The Evolution of Wedding Photography

Wedding Photography Trends through History

Weddings have transformed over the last century from being a small-scale intimate celebration shared by family  to a multi-billion dollar industry. ​

An indigenous wedding at York Factory, Manitoba. 1925. LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA/CANADA. DEPT. OF MINES AND TECHNICAL SURVEYS

According to a WeddingBells.ca survey of 2,309 Canadians in 2014, couples nearing or just coming away from the big day indicated they believed the average expected cost of a Canadian wedding is about $22,429 or $27,899 with a honeymoon. [Source: Slice]

It's hard to pin down exact numbers. They vary a lot between socio-economic groups. However, the most consistent stat I have read is that even since the 1930s couples have been shelling-out about 25% of their annual income for their celebrations. 

As the wedding itself has evolved, photography styles and expectations have also see a tremendous shift. 

​Check our a few of my favourite trends over the decades...

1920s Weddings

Turn of the century wedding photography was typically taken in a portrait studio and often not even on the wedding day. 

Occasionally, you will see photos of brides and grooms standing stiffly outside the church, but the fashion of the day seems to be formal posed pictures of the couple in front of a backdrop. 

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1940s Weddings

My grandparents fell in love writing letters back-and-forth during WWII. My grandpa asked her to marry him the day he landed back home in Southern Alberta. Their wedding day was a total disaster. A huge storm washed out the roads and no one (including the minister) bothered showing up to the ceremony. All the little sandwiches that had been carefully prepared by my grandmother and the women in her family for the luncheon after the service, went bad because there were no refrigerators to keep them cool. 
As a result of the whole fiasco, there are no photos from their actual wedding day. When they returned home from their honeymoon they got dressed up in their wedding clothes again and posed for portraits in a studio. Much to my grandma's dismay the photographer handed her a bouquets daisies (which she hates) to hold for the pictures. 
​
I can't imagine handing a bride flowers and expecting her to just pose with them! But, that was photography at the time. ​

1940s Wedding Portrait

The dresses match the drapes

1960-70s
The seventies were an incredible era to be alive for so many reasons! But, mainly because the wedding fashion was appallingly hilarious. 
​PLUS! The trend of disturbing photo-manipulation-techniques. 

​Photo Manipulation
Let me manipulate your mind....This creepy analog editing trend has to be one of my all time favourites!
We've all seen these on awkwardfamilyphotos.com or some similar posting. They are amazing in the awfulness!
This has to have been the best and worst trend in photography ever. 

Bride on the brain?

1980s
While the eighties were a pretty wild decade for fashion, photography trends were pretty tame comparatively. This photo of a bride and groom posed, in what looks like the ceremony venue smiling and standing normally is typical of the times. 

We don't see these shots in of the couple posed in the ceremony venue or church very often any more but they're not unheard of if it's decorated attractively or the weather is bad outside. 

Wayne Gretsky married Janet Jones in my home city of Edmonton at St. Joseph's Basilica on July 16, 1988. There were 700 people invited to the wedding and Janet's dress was reported to have cost $40,000. Photo by Dave Buston/The Associate Press.

The 2000s

​And, the birth of Photoshop! 
Apparently, photographers did not learn how jarring playing god was with old-school editing. I think I'm glad though because the results are hilarious!

The early 2000s also saw a gross trend in photography, where couples and/or photographers were trying to get "creative".

I got married in 2011 and was just seeing the tail end of this, and definitely have friends who fell victim. I'm ashamed to admit I did a 007 pose in more than one bridesmaids dress. And I myself have a photo of me flexing and my groom holding my flowers—ick!

Images like the one on the right with the bride on the groom's shoulder, using perspective to make the bride or groom look like a giant squashing the bridal party, or an unnecessary use of props were classics during this period.

It was like we were bored of people looking attractive...

​It was also in the early 2005s continuing to present, that we see (what I think is

 one of the best photography styles—and the style I was trained in) is photojournalistic wedding photography.

Some photographers take it to the extreme with shots of the bride relieving herself in her gown etc. (which I actually love). 

I think that what this philosophy of photography allows for is the telling of a couples story and a chance to really show of their personalities, creating a real feel for what the day was—for better or for worse. That said, there are downsides and this is that a true photojournalist does not edit their images. I happened to have a large pimple on my lip the day of my wedding which I now get to remember for all of time... lucky me ha!

It's the photos that I look back on over and over again and am so glad I have every single one of them. 
I had a videographer at my wedding, but hardly ever look at the video unless I want to remember specific things that people said in their speeches. 

As we head into the 2020s we are seeing an increasing trend in stylized photos of the bride and groom. These are sort of a mix between lifestyles photography that you see on the wall and glamour shots you'd find in a magazine. They're designed to look like not a lot of effort was put into them but are elegant often with moody editing. 

I like looking at these and when you score a couple who look like they belong on in a glossy magazine.... but we're not all glamorous looking and these can sometimes fall a bit sideways.

Another recent trend I'm seeing is prompt-based or "un-posed" photography.  This involves asking people a series of questions or directing them to say certain things to each other like—"whisper the names of breakfast cereals in a sexy voice into their partner's ear"—and then capturing their reactions. If done well the shots end up looking a lot more natural then repeatedly telling a group to "relax" and "look natural",  

Somewhere in the mix of all this there is a balance that each photographer finds for themselves. Their own unique style. 

Photo by Jakob Owens

People are consuming more photography than ever before in history. How many hours does the average millennial spend looking at photos on social media each day?

A recent report from Nielsen found that Generation X, or people between the ages of 35 to 49, spend almost seven hours a week on social media. Millennials, aged between 18 and 34, spend a little more than 6 hours per week, the study found. By contrast, people over 50 spend about 4 hours a week on social media. [Source]

This has afforded us an enormous influx of beauty in our lives. We are bombarded by talented artists everyday. 
People have more of an understanding of photography as a medium, of their preferences and style. And people want more professional level images of themselves and their events than ever before. 

​It's a great time to be a photographer!