Dayton Weddings | Echo by Design | Wedding + Portrait Photography

..Derek & Ashley Part II | Marry Me..

Just like that it was over. Derek and Ashley were husband and wife. I always feel like the wedding day progresses pretty quickly once it gets going, but I felt like the morning and afternoon already had gone by in a flash! Now it was time for the real fun to begin.

I was IN LOVE with the light that their church had to offer. It is rare that I ever come across a church that offers this real bright white light, and I was taking advantage of it! The day outside was much the same, it turned out to be a gorgeous day and the rain that was expected passed us by. Soon the trolly arrived and whisked us off to the secret guest surprise…

The Shadowland Ballroom had an attached carousel! So Ashley and Derek rented it for a portion of the evening for their guests to enjoy! We had the chance to make it there before the reception to have some of our own fun.

After our time at the carousel, we made our way to Silver Beach for the rest of our portrait session.

Love the bright light, colors, and details…

Derek and Ashley, congratulations once again! I am so happy for you both and I can’t wait to see where life takes you! What a beautiful day for two amazing people, Brad, Eli, and I love you both so much!

..SECRET SURPRISE..

love, echo

{A BIG shoutout to the professionals that made Derek & Ashley’s day a huge hit!}

Church: First Congregational Church

Reception: Shadowland Ballroom on Silver Beach

Florist: Wright Flowers

Cake Artist: Bit of Swiss

DJ: 27 Entertainment

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..Derek & Ashley Part I | Marry Me..

It was a crisp morning with a few clouds overhead, rain was making it’s way across the lake. I could smell the freshness in the air and the ever so faint sound of the crashing waves as they made their way to the beach. We walked into the old nineteen century home as the girls were already snacking around the breakfast table. The hairdressers had arrived and were upstairs prepping the curling irons and hair product for us to get our hair done. Laughter filled the room as Ashley was writing endless lists on her iPhone of reminders and forget me nots. Shortly after grabbing a bite to eat, hair and makeup begun. The wedding preparation was already in full swing and I was a part of it both as a family member and as the photographic artist. What an honor it was to be able to spend time in both parts of the day!

Before we knew it, we were at the church and preparing both the bride and the groom to walk down the aisle. My amazing assistant, Nicole joined me as we each captured elated and nervous smiles from them both.

As I entered into my nook before the ceremony began, I gave myself a pep talk to make sure I kept my composure while I watched family walk down the aisle. The music started and the Grandparents made their way to their seats. Within minutes Moms were being escorted in, both by the ushers and the baby nephews of the bride. {Moment: My baby was in his first wedding.} Whew…breathe. The procession began and Derek was on his way to the altar. The bridal party made their way to the altar and then the trumpet began. Ashley stepped out into the doorway with her Dad. Both with tears in their eyes. My eyes began to water…breathe Echo! Shoot…breathe…shoot, shoot…breathe. Derek had much of the same reaction as he saw his blushing bride for the first time. My father in law looked at his daughter, asked are you ready? She nodded her head, said yes, and he walked his baby girl towards Derek to give her away. It was a bittersweet moment.

The ceremony commenced and it went along beautifully. Before we knew it, Ashley and Derek were facing the crowd of people who had come so far to join in their day. After sealing the deal with a kiss, they were pronounced husband and wife. They made the lovely march out of the sanctuary with such joy spread across their faces, as they were officially Mr. & Mrs. Kovalcik.

While I grabbed the dress, Nicole photographed the outside of the church!

LOVING the images Nicole captured of Ashley and Dad before she walked down the aisle.

Another one of Nicole’s as they exited the church…

I am just so happy for you both!! You don’t want to miss the beach portraits or the big surprise Ashley and Derek had for their guests. Stay tuned as Part II is yet to come.

..BITTERSWEET..

love, echo

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..Roman | Oh Baby..

I was so excited to photograph this little guy again. You may remember Roman from a few months back! I photographed him at ..three months..old, and he was just wayy to cute! Morgan and I have been trying to get the boys together for awhile now, and it always seems like every time we try one of them gets seriously ill. Oh well, I’m sure they will meet at some point!

It was a splendid evening, and as we started our session by this adorable old train station, Michael and I noticed a Sheriff helicopter circling overhead. We ignored them for awhile and I continued to photograph this sweet little boy and his adorable baby blues! After the Sheriff’s car rolled by more than once, we knew something was up. So Michael jumped on his iPhone and figured out that a convict had escaped from the courthouse and we were in the same vicinity they were searching for him!

