On November 1st, 2025, I went from Jada G to Jada Swann! My new last name is as handsome and graceful as my new husband, Jaylan. We are both quiet and laid-back souls, so it took a few years of friendship for us to finally connect. But once we did, it was obvious that we both had found our other half in each other.
So, after his beautiful springtime proposal, we began preparing for one of the most important celebrations of our lives - our wedding day!
I wanted to write all about it to share my experience and maybe inspire some soon to be brides. So keep an eye out for future installments !
not so simple
First off, I have to admit... the idea of having a large ceremony and reception intimidated me! As a photographer I am used to being on the other side of the lens. Always positioning the spotlight, never being under it. Deeply introverted, I shuttered at the thought of organizing a big event that I was the center of! So naturally I suggested elopement. Many, many.... many times. But this went against one of me and Jaylan's strongest core values - family.
Both of us have a large group of loving family and close friends. It would have to be everyone or no one! But the day would not have been complete without our people by our side, so my requests to run away together were denied! I was letting my anxiety take over. Smaller felt safer. And that's who I was! A simple girlie who wanted things quiet and tiny... or so I thought. Finding my wedding dress helped to give me a new perspective.
listen to the dress by dijon
manning
With a deadline of six months for planning and prepping, finding a dress was one of my top priorities! I had my eyes out for something sleek and, of course, simple. I liked the idea of a corset waist and was open to the possibility of sleeves. After scouring the websites of all our local bridal boutiques, One Fine Day's collection stood out to me the most. Their variety of classic and romantic gowns drew me in. The staff was kind and easy to communicate with, even helping me to pick out a few dresses beforehand that were ready and waiting for me to try on at my appointment.
Before going to the dressing room, I skimmed the racks to see if anything caught my eye. One of the back walls held up a large ballgown, a new dress to the store that wasn't on their website yet. Manning. I decided to try it on for fun, putting it to the front to my line up. I knew my family waiting in the lobby would get a kick out of me in a big dress! Surprisingly though, no sooner than we fastened her up was I absolutely in love. My mouth literally fell agape. My mom laughed from behind me, "Well that was easy!" The drop waist, the subtle sweetheart neckline, the shine, gathering of the fabric, the buttons down my back to the end of my train. I couldn't believe how beautiful and true to myself I felt in such a big dress!
It turned out that the other dresses were the "just for fun" ones. Though there were many other beautiful options, Manning had stolen my heart. That's when I told myself let go of the idea that I needed to keep things simple and small. If having almost ten members of my family and friends come to my dress appointment wasn't enough to open my eyes, looking back at my large flowy train definitely sealed the deal.
As anxious as I was to plan a larger wedding, I slowly began to realize that it was actually a privileged dilemma to have. There were so many people close and dear to us that we needed to celebrate with! That's who I truly was, someone who had a lot of people who loved her... and someone who loved being in a poofy ball gown!
my advice
The first step to any event - make a Pinterest board about it. I spent a lot of time scrolling on Pinterest looking for dress styles and inspiration! I was not a girl who had always dreamed of her wedding, which might be obvious since I was trying not to have one! So I was kind of starting from scratch with what I pictured myself looking like. I thought about my hair more than I thought about my dress (more on that later) ! So making a Pinterest board of wedding gowns definitely helped me. Then I compared my overall style to the dress collections at my local bridal boutiques. I refrained myself from having a very specific dress that I wanted, only because I knew it would make the dress harder to find, and I wanted to keep an open mind to different gowns.
Next I would say it is a good idea to know your body type. This is something my friends had been trying to teach me for a long time. I'm not the most stylish person, but knowing my body type has definitely given me some better direction when it comes to assembling my wardrobe. As an inverted triangle, I knew that I wanted to look for an a-line dress or something that hugged at the waist and let out around my hips. This didn't stop me from trying on fitted dresses though! And while I overall liked how I looked in the fitted dresses, I knew I would feel more confident and comfortable in an a-line.
Another good tip, bring your hype people! My appointment guests included my mom, grandmas, aunts, sister, and childhood besties. I brought them mixed nuts and sparking water to enjoy while they gave me feedback and went along on such a fun and memorable ride! Which, naturally, brings me to the biggest personal lesson I got out of this. While your wedding day is technically all about you, who are you without your crew? Some people have tiny crews who don't mind catching up with you after an elopement! Others have around 40 people that they enjoy a small ceremony with. Those are the moments that I love to capture as a photographer! But I had to realize that Jaylan and I are a couple with a large crew of people who would want to celebrate us! I'm talking about respectful, caring, and supportive people. I had to embrace that.
So my final piece of advice is to embrace the love of others on your wedding day. This looks different for everyone. For me it meant getting out of my comfort zone and expanding our guest list within our budget. We still weren't able to invite absolutely everyone we love in person, but we did our best to include our tribe. And I'm so happy we did!
Keep checking back on my website as I continue to write all about our wedding planning process. Because next on the high priority list - finding a venue! Stay tuned...
