Take two ... With one wedding under our belts we proceeded down to Rio with friends and family for another. Unlike our New Hampshire wedding the Rio wedding had been planned for months.  With a lot of help from her friends in Rio, Erika created the wedding she had always dreamed of. We rented a 1000+ square meter (11,000 sq ft) penthouse on the beach at Copacabana complete with BBQ pit, pool and sauna. The ceremony was held at a beautiful little Church in Erika's neighborhood, Vila Isabel, in Rio. It was followed by a fun-filled reception at the hillside villa "Vista Maravilhosa" overlooking Botafogo Bay and Sugarloaf Mountain. Here are a few highlights. Check out our photo albums for complete coverage.

The advance team arrives.

The advance team arrives. Erika had returned to Rio a few weeks before the wedding to make final preparations. Ulf and Sean followed a week before the wedding. Lots of details to take care of in the days leading up to the big day but thanks to Erika's efforts things ran like clockwork.

Erika and Jose make final arrangements for the reception.

The Tux Hunt: "Can I take this thing off now?"

Ulf & Sean take a break from a hectic day of wedding planning

Meeting with Christian our photographer.

The Rehearsal Dinner. To be honest we didn't really rehearse much. Erika basically told everyone what they were expended to do during the ceremony. But we did have a kick-ass rehearsal dinner party at the penthouse. We rehearsed our eating, drinking and dancing skills in the open air overlooking the bay of Copacabana Beach. We rehearsed well into the night and got very good.

Kevin and Paul work the BBQ Pit at the rehearsal dinner

Sean's brother and best man Brian (aka Bub

The big day. It was a beautiful morning. Erika left at the crack of dawn to begin preparing. Sean got up well after dawn had cracked and had a leasurely breakfast with family and friends at the penthouse. Everyone arrived at the church on time. It's customary for the bride to arrive late, leaving the anxious groom ringing his hands at the alter. But eventually Erika did show and the wedding ceremony was beautiful. Afterward we all headed to the hills overlooking Botafogo Bay for our reception. All our rehearsing paid off as we ate, drank, laughed and danced better than ever.

A quiet start to a busy day.

On our way to the church.

Waiting for the bride.

Here comes the bride with her brother Andre-Louis

Erika took a train to the ceremony.

We do redux

Man and wife once more.

The Wedding Party

The Reception. After the ceremony in Vila Isabel we all headed to the hills overlooking Botofogo Bay for our reception. All our rehearsing paid off as we ate, drank, laughed and danced better than ever.

One of our flower girls Taissa

Tables were set on the lawn overlooking the bay

Erika's sister Eloa

The reception was a blast.

Erika and Andre-Louis

Was it really worth flying half way around the world for?

Thank you. A big thank you to everyone who attended our Rio wedding. A special thanks to our wedding party and all those who helped in the planning to make November 3, 2007 one of the two most beautiful days of our lives. We love you all.