My first thought was, well that’s not cool! My second thought came the same time as Morgan’s…let’s get outta here! I wasn’t about to be roaming around with a babes with that going on. After some quick research we realized he wasn’t a murderer or anything, but when someone escapes it’s no telling what they will do. Geesh! {Definitely marked that down as a first!}

ANYwhoo…we made it to a new location and continued on with our session! This little cutie looks just like his papa. Wouldn’t you agree?!? He has a toothless grin and it’s so stinking cute when he kicks his feet and smiles in excitement. He isn’t quite mobile yet {lucky for them}, but I’m sure he will be moving soon enough! I’m loving the images we captured and I love seeing him grow…

Michael, Morgan, and Roman, it was a pleasure capturing your family again! I can’t believe the boys are already 9 months old, it’s going too fast! Enjoy these next few months, summer is going to sweep past us and before we know it they will be ONE! Ahhh, I can’t even think of it!

..TOOTHLESS GRIN..

love, echo

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..Sneak Peek to Hawaii | Marry Me..

Aloha to Ashley and Derek in Hawaii! They tied the knot just over a week ago in Michigan to help me kickoff the wedding season with a bang! It was one beautiful day as you can imagine, which made it all the more special that Ashley is my sister in law.

Normally I have a sneak up the Monday after a wedding, but my little guy wasn’t feeling well last week. Monday led to Tuesday, and then Wednesday slipped by, and before I knew it it was Friday.

After browsing through the images, I cannot wait to show you some of the amazing shots we were able to capture.

Ashley and Derek I hope your having a blast in Hawaii, and I can’t wait to hear about all your adventures! Love you both and congrats again!

..ALOHA..

love, echo

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..Mark & Peyton | Family Love..

You have met this little girl before. Almost a year ago, when her sweet little tiny self entered into this world. I captured the bliss of new parents, Erica and Mark, as they embarked on a new journey of ..Peyton Trinity’s.. life! While her first year of life has a shadow of the tragic loss of her mother Erica, I was happy to help Peyton and Mark through my ..Bring Love To Life.. photo auction. I selected her and Mark as my first candidates to benefited them through medical bills and other miscellanous expenses that were unexpectantly thrown into their lap.

Today I get to showcase the beautiful little girl she has become in the last year. {After all her mother cherished photos!} And while I could tell you about all the new things she has learned I think her Daddy’s words put it best!

She is learning SO much right now, it’s incredible. Ironically, since we are talking about photos – Peyton is extremely interested in ANY kind of photograph or picture frame or anything like it. It doesn’t matter how many times she has seen it, she just wants to look at it and touch them all the tiime! With Erica, I always had to walk down the picture frame isle at the store – and I can see that is definitely not going to stop any time soon Definitely got that from her mama. {Brad can definitely relate to this!}

She loves to dance. Now she knows what that word means and any time you ask her if she wants to dance, she starts to move up and down – bouncing around in her seat if she is sitting down and then she looks at you with this incredible smile like, aren’t you gonna dance too?! She loves it and loves music. She instantly stops doing anything else when music comes on. I’ll sing to her while I’m changing her diaper and she just sings right a long with me in her own “baby” way of doing it! Its SO adorable. Now that she is up and running around – literally running around. She can now kick a ball around the house. I swear, if she was able to play sports – she would grow up to be a soccer superstar!

Peyton is very inquisitive. She will point at something and then look at me with those beautiful inquisitive eyes and say,” Da?”. Then point at something else..,”Da?”. That is her way of saying what is that? I can tell already that when she gets to the “why” stage of asking questions — its gonna be ridiculous. {I am definitely not ready for that stage yet, but I laugh just thinking about it!}

Peyton LOVES water, LOVES being outdoors and can’t stand to be held back. Her favorite time is bathtime. If I ask her if she wants a bath she’ll run to the bath room and then start to try taking off her shoes or I’ll find her trying to throw her leg over the side of the tub to get in. {Eli is MUCH the same. I don’t understand how kids fight bath time. Who doesn’t want to play with a rubber ducky in a load of suddsy bubbles?} She’ll take any chance she can get to go outside and play. Her favorite thing outside are rocks. I can’t get her to look at a flower or anything! She just wants to pick up rocks, set them down then pick up more rocks. Crazy girl – my little baby archeaologist. We have just started going on lawnmower rides, which she absolutely loves. She’ll point where she wants to go and then hold her hand out to touch the leaves of the plants we are passing by. Its great bonding time!

Here was our time together…

In preparation for her first birthday party, we allowed this little sweet to have her first taste of sugar. Mark says, Ever since she had a taste of that sugar from the frosting on the cupcake, its impossible to eat any sweets around her! It’s like she has a sugar radar up now or something!! Makes me wonder what Eli will do when we give him his first taste! {Probably bounce off ten walls and do a back flip…he has that much energy!}

I can talk about my little girl forever. I know she is making her mamma in heaven so proud of her. And I know she is looking down smiling at all the things Peyton is doing. Now – if she could only help P sleep through the night… lol! {Love that…maybe she can help Eli too 🙂 }

While it just wasn’t the same without Erica there, I have been so blessed to continue to capture the precious little girl she created! Mark, you have one sweet little girl on your hands, and I had so much fun following her around and exploring the world you are giving to her!

Love you both so much dear friend, until next time…

..SUGAR..

love, echo

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echoes of love