Erika da Silva & Sean Patrick

We planned one wedding and wound up being blessed with two.
Here's what happened.

When life gives you lemons...
Many of our family and friends in Brazil were surprised to learn that Erika and I had both been married previously - to each other. A couple of weeks before the BBQ Party in New Hampshire we learned that a few close relatives in the States would not be able to attend our wedding in Rio.

We were devastated with the news. At the time we were in Australia preparing to head to the States for the BBQ party on September 1st. Over the course of our trip we decided to put together a small ceremony for our family. To keep the confusion to a minimum we decided to hold it the day after the BBQ and keep it a surprise. We skipped all the formalities. We didn't even invite anyone. We knew our immediate family would be there for the weekend. If any close friends were also at the lake on the 3d that would be a welcome bonus.

The day after we arrived in the States we went to the Bristol courthouse and got our marriage license.

We asked John Greenan if would conduct the service for us. He is a close friend of Sean's family and, as luck would have it, a justice of the peace.

Once we had our marriage license and our preacher lined up we let Mom in on our plans. She immediately snapped into wedding planning mode.

On September 2nd family and friends all chipped in and helped us prepare for the celebration.Even the weather did its part.

A big THANK YOU to everyone in this picture for making Sunday, September 2 one of two of the most beautiful days of our lives. We love you all.

To be continued (sometime after November 3d)...