While marijuana-themed weddings have become an ongoing trend in the past couple of years, with cannabis companies sprouting up to serve that specific wedding market, those people have nothing on this couple. Call them the OGs of the marijuana wedding craze.
Dani Green and Zak Walton both use cannabis instead of prescription painkillers to help significant medical ailments. Dani has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, Cushing syndrome, and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, while a shattered herniated disk gives Zak serious nerve pain. The two met about 12 years ago, quickly becoming smoking buddies, and felt they should honor how influential marijuana has been in their lives.
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When they announced plans to throw a marijuana wedding, their families were aghast. “She can’t do this,” was Dani’s mother’s initial response. But Dani explained to her mom that it would be tasteful and not at all what she expected.
Dani and the bridesmaids carried bouquets studded with cannabis buds and flowers; Zak and the groomsmen wore boutonnieres starring cannabis leaves and buds. All of the special foliage came from Harborside’s farms. At the end of the ceremony, rather than reciting personalized vows or smashing a glass, “we sealed it with a dab,” Dani said. Then, to get the party started, everyone lit up a joint on a beach.
That doesn’t begin to cover the rest of the evening, a reception for 70 guests held at a private event venue in Monterey. The 200-square-foot outdoor dab bar was stocked with 50 grams of hash, the 20-square-foot vaping area snuggled under a tall tree studded with twinkling lights, and the edibles bar featured six kinds of goodies. Of course, the vibe was more Ella Fitzgerald than Phish concert: Guests enjoyed a farm-to-table meal, including steak and salmon grilled while they watched, as well as a gluten-free, organic wedding cake.
Beer, wine, and champagne were also made available to guests uncomfortable with partaking in the cannabis consumption. When toasts were made, guests could choose between the two for cheers-ing.
“The secret is that cannabis is probably a part of most American weddings whether or not the whole family knows it or not,” celebrity activist Steven D’Angelo, whom Dani works for, said to Forbes. “It’s consumed discreetly and in private. Now it’s coming out of those shadows into the public realm.”
All the cannabis was donated, with a retail value of over $8,000. Dani’s mom later said it was “the classiest wedding I’ve ever been to,” while the bride said her vision came true and people now ask her to plan their cannabis weddings.
