalism costs a lot of money, and the public is generally reluctant to pay for it in these relatively low importance subjects. That leaves the playing heavily tilted toward industries that are willing to spend to push their own narratives.

by astura 8y ago

giarc 8y ago

I agree with most of your points, but this is a broad assumption that is likely not true "People whose weddings are a BBQ in the backyard aren't signing up for wedding websites and subscribing to wedding magazines."

astura 8y ago
People who are looking to spend money sign up for wedding websites and spend months wedding planning and their free time talking about wedding planning online; people who are looking to have a basic celebration don't get anything from hanging around a wedding website. Picking up a cake from the grocery store bakery hardly requires extensive planning. My wedding reception was a huge party at our house (we have a big house that can accommodate tons of people) and the total cost was maybe $300(?) in food and booze, perhaps a little more, but definitely less than $500. If our house wasn't big enough renting the Italian American Club that's down the street for a day couldn't cost more than a few hundred dollars. The ceremony itself was just the two of us signing some papers in an office at city hall the total cost $100 for the JP and ~$30 for the registration fee. I couldn't imagine signing up for wedding website. Why on earth would I want to? What would I get from it? "inspiration" for toppings on the pizza we ordered? A discussion on the merits of cherry tomatoes vs grape tomatoes in the toss salad?
- Broken_Hippo 8y ago
  I can't agree more. I had plenty of time to plan a wedding. I knew I was getting married: After all, I moved to a different country a few weeks later. But what the heck would I use a bridal magazine for? Why would I want to sign up for a wedding website? We didn't even have presents nor a ceremony. Just some folks together in my mothers backyard. Granted, we sorely missed out on having folks come in costume, but that's quite alright.
  - analog31 8y ago
    People start reading bridal magazines years before they get married. They are treated to splendid weddings of celebrities and in the movies. They've seen the best and worst of wedding events. In addition to magazines, there are wedding industry shows in every town, where vendors show off their wares. Disclaimer: My spouse and I also missed out on a hollywood wedding -- we were in grad school at the time, and didn't want to spend any of our families' money. And I am now in the wedding industry, as a musician playing in what I would call "low budget" bands, typically for people who are on their second wedding.
    - Broken_Hippo 8y ago
      Ah, wow. Reading them years before they get married never really occurred to me. I have never really been into weddings and the surrounding ceremony I guess. I am on my second marriage and honestly did more for the second than the first (the first was a simple courthouse wedding, no reception). I would mention here that I really don't think I "missed out" on the whole fancy wedding, but "luckily was able to avoid it" :)
- AlexTWithBeard 8y ago
  Same thing here. $300 for the wedding. The money saved went towards mortgage downpayment.
- onemoresoop 8y ago
  We are living in a increasingly narcissistic culture, and theoretically wasting a huge amount of money which could be used in infinitely more practical ways is buying people one thing more and more people crave for, narcissistic supply.

rchaud 8y ago

Often times, it is the reports themselves that mention average and not median. If you want their full data set, you usually have to pay out the nose for their 'premium service' or whatever. At the end of the day, this article isn't investigative journalism. It's not different from articles where they obtain a quote from an email or phone call with a university professor on some topic, without a critical analysis of that professor's research focus, conflicts of interest, etc.

86carr 8y ago

I like the way you think

paulddraper 8y ago

How can someone with a straight face report mean wedding cost against median salary? So little jounalistic quality/scientific integrity.

sk5t 8y ago
Unfortunately, it's very challenging to hire wedding scientists nowadays, since the HFT firms have snapped them up.
- paulddraper 8y ago
  I'll settle for journalists with an understanding of high school stats.

your-nanny 8y ago

Agree, but to be fair, backyarders are not the target market here.

C1sc0cat 8y ago

And ignores cultural aspects Indian (Asian) weddings can be Huge - in the UK in my relatively small county town we had one a few years back that had 600 guests.

qzw 8y ago

Very good points. Reminds me of the DeBeers-sourced "average cost of engagement ring" and the auto-industry's "average cost of new car" figures. It also takes advantage of the colloquial interpretation of "average" as meaning "normal". I think it all comes down to the endemic "journalism by press release" nature of a large portion of news media. But good journalism costs a lot of money, and the public is generally reluctant to pay for it in these relatively low importance subjects. That leaves the playing heavily tilted toward industries that are willing to spend to push their own narratives.