Emma Shiffert and Nick Swanson and their wedding party during the retrieval of the buried bourbon (Photo by Nikki Santerre)
Though Emma Shiffert and Nick Swanson ran in the same circles, it wasn’t until they met through mutual friends at Richmond’s Siné Irish Pub in February 2020 that they began seeing each other romantically. Having navigated dating during the pandemic, the couple got engaged on Jan. 28, 2023, at Keswick Hall in Charlottesville.
They chose Mankin Mansion for their wedding on June 1, 2024. Emma is from Richmond and attended the University of Kentucky, while Nick is from Williamsburg and completed his higher education at Clemson University in South Carolina. As a nod to their Southern connections, and in hopes of pleasant weather for their outdoor nuptials, the duo opted for a bourbon-burying ceremony. In keeping with tradition, they buried a bottle of Woodford Reserve on the grounds of Mankin Mansion a month prior to their big day.
“I had always heard about the Southern tradition of burying it for good weather, so that’s the main reason we wanted to do it,” Emma says. “There literally wasn’t a cloud in the sky, which was awesome.”
After the nuptials, the wedding party gathered to unbury the bourbon. Careful not to get any dirt on her Kelly Faetanini wedding gown, Emma did the shoveling, while Nick pulled the bottle from the ground. The unveiling elicited whoops of joy from the onlookers. The bride and groom then took a swig from the bottle before passing it around to the bridesmaids and groomsmen.
“I’m not the biggest bourbon drinker,” Emma says. “I did go to school in Kentucky, and so it was very much a part of the culture there … so I’m used to the taste, but I feel like since it was sitting underground for a month, it was warm and maybe had a little dirt in it.”
Regardless, the condition of the bourbon didn’t stop people from imbibing.
“The bridesmaids were like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I can’t believe I’m doing this,’ and the groomsmen were so excited,” Emma says. “At one point, I don’t even know what happened to the bottle. It was passed around the wedding party and then brought to cocktail hour, and then it just mysteriously disappeared, so I’m assuming it was thoroughly enjoyed.”
