Wedding Invitations: The Value Proposition
I no longer continue to be surprised (but remain amused) at the incessant Internet chatter regarding cheap wedding invitations. We live in a society that places a price on everything, but values little. I know that sounds a bit harsh, but consider how TV ads focus more on price than on value. Take the fellow on vacation with his family who discovers that one of the other guests received the same vacation package for half the price. Will the family vacation experience suffer by this new-found knowledge or is it simply a case of diminished self-worth? Or how about the family watching a film who learn that the family sitting in front of them eating 2,000 calories of popcorn got in for free with their reward miles? Will this stifle the family’s happy outing? It used to bother me, but not anymore as I have learned that price/value relationships are not always black and white.
Some 40 years ago Sheila and I lived in Rome, Italy in a delightful 3-story walk-up on Via San Calisto in Trastevere that overlooked Sabatini’s restaurant. The facade of the building was over 400 years old so I had difficulty understanding Scandinavian travel posters which advertised to travellers that they should “See Italy now before the Italians destroy it!” I suppose the Scandinavians think that Ikea furniture will stand the test of time.
With my Chicago-school economic education it was (and remains) difficult to understand certain aspects of Italian culture: I refer to it as the “Value Proposition.” My first experience with the Value Proposition was when I went into a tobacco store to purchase stamps for a postcard. I was shocked to find out that the amount of postage depended on the number of words you wrote on the postcard. If I recall correctly, if you wrote more than five words (other than the address of the recipient) it bumped you into a higher postage category.
To Italians, this concept seemed most reasonable: you are receiving “more value” and, as such, you be prepared to spend more. To my mind, the cost of delivering the postcard is the same regardless of how many words are written on it and, as such, the price of the postage should be the same. There are many other examples I could list, but clearly Italians seem to think that price is more closely associated with value than cost. This Value Proposition still remains somewhat alien to my economic training, but speaks volumes of the dehumanizing process of seeking “value” in today’s price-driven economy.
Despite Internet rhetoric to the contrary, there is limited (if any) intrinsic ”value” in a “cheap wedding invitation.” In fact, the intrinsic value relates to the adjective (i.e. “cheap”) rather than the wedding invitations. I realize that this may seem like semantics, but – in my humble opinion - we need to place far greater emphasis on the Value Proposition of the event itself: the wedding ceremony, rather than the adjectives that tend define our economic circumstances or preferences.
The fact that one is getting married is a milestone event in most people’s lives. This time-honored and sacred event is a high-level Value Proposition. Channel your energies into crafting a wedding invitation that rises to the importance of the occasion and is within your budget parameters. By setting your goals on getting a “cheap” wedding invitation, you have effectively defined the importance or “cheapness” of the event to your bridal partner and the guests.
Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair
March 22nd, 2010 at 5:44 am
Hi Richard and Sheila…I read with great interest you articles on wedding stationery. I have just become one of the 14 million you might find online..but how I would love a little shop, with real live passers-by! But I live in a windy field on Ireland’s west coast so there will be no little shop for me, and no passers-by.
I’ve been an artist all my life, and while I’ve always felt that I was sitting on a pot of gold, somehow it has never materialised. Kids did, though! Now the youngest is five, I have some real time.
So I offer hand-painted, custom stationery for couples planning to wed. My favorite offering is to paint the story of their relationship, in three little pictures on their invitations. Your comments on value vs. price are interesting and very enlightening. I know that this is original art created by a skilled artist: they, however, don’t always feel that way. On the other hand, I’m happy to set out my stall and take my chances. It’s a marvelous adventure either way, one which I hope will make the pot fill with self-esteem, if not gold. However, two wonderful things happen when a bride chooses me, the newest kid on the block: I contribute to the family’s coffers, and the happiness that I give her is more than equaled by the happiness I get in return.
I shall be a regular reader from now on. Roisin