Wedding chimes bong for Ohio couple getting married at cannabis festival
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July 16, 2025
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A cannabis festival may not be the first wedding venue that comes to mind, but for Tina Hall and Brian McDonald, it’s the perfect culmination of their decades-long love story.
Hall and McDonald will be married at the Stargazer Cannabis Festival, which runs from July 25-27 in Waverly. The couple won Stargazer’s contest for a free dream cannabis wedding giveaway and will be married at the festival with rapper Afroman officiating.
Hall said her fiancé did not always use cannabis, but marijuana was crucial during McDonald’s recovery from a brain aneurysm he suffered in 2017. She said McDonald saw NBC4’s article about the wedding giveaway and it felt like the perfect fit.
“We always kind of laugh and say we’re like ’50 First Dates,’ because we never know what he’s going to remember or not,” Hall said. “And so sometimes, if it’s a big thing, then he tends to remember better. So we thought this might be a great way for him to remember.”
Hall said she first met McDonald in the third grade when she became friends with his younger sister. When Hall moved away a few years later, they kept in touch, and Hall said she and McDonald began dating when she was 14.
The pair had a daughter together after high school, but split up and each had another child. After years of co-parenting, Hall said she raced to his side when the aneurysm happened, and she hasn’t left him since.
“I just couldn’t leave, like that’s where my heart was, it was connected to him,” Hall said. “When he woke up from his coma, he had asked about me, and he remembered that he called me ‘bird.’ He doesn’t have a lot of memories, but it’s still there.”
Chad Thompson, the festival’s organizer and founder, initially thought it could be difficult to pick a couple. Thompson said the couple sounded like they were in disbelief when he called to tell them they won, but when he saw Hall and McDonald’s story, he knew the choice was easy.
“They had just the most compelling story and so it made it very easy,” Thompson said. “They kind of jumped through the tape at us.”
As part of their wedding package, Stargazer Festival is funding a “dream honeymoon” to Jamaica for the couple. The pair also received a number of tickets to the festival, and Hall said they purchased about 10 additional tickets to ensure all of their loved ones could be there. Although not all of their loved ones use cannabis, they know the significance for Hall and McDonald and are highly supportive.
“This was always supposed to be. Everybody keeps saying this is 40 years too late,” Hall said. “Like, ‘This is 40 years later. You guys should have been married this entire time.’ But it’s great.”
Aside from the nuptials, Stargazer Fest will offer three days of marijuana and activities, including joint rolling competitions, music, workshops and an attempt to build the world’s largest pot brownie.
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