How to Include Bourbon in Your Wedding Day
Of all the surprising things that 2020 has brought, the most surprising to some might be that I signed my name on a piece of paper that I swore I never would. That’s right, I got married! So I wanted to share a few ways on how to include bourbon in your wedding day (or really any party you’re hosting.) Depending on your venue and state/local liquor laws you may be limited on what you can do, but we chose to just have a backyard party at our house, and have an open/self-serve bar so we didn’t have a bartender. Guests could just serve themselves, and we could do whatever we wanted.
1.Bury the Bourbon
This is an old southern tradition that states if the couple buries a bottle of bourbon upside down at their venue a month before the wedding it’s sure to bring good luck or at least good weather on the day of their nuptials. After the vows, you dig up the bottle and share with guests. We buried a bottle of Maker’s 46 on September, 10th and lucked out with gorgeous weather on October 10th. (it was almost 80 degrees in Indiana in October, this is almost unheard of here this time of year.)
2.Bourbon Barrel Jewelry
There are tons of online jewelry makers and probably even some local ones that make rings out of old whiskey barrels. My husband’s wedding band is actually made of a whiskey barrel. It’s beautiful, unique, and we liked it better than boring, traditional men’s rings. You could also get customized gifts for the bridal party and parents made of whiskey barrels like pens, bracelets, or plaques.
3.Create a Signature Cocktail
A lot of couples create signature cocktails for their wedding day, some even do a “His & Hers” option. We just went with one, and I called it a ‘Sparkly Ever After.’ It’s one part Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cider, and one part Maker’s Mark.
4.Create a Custom Flight
This is my absolute favorite way we brought bourbon into our wedding day. As bourbon enthusiasts, certain whiskeys play a big part in the special moments of our lives. Our relationship had a lot of special whiskey moments so we honored them by creating “The Flight of Our Lives” and it included:
Maker’s Mark: The first distillery tour we took together
Maker’s 46: The first bottle he ever brought me to my house
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye: The first bottle I ever bought him
Sazerac Rye: His favorite
Larceny: My favorite
Anyone could recreate this with bottles that are special to them. We set this up with mini plastic glasses, and all the bottles lined up. Ideally I would have preferred this to have been more like a tasting, but people ended up just taking shots. It was fine though, and most importantly everyone had fun as we infused our wedding day with bourbon!
