How to make sure it doesn't rain at your wedding

Shelby French and Kade Baker were married May 21. The ceremony and the reception were held outdoors at her parent's home. Shelby hoped it wouldn't rain on her special day. When planning the wedding she ran across some old Southern folklore on Google.

It said that if you buried a bottle of bourbon at the site the bride and groom were to be married, it would not rain on their wedding day. It had to be done exactly one month before the wedding, the bottle had to be completely full and it had to be buried upside down.

Shelby thought it couldn't hurt, kind of like having a little rain insurance, and it might actually help. So on April 21, she and Kade went to her parent's house with a full bottle of Baker Bourbon. With her parents and sister and Kade's mom and grandma watching, they buried the bottle of bourbon upside down at their wedding site with young love's excitement and confidence things would go as they planned.

Much of May was like April weather-wise, cool and wet. Shelby was getting a little nervous when it rained, some, almost every day the week before her big day. And she was very disappointed when she awoke on the day of her wedding and it was raining. Even though her parent's had a large tent for the ceremony, like all brides, Shelby had her heart set on a beautiful sunshiny day. She had planned the whole wedding to fulfill her dreams. But the one thing she couldn't control was the weather.

To her surprise, however, the rain stopped about midmorning. It was still cloudy and overcast but dry. Then to Shelby's delight the sun came out about noon. And the weather for the afternoon ceremony was almost picture perfect. The sun was shining, there was a gentle breeze and the temperature was in the low 70s.

"I don't know if burying the bourbon had anything to do with the weather," Shelby said. "But it was fun. And using the Baker's Bourbon, this will be a pleasant, happy memory we'll recall every anniversary."

Keep smiling.

Linda Messmer can be reached at 812-448-8725.