Something Borrowed, Something New? Quirky ways to Tie the Knot in the Modern Age

For City, University of London

In an unusual first for Minnesota, and maybe even America, recently married Rachelle Gordon recently celebrated her big day with a weed wedding! “My husband and I both work in the cannabis industry,” she recalls, “and given our connection to the plant… we felt that we simply had to incorporate it into our wedding.” It’s been just over a year since the use of cannabis was legalised in Minnesota, so, in some ways, it feels surprising that it’s taken so long for the state to celebrate its first “weed wedding”. Now, if you’re anything like me, you’re probably wondering how this could be pulled off tastefully, and without any medical emergencies. 

“It was simply gorgeous,” she recalls her unconventional big day just one week on; “we had the wedding at a licensed hemp farm, up against a backdrop of a willow tree, and beyond the willow tree were lots of mature cannabis plants,” she goes on to recall the potent fragrance, which she will forever associate with her big day. “We had budtenders serving cannabis, cannabis infused cocktails, cannabis plants in the floral arrangement, the bouquet and the men’s boutonnieres,” the list goes on. 

You might be wondering how it’s possible to get your guests on board with such a peculiar wedding. Rachelle originally thought she might face the same issue, describing the couple’s wider families as “fairly religious people”. Thankfully, Rachelle says “everyone embraced it, we even had people who were vehemently against cannabis in the past,” describing the event as “a very family friendly environment,” with educational materials and experts from the California app Budist. 

Whether in real life, or on the TV screen, it’s not in just Minnesota where couples are opting for less traditional ways of saying “I do”. The ninth season of Married at First Sight UK came to an end last month, marking the 72^nd season of the brand’s 31 country franchise. Beyond the realms of reality TV, The Knot Worldwide’s 2024 Global Wedding Report found that only around two in five couples are opting for traditional religious ceremonies in the US. Could it be that a step away from traditional ceremonies is becoming the new way to go?

Discussing the shift from tradition with Jude Douglass, a ‘Lifecycle Celebrant’ and creator and owner of Canada-based Sea To Sky Officiant, she recalled one of her favourite unconventional ceremonies where the groom “had no idea” he was about to get married. Jude meticulously planned the surprise ceremony with the bride, sending the groom out on his boat before asking him to return to the dock to “pick up a friend”. She recounts that “he drove the boat over to the dock, and realised on the ride over that someone had set up for a wedding, little did he know – it was his own wedding!” Despite the surprise, the shocked groom quickly changed – in a bush – to the suit that his soon-to-be wife picked out for him, and just like that, the couple were happily married. 

Another of her favourites was the wedding of avid rock climbers, Roxy and Cam. Douglass helped the couple plan an “epic elopement, where the couple tied the knot on a portaledge… dangling from the side of a cliff.” The independent officiant-slash-organiser says the event “felt like an authentic reflection” of the couple, who managed to fit in a quick rock-climbing session before heading off to their wedding reception. 

Sometimes, it’s not just the ceremonies themselves that are unusual, the planning process can also be fairly out-of-the-ordinary. Natalie Bennett is an LA-based wedding planner, who works for the company Find My Bridesmaid. Whilst she recalls planning many quirky weddings, most notably telling me about a couple that were obsessed with the ocean, and insisted on being wed in an aquarium despite Natalie’s attempts “to steer them towards a more common beachfront wedding,” it seems that the most unusual part of her job is actually hiring bridesmaids for some clients. According to Fortune magazine, the phenomenon of hiring bridesmaids is becoming increasingly common around the globe. In China, the registration number for bridesmaid and groomsman rental service, Hangzhou, rocketed to over 50,000 within just three months of its launch.

So, maybe you love cannabis, or enjoy rock-climbing in your pastime, or maybe it’s something completely different – but whatever it is, have you thought about incorporating it into your big day? It seems unusual weddings are all the range at the moment, so why not take the leap (especially if it’s a bungee-jumping wedding you have in mind) and find a way to make your special day especially memorable.