I started The Drone Girl in 2013 after taking a college course on drones. The name wasn’t aspirational — it was descriptive. I was literally the drone girl. As in, often the only one. After putting on my wedding drone show, I’m definitely convinced that more smart women will enter this field.

Now let’s take a step back to the early consumer drone industry, which was overwhelmingly male. Trade shows, racing events, tech conferences, sometimes I’d spot one or two other women.

The predominantly male audience was predictable: DIY tinkerers who came from model aircraft communities. FPV racing enthusiasts from the gaming world. Hobbyists who wanted to build their own rigs and crash them into trees repeatedly until they figured it out. Don’t get me wrong — I loved (and still love) that community. If that’s you, thank you for your support over the years! I see you and I do appreciate you!

But I’d love to see more women find their place in this industry. Fast forward to 2025, and I just had a drone show at my wedding. And suddenly, I’m getting messages from brides-to-be, wedding planners and women in the events industry asking how they can do this.

Something fundamental is shifting in the drone industry. And weddings — an industry dominated by women — might be the catalyst that finally brings gender balance to drones.

Why early drones attracted a male audience

Flying drones is certainly not an inherently masculine activity. However, they attracted a heavily male demographic because they aligned with hobbies and communities that were already male-dominated, like tinkering, racing and gaming.

Even as drones became commercial tools — for inspections, mapping, agriculture, delivery — the industries adopting them first (construction, infrastructure, logistics) skewed male.

I carved out my niche covering this technology, but for years, I was acutely aware of being an outlier. Conference speaker lineups were 95% men. Product launches featured all-male engineering teams. Marketing materials showed dudes in fields flying drones.

The message was clear, even if unintentional: Drones are for guys.

Drone shows are changing the narrative

The first drone light show I saw in person was in 2023 — a Star Wars-themed spectacle at an Oakland A’s baseball game put on by Sky Elements. This wasn’t about building, crashing or racing. This was art. It was storytelling. It was emotional.

Drone shows are synced to music. They tell narratives. They evoke feelings. They’re designed to make you cry at a proposal or gasp at a theme park finale. Just watch the entire version of the drone show at my own wedding to understand it if you don’t believe me:

Drone light shows have what I consider a feminine quality. It’s not because women are the only ones who appreciate beauty or emotion, but because the artistic, narrative-driven nature of drone shows appeals to a completely different audience than FPV racing or DIY builds.

And that audience? It includes a lot more women.

Weddings may be the gateway

It’s on secret that the wedding industry is overwhelmingly driven by women. According to various industry reports:

• Nearly 70% of wedding planning decisions are made or heavily influenced by brides, according to Wedding Wire data
• 97% of wedding planners are women, according to data from Career Explorer
• Wedding content creators, bloggers and influencers also skew heavily female

When drone shows started appearing at weddings as sendoff alternatives to sparklers or fireworks, something clicked. Hey, it was a trend worthy enough for The New York Times to cover it.

Suddenly, women who’d never thought about drones — who maybe didn’t even know drone shows existed — were asking: “How do I get that at my wedding?”

At my own wedding, I had multiple guests approach me afterward asking for advice. Not tech industry people. Not drone enthusiasts. Just couples who saw something beautiful and personalized and wanted it for themselves.

Why wedding drone shows appeal to women

Let me break down why wedding drone shows are resonating so strongly with female audiences:

1. They’re about storytelling

Unlike fireworks (which are cool but generic) or sparklers (which look identical at every wedding), drone shows can tell your specific story.

At my wedding, we had:

• The exact castle where Hamilton proposed (Neuschwanstein in Bavaria)
• A coffee cup and bagel (we met on Coffee Meets Bagel)
• A weightlifter doing a snatch (we’re both competitive lifters)

This isn’t tech for tech’s sake. It’s tech in service of narrative — which is something women in the wedding industry have been doing forever with flowers, favors, table settings and every other personalized detail.

2. They’re collaborative and creative

Planning a drone show wedding isn’t about understanding propeller mechanics or FAA regulations (though those matter). It’s about:

• Storyboarding your relationship
• Choosing music that means something to you
• Scripting voiceover narration
• Designing animations that represent your journey

These are skills that wedding planners, event coordinators and creatives already have. The barrier to entry isn’t necessarily technical knowledge. Though that is critical, and someone on the team needs to have it, it’s creative vision that really sets wedding drone shows up for success.

3. They’re safe and environmentally conscious

This might sound practical rather than feminine, but hear me out: women often bear the mental load of risk assessment at events.

