It’s a nice day for a weed wedding

My wife and I got married on Oct. 1. We had cannabis at our wedding reception, and I’m here to tell you how it went. 

Since 2019, I’ve been active in the cannabis industry in various roles. I’ve been a budtender, marketing assistant and graphic designer. I’m currently working as a trimmer. So, in short, I thought it would be fun to incorporate my favorite plant on the most important day of my life.  

Without airing out all of my in-law’s business, my wife’s parents weren’t involved or invited to our wedding. My parents, however, were incredibly supportive throughout our wedding planning and even offered their backyard as a wedding venue — an offer we happily accepted.  

From there, I discussed with them my wishes to have weed at my wedding. My parents are aware that I eat, sleep and breathe cannabis, so they agreed, albeit with a few ground rules: 

• The cannabis must be separate from the rest of the wedding reception and have its own “consumption” area.  

• The cannabis should preferably be on a “need to know” basis. Don’t advertise it. 

So, “Operation: Weed Wedding” was born, but I had plenty of work to do. The first thing I needed to coordinate was the space for my “lounge.” My wife had the idea of getting an 8-foot -by-8-foot pop-up tent. One day, and $150 later, one arrived via Amazon.com. It was the perfect place to house our little cannabis corner.  

To meet my parent’s seclusion criteria, we put the weed tent behind my parent’s barn and prepared to stock it with our party favors. This led to the fun part of this adventure: curating and acquiring the goods. 

I met with two of my favorite budtender friends, Juniper Silva and Jessa Ramon, for advice on goodies for our wedding guests — but also recommendations for two stressed-out people planning a wedding.  

I wanted to provide our guests with half-gram prerolled joints — offering both sativa and indica options. The half-gram prerolls are the perfect size for one person, regardless of their experience level. Plus, it’d be easy to put out if they heard their song on the dance floor.  

Juniper suggested a sativa-hybrid strain called Driving Miss Daisy from Sapphire Farms, a sun-grown and organic cannabis company from Bangor, Michigan. This 17% THC strain gives a solid head high without the paranoia and jitters I get from other sativa-hybrids. 

Juniper, who I lovingly refer to as my “Terp Queen,” recommended this strain specifically because of the presence of the cannabis terpene geraniol — a terpene commonly found in flowers that can help with one’s focus, and limonene, a terpene found in citrus that can provide a mood boost.  

These terpenes, in combination with the mild THC level, were the perfect choice for the tent. Jessa, my boss when I worked as a budtender, suggested Local Grove’s award-winning flower strain, Runtz, to help balance out the menu. Runtz, a true hybrid cannabis strain, is known for its sweet berry taste and the rich pinene and caryophyllene terpenes.  

Bonus: These terpenes are great for anti-inflammation and may relieve pain from the aforementioned dancing. Juniper and Jessa also recommended edibles for the wife and me that contain CBD, CBN and THC to help us stay relaxed during the rehearsal dinner and sleep the night before the wedding.  

I chose my trusty Almond CBD Bites from Kiva’s Terra line. The company’s chocolate-covered bites are the perfect microdose, with 5 mg of THC and 1 mg of CBD in each bite. I also grabbed Kiva’s Blackberry Petra Mints with CBN, the cannabis cannabinoid version of melatonin, to doubly ensure we were well-rested for the ceremony.  

On our big day, I put a small table and a few folding chairs inside the pop-up tent. I then separated the prerolled joints into two separate bowls. I labeled each bowl with the strain’s name, its THC percentage, terpenes and expected effects. In between the bowls, there was a small sign kindly asking guests to keep smoke and other materials inside the tent out of respect for the non-smoking guests. We also provided everyone with lighters, regular rolling papers in case they decided to bring their own stash and an ashtray.  

While the wedding reception was in full swing, my budtenders, Juniper and Jessa, supervised the weed tent to watch over the party favors and answer any questions from guests. Although we did not have many children in attendance, having Juniper and Jessa watching over the tent gave me peace of mind. And in the end, the evening was a success. With careful planning and open communication, we made this dream a reality. It couldn’t have been done without the help of my parents, our kickass bridal party and groom’s mates, Juniper and Jessa, or the other stoners we consulted along the way.  

As legalization efforts continue, seeing how wedding venues navigate the demand for cannabis-centric ceremonies and receptions will be exciting.