Four Weddings. One Weekend. Absolutely No Copy-Paste Celebrations.
Four weddings in one weekend.
Would I normally book myself for four weddings back-to-back? Absolutely not.
But sometimes the dates line up, the couples are too good to say no to, and suddenly you look at your calendar and realize you’ve made some questionable decisions in the name of really great weddings.
This was one of those weekends.
And somehow, each celebration took me into an entirely different world.
Thursday: A Wedding at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, CA
We kicked things off Friday with two grooms getting married at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Getting to DJ a wedding inside a museum is already pretty damn cool, but it was also the perfect start to a weekend that ended up being anything but traditional.
One of the things I love about LGBTQ+ weddings is that many of us have already had to question which traditions actually fit us. Once you realize you don’t have to follow the traditional wedding rulebook, things get a lot more interesting.
Keep the traditions you love. Throw out the ones you don’t. Make up your own.
That idea ended up showing itself over and over again throughout the weekend.
Friday: A Brand-New Family Name at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, CA
Saturday brought me to Calamigos Ranch for a lesbian wedding with one of my favorite details of the weekend.
Instead of one bride taking the other’s last name or combining their existing names, they created an entirely new last name together.
And they kept it a secret until the wedding.
Their families found out that day.
I loved this.
For LGBTQ+ couples especially, there isn’t always an obvious answer to the “Who takes whose name?” question. But there doesn’t have to be.
Creating a new last name is such a meaningful option because neither person is stepping into the other’s family identity. You’re creating one together.
And honestly, I don’t think this should be limited to LGBTQ+ couples.
Maybe neither of you feels particularly attached to your last name. Maybe you don’t love the idea that one person is automatically expected to take the other’s. Maybe you’re blending families. Or maybe you simply want the family you’re creating together to begin with something that belongs equally to both of you.
Marriage is already the beginning of a new family. There’s something pretty beautiful about deciding that family gets a new name, too.
Saturday: Medieval Fantasy and a Sword Fight at Inn of the Seventh Ray in Malibu, CA
Then came Sunday.
Inn of the Seventh Ray already feels like it belongs in another world, so a whimsical medieval fantasy wedding fit the venue perfectly.
But this couple took it one step further.
When it was time to open the dance floor, they did it with a sword fight.
An actual sword fight.
And I will take that over a generic “Everybody get on the dance floor!” any day.
This is exactly what I mean when I tell couples their wedding doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s.
If you love fantasy, lean into it.
If you want swords, bring swords.
If you want your guests to feel like they’ve stepped into another universe instead of another wedding, build that universe.
There are very few times in life when you get nearly everyone you love together in one place. Why waste that opportunity trying to recreate someone else’s idea of a wedding?
Sunday: Arcane Takes Over SmogShoppe in Culver City, CA
Wedding number four took that philosophy and ran with it.
Two brides. SmogShoppe. An absolutely insane Arcane-inspired wedding.
And I don’t mean a few subtle references tucked into the decor.
They committed.
The atmosphere, details and overall aesthetic transformed the space into something that felt unmistakably theirs.
That’s when a theme really works. It isn’t about adding decorations because Pinterest says you need a “wedding theme.” It’s about taking something you genuinely love and letting it become part of the experience.
Your guests walk into the room and immediately learn something about you.
Those are the weddings people remember.
Four Weddings Later…
By the end of wedding number four, I was exhausted.
There is a reason I don’t normally schedule myself for four weddings back-to-back. DJing a wedding isn’t just showing up for a few hours, pressing play and going home.
There are timelines, load-ins, sound checks, ceremony cues, announcements, transitions, troubleshooting, dancing, packing up and then doing it all over again the next day.
Four in a row is a lot.
But look at what those four days gave me:
Two grooms getting married at the Natural History Museum.
Two brides revealing the brand-new family name they created together.
A medieval fantasy wedding where a sword fight opened the dance floor.
And two brides turning SmogShoppe into their own Arcane-inspired universe.
That’s a hell of a weekend.
It’s also exactly why I still love doing this.
Give me the couples who keep the traditions they love and ditch the ones they don’t.
Give me the weird idea you’ve been wondering if you’re “allowed” to do.
Give me the wedding that couldn’t possibly belong to anybody else.
Gay, lesbian, straight, queer or anything else, the best weddings aren’t the ones that follow every rule.
They’re the ones where I can walk into the room and immediately know exactly whose wedding I’m at.
So no, I’m probably not making four weddings in one weekend a regular thing.
But every once in a while, when the dates line up and the weddings are this good?
Sometimes you sacrifice a little sleep for awesomeness.
