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)

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If you read it in The New York Times yesterday, then the secret is definitely out — and it’s been broadcast to all of New York, America and quite frankly, the world. Yes, friends: I got married. To Hamilton Nguyen, who many of you already know as the official Drone Girl photographer and the guy who handles my business contracts while I’m out testing the latest drones. And the way we capped off the night? Yes, I had a drone show at my wedding.

Our shared love of drone shows

The first drone show I ever witnessed in person was with Hamilton in 2023 at an Oakland A’s baseball game. Sky Elements put on a Star Wars-themed spectacle , and I literally stopped mid-hot dog bite when those TIE fighters formed in the sky.

This wasn’t just tech, it was art.

We became obsessed. Over the next year, we traveled to see drone shows everywhere. We even went to Disneyland Paris specifically to catch their show (which, if you remember from my coverage, took us two nights because rain cancelled the first attempt—classic drone show problems).

Here’s what I didn’t know at the time: Hamilton had proposed to me the day before we flew to Paris. So that Disneyland drone show? Our personal, secret engagement celebration.

Fast forward to mid-2025, when I was chatting with my dear friend Desi Ekstein (you know her as On The Go Video). She was pretty adamant I needed a drone show at my wedding, so here we are.

Join me on my wedding day (well, at least in a 5-minute, online version of it), in this incredible video created by my wonderful friend, Juan Langarica, who runs Langarica Studios.

How Drone Girl got that drone show at her wedding

Early on, Hamilton and I thought a drone show would be fun, but it felt impossibly blue sky. Every show we’d seen was a massive spectacle. Ours was going to be a relatively small, DIY-heavy wedding. It seemed like too much.

But when it came time to plan our sendoff, everyone kept suggesting sparklers.

You know the shot: bride and groom running through a tunnel of handheld fire sticks while guests wave them around, probably singeing someone’s hair and definitely looking exactly like every other wedding ever.

Worse? The fire risk. We were getting married in fire-prone Southern California. With kids at the wedding. Handing everyone literal flames felt… questionable.

After months obsessing over personalized details — luau food honoring my family’s Hawaiian roots, recordings of my great-grandpa’s music (he was a Hawaiian musician), che (this addictive Vietnamese dessert Hamilton’s family introduced me to), postcards about our travels as centerpieces, throwing a Labubu instead of a bouquet because I skipped fresh flowers for environmental reasons—a generic sparkler sendoff felt so not me.

“There’s no way you — The Drone Girl — can get married without a drone show,” Desi told me. She was absolutely right.

“That seems… impractical”

Initially, it still felt absurdly impractical. We’d already booked our venue at Coto Valley Country Club in Orange County without thinking about airspace classifications or drone launch sites. The timeline was tight. The logistics seemed overwhelming.

But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I’d spent over a decade watching this technology mature. I’d traveled the world to see the best drone shows, including one at Disneyland Paris just days after Hamilton proposed to me at Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. (Remember that castle. It comes back.)

That’s when I found Electric Sky Drone Shows, a brother-sister-led, Los Angeles drone company (Ali and Tannaz Amini) with wedding experience that used UVify drones. We hit it off, and I hired them to make me a drone show!

Choosing a wedding venue for a drone show

Here’s what nobody tells you about wedding drone shows: venue logistics are critical.

You need:

• Flat, open space for takeoff and landing
• Proper airspace classification (we lucked out with Class G—unrestricted)
• Buffer zones between drones and people, buildings, roads
• Insurance (probably multiple policies)
• HOA approval if you’re in a private community (we were)
• Possibly road closure permits

Our venue didn’t have suitable launch space.

But you know what was two lots over? Pickleball courts.

If you know anything about pickleball culture, Saturday afternoon is sacred. Prime time. We had to track down the court owner, negotiate a rental, and essentially evict an entire community of weekend players.

Somewhere in Orange County, there are pickleball enthusiasts who missed their Saturday game because I needed to launch 200 drones. We blew past our venue budget to cover the pickleball rental.

Worth every penny.

Animating our love story

The creative process was the fun part. I had about half a dozen planning calls with Ali and Tannaz, where we mapped out animations that told our story. Here’s what we ended up with:

The sentimental:

• Neuschwanstein Castle (not just a castle — the castle where Hamilton proposed)
• A man proposing to a woman
• Two interlocking rings
• Two glasses of French 75 (our signature cocktail) clinking
• Our initials and wedding date

The playful:

• A coffee cup next to a bagel (we met on Coffee Meets Bagel, yes we’re that couple)
• A Golden Gate Bridge (we live in San Francisco)
• A camera
• A beach
• A UVify drone (it’s meta to put a drone made of drones in the sky, right?)

