Dayton Weddings | Echo by Design | Wedding + Portrait Photography

..Jessica Said Yes to Patrick..

What can I say to the couple that has catapulted me into what will be my own business? The couple that is giving me a chance to take the leap of faith I may have always needed but didn’t have the courage to take. The couple that met in my living room not caring that I didn’t have a business name (and still don’t) to call my own or a business plan to follow by. I guess the only thing I can say is thank you. It is hard to completely understand the sincerity of those words until you feel them. I have felt thankfulness deep down in the depths of my soul that are attainable yet no way to describe.

So while I am out of words to say what exactly I need to say to this couple, here is Patrick and Jessica. They get married in a few days! I didn’t have the chance to share their engagement session before because I have been in such a crazy state of life. But before I introduce them on their wedding day I thought it would be perfect to give them their grand introduction on my new blog. We did their engagement photos back in the fall just a few short weeks after we shared pizza on our living room floor. It got pretty dreary and we had to dodge a few raindrops but despite all of the rain we managed to finish the session with plenty of laughs.

Patrick did such a good job.

Jessica loves fall and we quickly had to take advantage of all the color that was left before winter approached all too fast.

Thank you again to Patrick and Jessica for giving me my leap of faith! Can’t wait to shoot your wedding in two weeks!

..JESSICA SAID YES..

love, echo

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echoes of love

..Kendra Said Yes to Evan..

There are just some moments you don’t forget. One of those that I will never forget is sitting in church just after worship was over about 7 months ago. My friend and a bridesmaid of mine, Kendra came up in the pew behind me to whisper something sweet in my ear. She whispered, “Don’t say anything but I think we are getting married in July.” Of course the whole church was intently listening to Pastor Scott except us. It was one of those moments that I was so excited I could barely contain a squeal that so eagerly wanted to come out. I just had to smile ear to ear and ask the date they were tentatively thinking of so that I could arrange it off from my other two jobs. She said we are thinking July 24th. I said okay and wrote it on a piece of paper and slipped it into my bible. Not very often do I reserve a date before the bride even has a ring on her finger!

So when New Years Day came and my family was sitting down to watch the afternoon broadcast a flash of a man on his knee came across with the reporter saying, “More on this chilly engagement up next after the break.” I was thinking to myself who in their right mind jumps into the Maumee river in freezing temperatures such as these? Well I should have known when the broadcast came back that it was none other than Evan proposing to Kendra right after his Polar Bear jump for all of Toledo to see! Of course I already knew that the proposal was coming but I would have to say that I was very surprised to see it on tv. So a very memorable engagement it was 🙂

Evan’s beautiful gift to Kendra.

Evan’s admitted favorite feature of Kendra. Love it!

My Favorite!!!!! They couldn’t be more adorable…

To Kendra and Evan thank you so much for allowing me the privledge to photograph your beautiful day! I can’t wait to see where God takes you in life. Love you both so very much.

..KENDRA SAID YES..

love, echo

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echoes of love

..Jon & Missy's Featured Album..

Brides welcome to a place where you have the unique opportunity to venture into some featured albums from other brides! There are so many options to choose from in modern wedding albums these days and I want to showcase some of the best as a feature here for all of you to see. Not only that, but it gives you the awesome opportunity to window shop, something your future husband typically rolls his eyes at! (Insert that now…) So brides if you see something you like do not hesitate to shoot me an email and tell me that you really like what you saw for so and so’s album 😉

So here is the kickoff album, this couple is near and dear to my heart! My roommate from college and her husband Jon. I couldn’t have been more blessed to be a part of this special day. Lets just say that I can take almost full credit for putting this wonderful couple together, I introduced them and they were just friends. But sometimes friends aren’t always meant to be just friends! Not only did I have the blessing to be a bridesmaid, I also had the co-opportunity to shoot along with the hired photographer for the day. So I got to be part photographer and part bridesmaid. I guess there is a first time for everything 😉

Anyways the day after Christmas I was laying on the couch completely miserable with the flu…and yes it ruined Christmas. My phone rang right next to me and Rochelle Peters, Missy’s stepmother called to request this album to be made. It was a secret and they weren’t suppose to know, I was estatic and if I could I would have started it immediately. It was to be Missy’s birthday gift in March. Just before the album was complete Missy and Jon found out that they were expecting (pictures to come)! Missy still hadn’t had the chance to get herself an album such as this, but little did she know that it was already in the works. When she came home from DC to see her family for her birthday it was presented to her and Jon. They couldn’t of been more happy to finally have an album. (Typically pregnancy’s get the ball rolling on purchasing albums but brides make a note to self that it gets more expensive the longer you wait.)

The Jakubowski’s stunning album is classic and simplistic in design. It is the Tuscany Storybook Album featuring a black leather which is 12×12 in size when closed. On the front they chose to imprint their names in Silver on a single line. It holds 42 pages with approximately about 100 images. Enjoy!

..FEATURE ALBUM..

love, echo

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echoes of love

..Hello world..

It was a Saturday morning and its the earliest I have been up in awhile. But this particular Saturday I was happy to be up, I had a spring in my step that I don’t normally have at that hour in the morning. “Today is the day,” I said to myself. Today is the day my husband graduates with his MBA from the University of Toledo.

So many hopes and dreams and fears went into making it to this day. Over a year ago he quit his full time job in the recession to go back to school and make something better than a cubicle life for himself. We were both scared, scared that we would be swimming in debt up to our ears for the rest of our lives. But God did us one better and provided a full time temporary job for the summer. And when it came to the rest, well he provided for us then too. Just when we thought we were going to have to take out loans for two more semesters, a brand new assistantship was created. Thankfully two days after the interview they offered him the job, it would take care of the rest of his schooling!

So here we are just over a year later and the day is here. It took everything I had to fight back tears because I was so proud of him. And not only proud of him but proud of myself for being the wife that stood by her husband no matter the circumstances that were to follow. We may have not had enough money to pay rent, do a ton of extracurricular activities, or for the lack of the matter eat more than ramen noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But God, he is awesome and he showed up and provided everything we needed. The bible says to not worry for one day in your life because tomorrow will take care of itself. Sometimes it is hard to see that, but in hindsight it couldn’t have been more true. So with much joy I was proud to watch my husband once more walk across a stage to receive a diploma that was going to better himself and our life together. I couldn’t be more proud and thankful of him.

The color guard presenting the flags.

Gene Krantz from Apollo 13 delivered the commencement speech.

Here he is, so proud of you.

His official graduation photo taken by me. (The other ones were cheezy.)

I am also proud to announce that one week after graduation this degree paid off even further with a job offer from Wright Patterson Airforce Base in Dayton, Ohio. We will be moving from Toledo and will miss everyone dearly, however we are excited to see what that leap of faith over a year ago is going to take us in this journey called life.

..HELLO WORLD..

love, echo

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echoes of love