Jayde & Anna
Wedding Party
Rev. Ian Campbell
Co-Officiant
Best friend of the brides, Ian is perhaps Jayde and Anna's favorite straight man! Ian met both Jayde and Anna while attending Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and now lives just a few miles down the road in Newberry, FL. Ian is a United Methodist Elder and serves as the lead pastor at Newberry United Methodist Church (and as the Cozy Tea Pastor on Instagram and Substack, go follow him @cozyteapastor!). Whether it's coaching Anna through Legend of Zelda games, watching the weirdest content you can imagine from Jayde's social media feed, or providing Gus with a father figure, Ian is a life-long friend to the Swagband family.
Rev. Rachel Paul Hartman
Co-Officiant
The kindest soul and greatest listener you will ever meet, Rachel is a dear friend of the brides. Rachel is a United Methodist Deacon and serves as the Chaplain and Coordinator for Faith and Service at Wesleyan College in Macon, GA. Bonding over their backgrounds in health care, higher education, and childhoods as the eldest daughters, Anna and Rachel became friends while navigating the United Methodist ordination process, and then Rachel and Jayde bonded over the same except with the addition of Caribbean beaches and virgin piña coladas. We love Rachel as much as she loves books, folk pop, and a crisp Diet Coke!
Natalie Faria-Campbell
Matron of Honor
Natalie is the collective Matron of Honor of the wedding party since Anna and Jayde both claim Natalie as a best friend, our favorite Dorothy. Jayde's side: Natalie and Jayde are a duo for the ages. Last year they celebrated 10 years of friendship #tinfinity. They became friends at Candler School of Theology and were bonded together working at Candler's Youth Theological Initiative, which Jayde refers to as "nerd camp." Since graduation, Jayde lived in three different states, and her and Natalie remained long-distanced best friends talking at least weekly. They are often found bird watching, trying a random craft, thrifting, figuring out how to navigate life in this wild world, or watching Twilight. Anna's side: Anna and Natalie were kindred spirits at Candler, bonding over their shared Florida roots and struggles in vocational discernment. When Natalie moved to Lakeland after graduation, they stayed in touch, hanging out whenever Anna was home visiting family (even seeing Florence the Machine in concert!). When Natalie then moved to Gainesville, the stars were aligned. Newberry hangs with Arepas Milkos, Enneagram meetups Downtown, book clubs at the Lynx, endless art dates: Natalie and Anna became the best of friends. Natalie is the person to call when you've had a bad day, need to vent, want to laugh, need a pep-talk, want to start a new hobby...the perfect person for pretty much any situation. She is dependable, creative, and wise, the big sister Anna always wanted!
Ryan Runager
Bridesmaid
In full disclosure, Anna and Jayde discussed at length which side of the aisle Ryan should be. You'll find out the day of the ceremony who won. Jayde's side: Outside of family, Ryan has known Jayde longer than anyone else in the wedding party, and he feels like a little brother. The two became friends as Campus Ministry pals when Jayde was a junior and Ryan was a sophomore at Huntingdon College #hawkem. In Jayde's holiness era, Ryan had a fight with a friend, and Jayde told him he should talk about it with the friend before taking communion (and he did it). Ryan was actually the first to find out about Jayde's feelings for Anna (Natalie was navigating a family emergency), and Jayde and Anna later found out he had been playing double agent. Jayde's favorite thing about Ryan is he watches and responds to all the Instagram videos she sends him. Anna's side: Anna and Ryan's friendship has inspired many people to say, "If only they were both straight." Soulmates from the start, Anna and Ryan became friends at Candler over Methodism, queerness, and dead parents. They were joined at the hip throughout seminary, as there is no better person to go with to Atlanta Pride, a Troye Sivan concert, a vintage thrift store, or UMC General Conference. Ryan currently lives in New York City and is living his best life attending a Broadway show per week, but he still has time to play puppet master behind the scenes of Anna and Jayde's relationship!
Rachel Swygert
Bridesmaid
The middle Swygert sister, Rachel is always down for a good time. She's known for her adventurous spirit, her crazy laugh, and her love of country music (no one is a bigger Cowboy Carter fan, Rachel was in the top 0.3% of Beyoncé listeners last year). Rachel is the one you call when you need help: she has helped her friends and family move over 10 times, and she is currently working on her Pilates instructor certification! Rachel currently lives in Auburndale, FL and works at Florida Southern College as a Student Accounts Coordinator. Rachel is silly, compassionate, and bold, and your kids will probably be obsessed with her by the end of the wedding reception!