The absolutely unhinged:

• A woman performing a snatch lift

For the non-weightlifters reading this: a snatch is a competitive Olympic lift where you explosively pull a barbell from the ground to overhead in one motion. It’s technical, it’s difficult, and most people have never heard of it.)

Hamilton and I are both competitive weightlifters. Half our wedding guests lift. When I told the Electric Sky Drone Shows team I wanted a weightlifter in the sky, I wasn’t entirely confident they knew what I was talking about, so I sent her competition footage of me doing the lift. The animation team, with support from UVify, made it happen. And when that weightlifter appeared in the sky during our show, our lifting friends howled. They cheered. It was beautiful chaos.

The voiceover changed everything

Tannaz pushed hard for voiceover narration. At first I hesitated. Our DJ was set up inside, and adding outdoor audio felt complicated. Tannaz said she’d handle it, bringing her own portable (yet powerful) speaker.

Hamilton and I recorded narration at home, explaining each animation: why the castle mattered, what the coffee and bagel represented, why there was a woman doing a snatch in the sky.

Once Electric Sky sent the animated preview, I synced our audio and music to the visuals. We played a mix of my favorite Disney songs plus my great-grandpa’s Hawaiian music under it.

The narration gave context and emotional weight. Without it, guests might’ve thought, “Cool castle.” With it, they understood: “That’s THE castle. That’s where this whole thing started.”

My wedding drone show: 11 minutes of jaws on the floor

Our show featured 200 drones and ran about 11 minutes. That’s typical for drone shows, partly due to battery life constraints.

And when the drones launched from those commandeered pickleball courts, our guests gathered on the grass. The sky lit up. The reaction was everything. People were cheering, filming, laughing, collectively losing their minds. Even tech industry guests who’d seen drone shows professionally were stunned by how personal it was.

And I assure you: I was perhaps more stunned than anyone.

We all lingered on the grass afterward, jaws literally on the floor. It was a perfect ending, and it conveniently got everyone outside so venue staff could clean up.

And yes, you can watch the video version of my drone show below:

The Nextdoor post about my wedding drone show

Days later, I was browsing Nextdoor (as one does) and found a post from neighbors who’d watched from their yards. They loved it. No complaints about noise or disruption — just pure delight that they got a free show.

Take that, sparklers.

What I learned after having a drone show at my wedding

I may have been a drone show expert prior to this. But now, after having a drone show at my wedding, I really feel like one. Now I know firsthand what goes into the setup and permitted. In the coming days (and let’s face it, weeks), expect more insider details about how to pull off a wedding drone show. But for now, here are some of my top earnings.

Start earlier than you think. We pulled it off in a month. It was stressful. Give yourself 2-3+ months.

Choose your venue strategically. If you know you want a drone show, factor in airspace, launch sites, and viewing areas before booking.

Budget for extras. Beyond the per-drone cost ($150-$200 each), we paid for pickleball court rental, which was separate from our own venue rental cost. If you’re on the hook for additional insurance (such as by neighbors or an HOA, you might owe more). You might also be on the hook for covering company travel.

Personalization is everything. Generic hearts and flowers miss the point. The more specific and weird your animations, the better. Sure, people will remember a heart in the sky if they’ve never seen a drone show before. But everyone will remember that weightlifter doing a snatch, no matter what.

Voiceover matters. It transforms the show from “cool visuals” to “our story in the sky.”

The future of wedding sendoffs is drones

Multiple guests asked afterward how they could get drone shows for their weddings. I genuinely think this trend is about to explode.

Here’s why:

• Hardware is reusable (unlike fireworks you literally burn)
• Technology keeps improving
• Costs are dropping as companies scale
• Venues will optimize for drone shows (promoting airspace, establishing launch sites, building vendor relationships)

We’re in early adopter territory. But five years from now? I think drone show weddings will be everywhere. And yes, I will absolutely help you plan yours. I am, after all, The Drone Girl.

If you want support planning your own wedding drone show, please reach out to me at sally@thedronegirl.com or book a call with me on Intro.

Want more? Subscribe using the button on the right hand side of  TheDroneGirl.com. Expect more wedding drone show content coming soon, including:

• Detailed cost breakdowns
• Venue selection guide
• How to choose a drone show company
• Animation design tips
• The full behind-the-scenes logistics

Stay tuned. And thanks for being part of this wild 13-year journey with me. 

— Sally

The post The Drone Girl got married (and yes, I had a drone show at my wedding!) appeared first on The Drone Girl.

So this is surreal. The New York Times just published a piece about my wedding drone show.

