A couple weeks ago my cousin asked Matt, Blair, and me to be in a styled wedding shoot for her job. She works for a hotel chain and needed to feature Marina Del Rey Hotel's new remodel for brides who are interested in getting married there.

I was all about it and it only took a little coaxing to get Matt on board. Blair was thrilled to be in Mommy and Daddy's wedding. An added bonus was having her best friend as a flower girl by her side! I enjoyed having one of my bests and my cousin (the short blonde hair) in my faux wedding too. :)

The whole day felt like a real wedding since we started out getting our hair and make up done. We borrowed a dress from a bridal boutique and cinched it up a smidge...you would never know! The robes and dresses we happened to mostly already own. From my perspective the whole day went really smoothly...I mean it was a faux wedding after all. No bridezillas necessary. ;)

Such a sweet photo of my dear friend and her daughter! Swoon!

Our "wedding" will be featured on theknot.com and weddingwire.com. Who knew I'd be marrying Matt all over again 8 years later! ;)

Thank you so much for all the sweet wishes yesterday. :) It was so fun to share my excitement with you! I had a record amount of people come to my blog...I should get pregnant more often! ;)

Anyway, I am still not over publicizing my brother's wedding so here's to another post! Today I decided to show off their venue, Windfall Farms, in Paso Robles wine country. Their wedding was in a beautiful barn and my brother learned what constitutes "shabby chic" very quickly.

The note cards said "you know you're in love when..." and "best advice on marriage is..." Then you put it in the barn!

unique rustic tables were adorned with powder blue runners. i just love the twinkly lights too!

The barn was behind the guests and in front of them were horses running in pastures and wine country! Guests sat on hay bales covered with white linens

real horse stalls lined the reception area with beautiful brick floors

mason jars held candles and floral arrangements. Guests took home peat pots with seeds for planting

DIY bride and groom signs were secured on mini white picket fences. the cake was so darling especially the wooden cake toppers they found on etsy. they were hand painted to look just like the bride and groom! hopefully I get a close up of that later. :)

Lots of DIY wedding ideas in this post...use them up! On a different note work has been INSANE for me lately. I am teaching the after school program till four everyday and then I have to stay after that and get ready for my own class the next day. I've been getting to work at 7:15 and getting home at 5:30. That is too much work! Not to mention taking things home to grade etc. So, with that said I was hoping you would give me some slack on my lack of originality lately. Thanks :)

PS all photos courtesy of Peter Dawson