Story by: Brenda Alexander
Dating in the digital age is a nightmare for most people. But sometimes, love may be just a swipe away. For James and Shardé Simpson White, it turned out that online dating proved to be just the tool they needed to find one another.
The couple first connected on the dating app Hinge. Shardé admits she’d previously tried dating apps and was wildly unsuccessful. After a brief break, she tried again and learned from her past mistakes.
The second time around, she adjusted her location based on her travels, which she believes expanded her dating pool. Initially, she says she loved James’ profile photo. “I could tell he was tall, had an athletic build, and a nice smile. And his eyes just seemed very genuine too,” she recalls in her chat with Black Bride. “I would say that stopped the swipe.”
Shardé says once connected, their texts quickly transitioned into FaceTime calls. A few weeks after matching, they were FaceTiming daily, which led to their first meetup, a date at the Georgia Aquarium. Their date was so good that James requested they head to dinner afterward at a nearby Cuban restaurant. The rest is history.
The two agreed that their chemistry was undeniable, and by the time they connected, they were both intentional about dating. “We’re both older. I’m 40, and he just turned 42. And so for me, I was like, ‘I want a family. I want to get married. I’m looking to date seriously.’ And it was the same for him,” Shardé says.
For James, he says Shardé stood out because of her conversation. “I’m in Atlanta, so there are a plethora of women to date in Atlanta, especially as a young Black professional man. It’s not hard to be a bachelor. But I was tired of that. I wanted something serious,” he asserts. “And when I met her, she was serious about what she wanted. And it just kind of came together once we actually went out on a date and had a chance to not just talk to each other, but to be in each other’s presence, to feel each other’s energy, the spirit, emotions. I liked the gentleness of her more than anything else.”
A year after their first date, the couple got engaged. But James had a non-negotiable, even before the engagement: pre-engagement counseling. “I’m big on communication. So if we have issues, let’s actually talk about it. That’s something I wanted to establish before getting married, or even getting engaged, because I want a marriage that lasts. Marriage isn’t just a piece of paper for me,” James says.
After being married once before, Shardé says she hit the jackpot this time. “He understands me. He’s patient. I’m not patient, but he’s ridiculously patient with me,” she jokes. “He’s kind, he’s caring. He’s everything I could have wanted, and I prayed for him. I took some time to work on myself before I jumped back into dating too. And so I had a lot of that going on. I was fasting and going to church more than ever I had before meeting with him. I just think God placed him in my life.”
It only made sense to wed at the site of their first date to bring things full circle.
Bride: Sharde Simpson White, Esq., 40, @shardesimpsonesq
Groom: James White III Esq., 40 @jamesthechange
Photography: Denis Reggie @denisreggie
Videography: Roman Compy @roman.compy
Day of Event Coordinator: Rae’s Events @raesevents
Place of Residence: Georgia
Wedding Date: April 16, 2026
Wedding Location: Lutheran Church of the Redeemer ATL; Georgia Aquarium, @georgiaaquarium
Wedding Theme/Motif/Inspiration: White, with hints of silver and green
Catering: Wolf Gang Puck @wolfgangpuck
Cake: Bohemian Bakery @bohemianbakeryga
Hair: Hair by Rahj @therahjabray
Makeup: Makeup by Bo @makeupbybo
Wedding Dress: Galia Lahav @galialahav
Reception Dress: Jovani @jovanifashions
Men’s Tux: Suit Supply @suitsupply
Honeymoon Destination: Italy
Take us to the day of the proposal.
James: She’s a runner, and she had a trip planned to Chicago for her first half marathon. I spoke to my mentors about proposing to her and tried to come up with the best proposal. Two of the mentors I spoke with specifically about proposing at the marathon, and one of them liked the idea of me doing it at the actual marathon rather than the other ideas I had in my head. And I agreed too. I thought that was the best way to do it. So that’s kind of how it came to be.
Sharde: And it made the news, by the way.
Were you surprised at the timing of the proposal?
