High Brides: Are Drug-Filled Wedding Receptions A Thing Now?

Recreational drug taking at wedding receptions is nothing new, 
but the growing trend for illegal substances as party favours could be leading to the normalisation of 
female drug-taking. Newly married Daisy, 30, explains...

When my now-husband and I were planning our wedding, there were dozens of things we disagreed on – what the speeches should be like, how religious it should be. But there was one thing that we didn’t even need to discuss: whether we wanted to get high for our big day. We met at university and have a big group of party-loving friends. Having drugs at our reception for guests to enjoy didn’t feel like a big deal. I’ve been to plenty of weddings in the past where friends have taken drugs, so I knew nobody would mind.

In the run-up to the day, we were fairly open with friends about drugs being available for guests, but it was like any party – if you wanted it, you could seek it out, and if you didn’t, you could ignore it. Our conservative Jewish families probably would have been shocked if they’d known.

We initially asked one of my husband’s friends to supply the drugs, but he felt uncomfortable with the idea of picking up for other people, so I rolled a couple of joints for myself and carried them in my clutch bag. Then various friends brought the cocaine, which my husband and other friends enjoyed during the reception.

The weed helped me cope with the emotional aspect of the wedding. My parents had a messy divorce and my wedding day was the first time in a decade that they were going to be in the same room together. Organising the day was stressful, so I unwound after the service with a joint before the reception in the way some brides might with a large glass of wine. You might assume that everyone being high would mean it was a “messy” reception, but it wasn’t. There was so much love in the room – not because some of us were high, but because it was a day for our families and friends to all come together and the drugs intensified our feelings. I wouldn’t change a thing.’