Addison native Alexandra Larrow met Nelson Burgos in 2013 after she had moved down to Massachusetts, where Nelson is from. They went out with a group of mutual friends and hit it off right away, but didn’t start dating until the following spring.

Fast forward to the summer of 2020, and Alex was back in Vermont with Nelson going fishing with Alex’s dad, Jim — one of their favorite pastimes.

They weren’t catching much on that July 19, and when that happens Alex has been known to ask for a worm and Green Mountain Grabber lure as an easy way to get a couple of perch in the boat. So she asked Nelson for one of the new grabbers she knew he had just gotten. Hidden in the stack was a perfect replica of the Green Mountain Grabber packaging (designed by the bride’s cousin/future Matron of Honor and her husband) but instead of the brand it read “Will You Marry Me?”

When Alex realized what it said, and saw her great-grandmother’s wedding ring on the hook, she turned around on the boat to see Nelson down on one knee.

In her shock, her dad had to remind Alex that Nelson probably wanted an answer to the question. Obviously, she said yes!

They decided to get married at Alex’s parents’ house on Lake Champlain in Addison.

“Their home is where we spend so much of our time — from family holidays, Fourth of July barbeques, winter days ice fishing or summer fun boating and spending time together,” Alex explained. “It made perfect sense to us to have our most important family gathering at the place we love spending time with our favorite people.

“It’s so special to us that we can visit our wedding location any time we want.”

The couple planned the ceremony for the shoreline to celebrate their love of the lake and take advantage of the incredible views Vermont has to offer.

“We were also able to have our wedding party stay on the same street thanks to some of their incredible neighbors,” Alex said. “It gave the whole weekend a fun, family block party atmosphere that we loved.”

The Burgoses described the planning process as fun. It was important that all of their wedding vendors were local businesses that they already love and support. The restaurant 3 Squares Cafe served an incredible meal featuring local meat and produce, lu•lu made a stunning wedding cake. Lu•lu also made a surprise ice cream “groom’s cake” with an illustration of Nelson bass fishing in his wedding best.

Flower Power Farm, an incredible local flower farm just a few miles from their house, provided the floras.

“I would recommend Anne and Hilary to anyone wanting stunning florals for their special day,” Alex said.

A local artist that Alex has known since childhood hand carved and painted wooden birds and fish native to Lake Champlain to use as table markers.

“The entire wedding felt like a true collaboration between the best Addison County has to offer,” Alex said.

One of the most personal touches was the invitations. Alex’s cousin/matron of honor owns Loyal Supply Co. — a Massachusetts letter press card company. Her husband designed the invitations and Alex was able to go to their house and help hand press the invitations herself on their 1911 Chandler & Price press. Another local artist let them use his painting of the view of the ceremony site as part of the invitation suite.

Alex and Nelson said their best advice to other prospective brides and grooms would be to tackle one thing at a time.

“Wedding planning can be overwhelming and stressful if you try to tackle everything at once,” Alex said. “Break down the big decisions into smaller parts and decide what is the most important to you. At the end of the day it was our wedding and we had a clear vision of what we wanted and what was most important to us.”

Everyone always says that they can’t believe how fast their wedding day goes by, so Alex and Nelson were well prepared for that.

“What we didn’t expect was how incredible it was to see everyone from all parts of our lives together in one place,” Alex noted. “Most of Nelson’s family had never been to Vermont before, so it was really special to share our favorite place with them.  Having guests that included Alex’s friends from college, Nelson’s family from Puerto Rico, and other people that have watched us grow and create a life together over the past 10 years was something we will never forget.

After the ceremony and their first round of photos, Nelson and Alex found they had a little bit of time to spare before they needed to make their entrance to the reception.

“One of the incredible servers from 3 Squares brought us our own personal cheese plate and the two of us were able to sit on the deck for 20 minutes and just reflect on the fact that we were now husband and wife,” Alex said. “To be able to pause and have that time to just sit together and reflect on the importance of the day and everything it meant to us was so special and something that most couples don’t get on their wedding day.

“It was just the two of us looking at the lake and reflecting on how far we’ve come. It was perfect.”