Erica (Rustad) and Nelson J. Ferreira

August 7, 2010 - Stowe, Vermont

Ceremony: Stowe Community Church - Reception: Stowe Mountain Lodge

Wedding & Reception Photos Larry Asam Photography

ERICA and NELSON’S NEW YORK LOVE STORY
with a VERMONT TWIST

How We Met:

You always hear love finds you where you least expect it and when you are not looking for it. Before I fell in love with Nelson, I fell in love with New York. I participated in a summer program in New York City after my junior year of college at the University of Miami.

I was exactly half through my education at Fordham University School of Law in Manhattan and, at the time, I was living in a small, when I say small, I mean tiny studio apartment on the Upper East Side. I lived on the first floor and my close friend, Isabelle, from Belgium, lived on the fifth floor. We spent a lot of time together whether it was between class, after class, or hitting the town. It is no wonder that the evening I met Nelson, she was there with me. We were sipping on colorful drinks at a trendy Lower East Side bar when I met Nelson, a civil engineer from Yonkers, New York. Nelson and

I exchanged phone numbers and then Isabelle and I continued with our girls’ night out.

NYC Brings Romance:

Nelson and I had our first date at a place called “Flute,” a classy lounge in Manhattan’s Theatre District. I thought it was a perfect first date place, not only for their nice menu but also because it featured a quiet ambiance despite its proximity to loud Times Square, making it perfect for conversation. We hit it off immediately and I had a good feeling about the experience. When I got home of course I climbed the five stories to Isabelle’s apartment. She joked, “[if] you two get married, then I have to be in your wedding.” I laughed and said, “Of course!”

The Proposal:

I graduated from law school in May 2009. Nelson and his father Jose moved me out of my apartment without complaint. Nelson and I had talked about visiting the Empire State Building sometime before I moved out of the city but that was actually one of very few things we never got around to do. Even though I was not feeling well on May 24, I wanted to get out so I went along with Nelson’s suggestion to tour the Empire State Building that night. When we got to the top, we spent time taking in the views of the city we love so much and taking lots of pictures. Just after midnight (so early on May 25), the crowd had cleared out. Nelson got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I stared down at the beautiful cushion cut diamond ring and like a giddy child, I replied, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Only later did I find out that Nelson had taken my father to Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park and to see a Yankees/Orioles game in the new stadium. After the game, Nelson asked my father for permission to marry me. Dad immediately gave his blessing with great enthusiasm. As a Red Sox fan it is hard to overlook the Yankees aspect of this love story. However, I am a good person and believe that everyone is entitled to one flaw. Nelson’s flaw is he is an avid Yankees fan, but I love him anyway.

Our Wedding Destination and the Details:

By the time of serious wedding planning, I was working as an employment litigation attorney in New Jersey. However, I am a Vermonter and wanted a Vermont wedding destination. Fortunately, Nelson loved Vermont from our first visit. We visited many beautiful locations all over the state and ultimately we chose Stowe. It was also the perfect choice since we had so many out of towners, we wanted them to be able to make a mini-vacation out of the trip and have plenty to do. I wanted the scenic, mountain Vermont wedding and Stowe was the perfect fit.

We had fun combining our different cultures and traditions. Nelson’s family is from Portugal, so at the rehearsal dinner at the Green Mountain Inn, a special Portuguese kale soup called caldo verde was served along with Portuguese wines before the entrées of New England baked haddock or filet mignon. We married on a beautiful, sunny day at Stowe Community Church.

I wore the “Diana” dress from Vera Wang’s flagship store in Manhattan and carried a bouquet of gorgeous pink roses. The bridesmaids wore elegant, long, marine blue gowns from Priscilla of Boston that were stunning. Kristen Kutler, my best friend since the third grade, was my maid of honor.

Kristen helped me a lot with the wedding process and I want to thank her specifically for organizing a beautiful bridal shower at the Tribeca Grill and the bachelorette party both in NYC. Isabelle, now an attorney in Brussels, was one of my four beautiful bridesmaids.

The other bridesmaids were Paula Tassel (Nelson’s sister) and my friends Amy McMahon and Leslie Brooks. Nelson’s best man was Adam Bruder and his groomsmen were Flavio Delima, Vincent Fama, Joe Cardoso, and my brother, Dr. James Rustad. We were happy to have them all be a part of our special day.

Cynthea’s Spa of Burlington, Vermont expertly did makeup for the entire bridal party and me. Stylists at the Spa at Stowe Mountain Lodge did a great job with our hairstyles. My parents purchased my diamond chandelier earrings on a fun shopping trip with me at The Metropolitan in Manhattan.

Blue is our favorite color, so our color scheme was blue and white featured with metallic silver as an accent color throughout our wedding. Wild Flower Designs of Stowe incorporated gorgeous blue hydrangeas in many of the floral arrangements.

Our wedding reception, which included dinner and dancing, was held in the Tamarack Ballroom of the spectacular Stowe Mountain Lodge. Calais Lovejoy, Stowe Mountain Lodge’s wedding expert, met with us on many occasions to help plan our event. The tastings were especially fun! My mother was the official wedding planner, but she said it was Calais’ contribution that made her job easy.

Larry Asam, our photographer, took great shots of us as we were formally introduced to our 125 guests by our SuperSounds DJ, Corey. Our SuperSounds videographer caught the wedding and reception on film and the company prepared DVDs for us. Everyone enjoyed getting in the photobooth and the vendor, Vermont Photo Booth, was great with organizing the guest photos and scrapbooks for us.

The James Rustad band, led by my brother who is a physician as well as a musician, performed live music. The band played rock and roll and pop music. DJ Corey also did a great job keeping the crowd dancing while also accommodating all of our requests. We danced until 1 a.m. Our guests, who kindly traveled from New York, California, Florida, Costa Rica,

Portugal, France, Belgium, etc. stayed at Stowe Mountain Lodge, the Inn at Stowe Mountain Lodge, and the Green Mountain Inn. Everyone enjoyed being in Stowe and their hotels. We hope everyone will revisit Vermont in the future.

We left Stowe Mountain Lodge the day after our wedding for our Hawaiian honeymoon. We stayed in Oahu and Maui, a romantic adventure that we will never forget. Our entire wedding party including Adrien and Victoria (the adorable ring bearer and flower girl) will always have a special place in our hearts.

Vermont Bride Magazine was a handy reference guide for us to plan our once in a lifetime wedding event. We recommend it to everyone planning a wedding in beautiful Vermont.

Advice:

Our advice to those planning a wedding involves your budget. If you plan a wedding for a year as we did, the original budget amount is eclipsed by new items and expands greatly. Include a miscellaneous category to cover new additions or budget very strictly. For instance, we did not expect to hire childcare, but ended up hiring Vermont Nanny Connection.com. Also, if you are getting an insurance policy to cover the wedding and reception, keep in mind that the number of guests dictates the price. If you are hosting a big dance party, check out electrical outlets and local noise ordinances. Also prepare your newspaper wedding announcements early.

 

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Related: Online index of other Vermont Love Stories

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