I’ve spent 13 years covering drones. I’ve written thousands of articles reviews, and industry analyses. I’ve been quoted in publications before. But seeing my own wedding featured in The New York Times? With asides about pickleball courts and weightlifter animations — and how 80 of our guests left early because we didn’t warn them about the finale?

That hits different.

How we got here (and where we’re headed)

For those just tuning in: I got married to Hamilton Nguyen (you dronies may know him as the business and tech guy, as well as the cameraman for The Drone Girl — yes, a true renaissance man!) in September 2025. Yes, we had a 200-drone light show as our sendoff. It was 11 minutes of personalized animations synced to music and voiceover narration. Our wedding drone show featured everything from the castle where Hamilton proposed to a woman doing a snatch lift (because we’re both competitive weightlifters).

The whole thing was beautiful, chaotic, personality driven — oh and it required evicting part of a pickleball community for an evening.

I pitched an editor at the The New York Times as to what would be happening. I invited them to be a part of it (either virtually or in-person, and they chose virtually). And just like that, the New York Times was on it.

Now that The New York Times printed their story (I promised them an exclusive), I’ll be writing more extensively about the experience here on The Drone Girl. I figured some of you might be curious about what goes into planning a wedding drone show — the logistics, the costs, the “oh god it’s raining two days before the wedding” moments. That’ll arrive in the coming days.

What The New York Times article covers

If it’s been a while since you’ve purchased a printed newspaper, perhaps tomorrow (that’s Sunday, Nov. 16) is your day to grab a copy. It’s on page 17

Their piece (read the print version here) does a great job breaking down the practical side of wedding drone shows:

• Why we chose a drone show (spoiler: sparklers felt boring and fire-risky).
• How much it costs ($15,000-$25,000 range).
• What goes into planning (hint: way more than you’d think).
• Venue considerations (airspace classifications! buffer zones! pickleball negotiations!).
• Weather contingencies (we almost had to do paper airplane throws instead).

But my favorite part? They included my biggest regret: not telling our guests about the drone show in advance.

About 80 people left before the show started. They didn’t know it was coming because I thought it would have been way cooler as a surprise. In hindsight, I realize that if we’d hyped it up — put it on the timeline, mentioned it during toasts, anything — they would’ve stayed.

The guests who did stay said it felt like a ticketed event, adding that it was definitely worth the “price” of admission. Live and learn, right? Alas, there won’t be a wedding number two!

Why the New York Times wedding drone show article matters for the drone industry

Here’s the thing: The New York Times covering a wedding drone show isn’t just cool for me personally (though it absolutely is). It’s a signal that drone shows are entering mainstream wedding culture.

A few years ago, wedding drone shows were basically unheard of. Electric Sky Drone Shows — the company we worked with — told The New York Times they did seven wedding shows the year before ours. This past year? Seventeen.

That’s more than a 2x increase. And as costs come down and more venues optimize for drone shows, I expect that number to keep climbing.

The fact that the Times is covering this trend means it’s not just niche tech enthusiast territory anymore. Hey, I love some good “New York Times Is On It” jokes. But in all seriousness, this story is proof drone light shows are breaking into the broader wedding industry conversation.

Read the full New York Times article

If you want the full breakdown, including more details on costs, logistics and my advice for couples considering drone shows, you can read the Times piece here.

It’s behind a paywall (because, you know, journalism costs money and we should support it), but if you’re even remotely interested in wedding drone shows or just want to see how the Times covers drone industry trends, it’s worth the read.

I’m planning more content here on The Drone Girl covering:

• Detailed cost breakdowns
• How to choose a drone show company
• Venue selection guide
• Animation design tips
• The full behind-the-scenes logistics

If there’s something specific you want to know, drop a comment or email me at sally@thedronegirl.com. I’m apparently an expert now (or at least the Times thinks so).

Thirteen years ago, I started The Drone Girl after taking a college course on drones. I was fascinated by the technology and wanted to share that fascination with others.

I know this is probably cliche to say, but it’s true: I never imagined that a decade later, I’d be planning a drone show for my own wedding and then talking to The New York Times about it.

Thanks for being part of this weird, wonderful journey with me. And if you’re planning a wedding and considering a drone show? Do it. Just maybe tell your guests first.

Read the full New York Times article here.

And then you want to watch the full drone show too, right? You can’t do that as well, via the YouTube video shared below:

Happy flying!

— Sally, The Drone Girl

P.S. Yes, I’m absolutely framing this and hanging this on my wall. Hamilton already knows.

Want more from our wedding day? We also have a complete video of that, too:

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