Sharde: Yes. I was surprised at the proposal. But I wouldn’t say that I was surprised by the timing. I figured we would get engaged soon because we had talked about it. I thought it was funny that he was going to Chicago because he wanted to come to the race, because normally, with my running stuff, he doesn’t participate. So I was like, “This is a little weird, but I guess because we’re going to Chicago, and he likes Chicago, it’ll be fun.” But I was definitely really surprised when he had the sign after I finished. And it was my first half marathon, so it was double whammy. It was amazing.
How was wedding planning? Were you both equally involved in the process?
James: I just want to tell you, she’s about to lie to you right now and say I didn’t do anything.
Sharde: He didn’t do anything. I was heavily involved in the wedding planning. I did all of the wedding planning.
James: I want you to make sure to print that I said she lied about this one before she told you. So go ahead.
Sharde: I did all of the wedding planning. We didn’t have a day-of-ceremony coordinator. But I am pretty detail-oriented, so I knew what I wanted. I had known that I wanted it at the aquarium, and that part we discussed. It made sense because it was where we had our first date, and we liked the tank because I believe it’s the largest in the US. And it’s just a beautiful setting. And we wanted the guests to be able to walk through the aquarium and do the exhibits and things.
So the cocktail hour was two hours where people could just walk and explore the aquarium privately at night. And then we had the ceremony in, I forget the name of the room, but it’s where all the massive fish are, the biggest tank that they have there. And it was in front of that. So it was pretty awesome.
But yes, I planned all of the details down to the invitations, and I ordered those. I had them customized from Etsy. And his mom came with us to the food pairing. And DJ Holiday, who’s a client of mine, was the DJ for the event. Sevyn Streeter, who’s also a client of mine, sang.
It was just a great experience. We also wanted to get married in the church. So we did one ceremony at the Redeemer Church, which is near our house. It is a beautiful Catholic church. Although it’s in Midtown, and although we’re Baptist / Christian. We had our pastor say something at the ceremony and read certain scriptures. It was amazing. And we had about 90-100 people. It was very small and very intimate. We were very curated and intentional about who we invited.
Even though you have differences of opinion on who participated in wedding planning, would you say that you aligned on the actual vision for your special day?
Sharde: So, he’s not difficult in that respect. He was very much like, “Whatever you want.” The only thing he wanted to make sure of was his suit. He also wanted to make sure that he had groomsmen and bridesmaids. I did not want bridesmaids, but we did it. We made it work. I had two bridesmaids, and he had four groomsmen, six groomsmen. We had a lot of flower girls. We had eight flower girls.
What was the theme of the wedding? Talk to me about the aesthetic.
Sharde: We went with an all-white theme. Everything was pretty much white. We had hints of silver, and most of it was reflective because the tank was so large. He wore a white jacket; the groomsmen wore Black tuxes. And then the bridesmaids had black dresses, but everything else was pretty much white.
We did all white flowers, slight hints of green, but not too much. We did mirror reflective, almost like bookholders for the takeaways or take-homes. We had votives, which were just white candles in glass. And then we had these urns, these types of metal urns that were more silver, and they reflected the water.
But everything was low. We didn’t do a lot of high flower arrangements because I wanted it to be reflective. I wanted the tank itself to speak for itself.
What was significant about your wedding song?
Sharde: James picked the song. He chose Luther Vandross’ “Here and Now.” Even though I am a music attorney, he was heavily involved in picking the music for the wedding, despite us having a DJ. I’ll give him that.
James: For the song, it was all about the lyrics for me. “Here and Now / I promise to love faithfully.” I’ve heard the song all of my life, especially as a kid. And now, to be professing a vow to my wife, I felt like the song embodied every emotion I felt during our first dance.
After the wedding was over, did you get to enjoy a honeymoon?
Sharde: We went to Italy for our honeymoon. We went to Rome, Venice, and the Amalfi Coast.
Cheers to a lifetime of love and happiness!
