When Burying the Bourbon Goes Wrong

February 20, 2020/Hannah Lee/Engagements & Weddings

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When a North Carolina couple buried the bourbon prior to their wedding, they were surprised by the snow fall

By Rachel Sauls | Photography by Samantha Floyd

The southern tradition of burying a bottle of bourbon a month before a wedding to ensure good weather worked in favor of Sarah Mixter and Brian Gribbon. When tiny flurries came down as the two celebrated on March 24, 2018 with an intimate group of friends and family, Sarah felt as if a piece of her hometown of Boone was a part of the big day.

Sarah met Brian of Dunmore, Pennsylvania, during their junior year at UNC in 2011, where they both worked as student ushers for Carolina Performing Arts. When the couple planned a road trip to visit his family, they stopped for a night in Asheville in March 2017. As they left to eat breakfast, Brian knelt to “tie his shoe” but instead surprised Sarah by proposing.

Accompanied by their parents, Brian and Frances Gribbon and Perry and Jan Mixter, the couple said ‘I do’ at The Parlour at Manns Chapel. To make their big day even more meaningful, Sarah and Brian had their friend, Stephen Bishop, officiate the wedding and Sarah’s aunt, Sudie Blanchard, a deacon at St. George’s Episcopal Church in York Harbor, Maine, offered a blessing during the ceremony.

Sarah Mixter and her bridemaids at The Parlour at Manns Chapel

The special day was filled with many heartfelt surprises that reminded Sarah of her friends, family and home. The day before the wedding, Sarah’s aunt Lolly Mixter gifted her a pair of clip-on earrings that belonged to her father’s mother. Not knowing that Sarah hadn’t picked out earrings yet, Aunt Lolly gave her the perfect touch to her gown and allowed Sarah to carry a piece of her grandmother with her for the big day.

The couple resides in Chapel Hill.

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