Laura Swygert
Bridesmaid
Laura is the OG bean. The youngest Swygert, she has enjoyed over two and a half decades of being the favorite child. She holds dual titles of the best gift giver of all time (she once handmade a Survivor Guess Who game for Anna!) and ultimate Chili's fan (she was in the Top 1 % of Chicken Crispers orderers at Chili's last year, and it was her efforts that single handedly brought back the Chili's Skillet Queso). Laura currently works as an Assistant Stage Manager at Gulfshore Playhouse in Naples, FL, but following the wedding, she will be beginning her annual cross-national tour picking up cool stage manager jobs across the US. Laura is funny, thoughtful, and creative, and she probably made all of the decorations and floral arrangements at the wedding.
Kevin Ren
Bridesmaid
Long-time friend, home co-owner, private chef, concert buddy, honorary Swygert sibling—Kevin holds many titles in Anna's life. Kevin and Anna became friends in kindergarten, and their friendship continued through elementary, middle, and high school, and on to college at the University of Florida. After spending most of high school at Anna's house studying, Kevin gradually became adopted by the Swygert family and now is a regular attendee of all Swygert family functions. Kevin loves to cook, and they are always trying new, out of the ordinary recipes with Anna and Jayde as their trusted sous-chefs (fun-fact: Kevin made their famous "cabbage chicken" for Anna and Jayde's first "date"). Friend and roommate of the couple (and Gus's 3rd parent), Kevin had a front row seat to Anna and Jayde's relationship, and now they'll be on the front lines of the ceremony!
Thomas Bretz
Bridesmaid
Thomas will be the life of the (wedding) party. Thomas and Anna have been friends as long as they both can remember. Growing up in United Methodist children's and youth ministry, Anna and Thomas spent every Sunday together, often trying to convince their parents to go to Chili's for lunch. They have only grown closer over the years. Whether it was watching Teen Wolf on the Swygert's couch, staying up all night playing Mario Kart or dancing the night away at four different Kesha concerts, every memory together has been full of laughter, love, and sparkle. A theater kid through and through, you can often find Thomas at the Lakeland Community Theater helping behind the scenes (or sometimes taking center stage), and if you can’t get a hold of them, Thomas is probably walking the dogs.
Jessica Sider
Bridesmaid
While Jessica is technically Jayde's cousin, she is more like a big sister and long distance best friend. Jayde has deemed Jessica the smartest of family, which is likely due to all the PBS she has (and still) watches. As Jayde's companion democrat of their southern family, she also keeps Jayde in the loop on anything happening nationally and internationally and is the only reason Jayde knows anything ever posted on Twitter. She lives in San Diego, California although all you will hear is Shelby County, Alabama in her voice. She is married to Josh and is the mother of three: Charlotte, Max, and Matilda (called Tilly) who will also have roles in the ceremony. Max will be Jayde's trusted ring bearer. Charlotte will be helping keep all the flower children, including Tilly, in line as they go down the aisle!
Christina Toney-Schmitt
Bridesmaid
Christina is the kind of friend everyone is better for having. She has companioned Jayde through good and heavy seasons of life. Brought together when Christina needed a place to live, they became quick friends as roommates bonding over Publix frozen pizzas and the Mindy Project as they navigated their way into young adulthood. Christina is Deacon in the North Georgia conference, a poet, a rock climber, a fundraising icon and is practically perfect in every way besides loading the dishwasher. Christina lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband Isaac and their beautiful baby girl Quinn.
Katie Adcock
Bridesmaid
Katie is the best cousin and friend you could ever have. She is the ultimate oldest sibling and also the life of the party. Katie came into Jayde's life the first Thanksgiving she spent with her stepdad's family in 2008 and their path towards friendship was paved when Jayde moved back to Georgia in 2022. Katie has helped Jayde move, put together IKEA shelves, and bullied her into getting her book habit in control (even taking books to sell at Half-Priced Books). Katie is an excellent listener, a fabulous host, and the best cat-mom to Jayde's cat cousin's Henry, Tails, and the cutest orange tabby Oliver who is currently up for adoption if you are looking to grow you family!
Lauren Warner
Bridesmaid
While technically Jayde's cousin, Jayde and Lauren are a sister duo. Jayde refers to Lauren as her namesake as Lauren's mother, Michelle, is the one who whose Lauren to be Jayde's middle name and Jayde gave her aunt Michelle "permission" to use it for baby Lauren. Lauren is smart, silly, and loves all things pink, naps, and lego cars. She tolerates Jayde's bossiness better than anyone else probably ever could. Lauren is a freshman at the University of Alabama at Birmingham studying human resource management.