A Weed Wedding for the Ages: Here’s How I Did It (And I Wouldn’t Have Changed a Thing)

I love the cannabis plant AND I love my man, so when I got engaged last winter and began planning my wedding I knew that cannabis had to play an integral part when I tied the knot.

My big day was marijuana-infused right from the start: I eased my nerves the night before by having a nice long soak in a Heavenly Hash Bath, which helped me sleep soundly and get the rest I needed despite all the butterflies and anticipation. The next morning I kicked off my wedding day with a Ganjassage (a massage with our infused massage oil) that helped me get grounded and stay calm throughout all the excitement.

Dahlia is not only my name, it’s my favorite type of flower—next to cannabis, of course! So I decided to make my floral design a combination of brightly colored dahlias and cannabis plants in bloom. The arrangements came out so beautifully. It turns out cannabis and dahlias complement each other quite nicely.

The festivities took place in the hills above my hometown of Telluride, on a high alpine meadow with spectacular panoramic views of the dramatic San Juan mountains in the Colorado Rockies. The aspen grove where we held the ceremony provided a meaningful metaphor for us because aspen trees are all connected via their root system, and aspen bark in itself is medicinal and has been used by indigenous people for thousands of years for pain relief and fighting infections.

My husband, Greg Deame, is a landscape architect who built an aspenwood arbor out of materials that he and I had collected together. We explored the forest looking for cool, unique pieces of wood, and discovered one piece that looked like a knot, which Greg made the top of the arbor. Then our floral designer wove cannabis, wildflowers and dahlias into the twists and turns of the arbor.

By the time everything was in place, the grove felt like a truly spiritual, sacred place. Our officiant was my dear friend Janie Goldberg, whom I affectionately refer to as my Telluride mom. She talked about how Greg and I share the connection of nature: I make medicine from cannabis and other herbs, and Greg creates stunning gardens and natural environs for the residents of Telluride. We both share a strong connection to the natural world and a deep respect for Mother Nature. So the aspen grove felt like the perfect place for this momentous moment in our lives.

I had scheduled my wedding for the middle of June because it’s typically the sunniest month of the summer in Telluride. There is a monsoon season in the San Juans in July and August that can bring regular heavy rainstorms. So I was optimistic for perfect weather for my perfect June wedding.

As luck would have it, June 16 ended up being the ONLY day that month with a forecast for rain—argh! I found myself obsessively checking all my weather apps multiple times daily in the three weeks leading up to the wedding, hoping to see a dramatic change. Finally, the week of the wedding I decided to just accept the fact that a huge storm was forecast and made extra preparations. We upgraded our tent to the larger size that came with protective walls, rented a massive tent heater and ordered 160 umbrellas and rain ponchos from Amazon. We were actually in the middle of the most severe drought in 25-plus years and everyone was praying for rain, so I decided to look at this as a blessing and a wedding gift. One friend shared a great quote: “Water makes a knot hold tighter,” which helped lift my spirits as well.

As the ceremony approached, dark gray clouds loomed in the periphery and storm pockets were visible shrouding the surrounding peaks. Iconic Mount Wilson (pictured on Coors cans) should have been prominently visible from the ceremony site, but was also hidden by a thick blanket of clouds. The Ute Indians’ name for that mountain is Shendoka, which translates to “storm gatherer”—so fitting.

I asked my angels if the rain could just please hold off until after the ceremony because my heart was set on having it in the aspen grove that my love Greg had so thoughtfully and beautifully landscaped. The heavens cooperated and the rain held off until about five minutes after the ceremony had ended! At which time we all scurried under the big tent and celebrated with champagne and the most amazing charcuterie board I have ever seen. Shortly after the cocktail hour the rain subsided and the clouds hung low over the peaks in a most dramatic way. My photographer was actually super excited and said this weather was way better than blue skies for the pictures. The storm clouds certainly added a mystical and magical feeling to the evening.

In addition to the tent we used for the reception, we took over a tipi on the property and made it into a cannabis lounge. Cannabis plants flanked the tipi opening, and my dear friend Jane West created a jewel-like installation with her signature line of glass bongs, bubblers and pipes with pre-packed bowls full of kind bud ready for guests to enjoy.

My cousin rolled 25 massive joints about the size of a small child’s forearm and I asked all my cannabis industry friends to bring a top-shelf strain to share with the party. I had my favorite vaporizing device—the Volcano—fired up so guests had several options for consuming all that great weed.

I had decided to exclusively have flower available for consumption instead of including edibles and dabs, because a cannabis lounge is a fairly new experience for many people and I did not want anyone unintentionally overdoing it or getting uncomfortably high. The tipi ended up being one of the most popular places to hang out and a lot of my guests reported back to me not having much of a hangover the next day because instead of slamming cocktails all night they balanced it out with the benefits of kind bud.

While lots of the “cool kids” were definitely hanging out in the tipi—which periodically had big clouds of smoke billowing from the opening in the top—the dance floor and bar were also hopping. We had a 10-piece funk band with amazing singers and a full horn section. My rottweiler Bear even got on stage with the band at one point and hung out next to the lead singer. He is a party animal for sure! (Bear also accompanied me down the aisle in his bowtie and cuffs. He’s one handsome fella.)

The lighting in the tent added to the mystical vibe as well. Our lighting designer created cannabis gobo patterns and a sky motif with a big full moon to project on the roof, and Moroccan lanterns lit up the dance floor.

To add to the cannabis theme we put out a table overflowing with Mary Jane’s Medicinals products, and we made special hats that had the Mary Jane’s Medicinals logo on the front, while the back had the wedding date and our initials. These were party favors for our guests.

Our goal with integrating cannabis into the wedding was to do so tastefully; we wanted to highlight the beauty of the plant, and be casually user-friendly while not overwhelming non-consumers. I think we successfully pulled it off because even my conservative aunt was not at all offended and said it was “a lovely wedding indeed.” And many of my guests said it was the most fun wedding EVER!

I have to agree.