• Sparklers = fire risk + potential burns + supervision needed for kids
• Drone shows = reusable hardware + no fire + customizable + safe for kids

For brides (and mothers, and wedding planners) who are already juggling a thousand details and worst-case scenarios, drone shows remove a layer of anxiety.

4. They’re Instagram-worthy

Let’s not pretend aesthetics don’t matter. Weddings are heavily documented, heavily photographed, heavily shared.

A drone show gives you:

• Unique content (not another sparkler tunnel)
• Shareable moments (guests filming and posting)
• Professional footage (the drone show itself is cinematic)

According to a Collabstr 2023 Influencer Marketing Report, 77% of influencers actively monetizing their content are female.

The next career in drones: wedding drone show planners

Here’s my prediction: within 5 years, we’ll see a new specialization emerge — wedding drone show planners.

Right now, most drone shows are coordinated by the drone companies themselves or by general event planners who handle corporate shows, sports events and festivals. But weddings are different. They’re emotional, personal, high-stress and detail-obsessed in ways that corporate events aren’t.

Couples need someone who can:

• Help them brainstorm animations that tell their story
• Guide them through storyboarding and voiceover scripting
• Coordinate with venues on logistics (launch sites, viewing areas, insurance)
• Navigate HOA requirements, road closures, weather contingencies
• Sync the show to the wedding timeline
• Manage family opinions and budget constraints

Electric Sky Drone Shows, a brother-sister led drone light show company based in Los Angeles, put on my own wedding drone show. Tannaz, the sister half of the company, was absolutely that support in helping me feel comfortable with my animations, and even encouraging me to create a voiceover (which was key in our show’s success).

I can absolutely see women who currently work in wedding planning, event coordination, or creative services pivoting into this niche. It’s a natural evolution.

How wedding drone shows can become the next big thing

For drone shows to truly take off in the wedding industry, a few things need to happen:

1. Drone show companies need to understand wedding culture

Not all drone show companies are equipped to handle weddings. Corporate events and theme park shows are transactional. Weddings are deeply personal.

Companies that “get” weddings — like Electric Sky Drone Shows, the brother-sister team I worked with—will thrive. They understand that couples want hand-holding, creative collaboration and emotional investment. Companies that treat weddings like just another gig won’t succeed in this market.

2. Wedding venues need to optimize for drone shows

Right now, most venues aren’t set up for drone shows because they weren’t thinking about them when they were designed. But as demand grows, I expect venues to start promoting:

• Favorable airspace classification (Class G is ideal)
• Designated launch sites with proper buffer zones
• Viewing areas optimized for sky visibility
• Existing relationships with drone show companies

Venues that can say “Yes, we can accommodate a drone show easily” will have a competitive advantage.

3. Costs need to continue dropping

At Electric Sky, the average cost of a wedding drone light show is about $15,000–$25,000. Pricing can range widely — starting around $10,000–$15,000 for less complex shows, and climbing to $50,000+ for productions with more than 500 drones and highly customized animations.

As more companies enter the space and hardware costs get amortized across more shows, prices will drop. When drone shows hit the $5,000-$10,000 range, they’ll become accessible to a much broader market.

And for what it’s worth, costs really are coming down. Drones like the UVify IFO (basically the DJI of light show drones) consistently see price reductions. Plus, new business strategies like UVify’s FAB Rental System are also making the ability to put on a large-scale drone show more accessible to small drone light show companies.

From The Drone Girl to The Drone Bride

When I started The Drone Girl in 2013, I never imagined that weddings would be the bridge bringing women into the drone industry. But it makes perfect sense.

Weddings are an $250 billion industry worldwide, according to data from The Knot. Weddings also seem to be continuously growing to be bigger and better than ever. Couples want experiences that feel unique, personal and shareable. They want their day to reflect who they are — not what tradition dictates (please no one throw rice at me upon my exit).

And as more women experience drone shows at weddings — either as brides, guests, or planners — more will realize: This is something I could do. This is something I could be part of.

I spent over a decade being the only woman in drone industry rooms. I’d love nothing more than to walk into a drone show planning meeting in 2030 and see it split 50/50. Weddings might just be what gets us there.

Are you a woman who needs help breaking into the drone show industry? I’d love to hear from you. Schedule a call with me on Intro.

Are you planning a wedding and considering a drone show? I’m happy to consult and connect you with the right people via Intro as well. Let’s make this happen.

— Sally French, The Drone Girl (and now, The Drone Bride)

The post My prediction: wedding drone shows will bring more women into the drone industry appeared first on The Drone Girl.