Jeannie Mai Jenkins is taking us on her journey to find her perfect wedding dress!
In a YouTube video posted Thursday, The Real co-host shared footage of her trying on dozens of Galia Laha dresses with her friends and family by her side. As she puts on each dress, she makes tons of decisions about her final look, including the color, fit, and overall style of the final gown.
“The wedding gown is, to me, one of the greatest moments of a woman’s life,” she says in the video before she dives into the footage of her trying each dress. “It’s an embodying of the woman you are.”
Mai Jenkins then takes her followers through each dress she tried on and provides commentary on why that one didn’t make the final cut.
The first dress she tries on is a mermaid gown with three-quarter length sleeves, entirely covered in white floral appliqués. She sticks with a few mermaid gowns, next opting for a three-quarter mermaid style that features an illusion neckline.
In her commentary, she tells us she toyed with the idea of a mermaid gown originally because it’s the style she often gravitates toward for other events. She says the style is “classic,” but she knew deep down that she wouldn’t go with it for her big day.
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She also notes that mermaid gowns are slightly harder to bow in — which was an important part of her ceremony as she and husband Jeezy participated in a traditional Vietnamese tea ceremony before exchanging vows.
After she begins looking toward ball gowns, Mai Jenkins also solidifies her idea that nude is the best color for her dress.
“I knew I wanted to wear a nude wedding gown,” she says looking back at the footage. “Every time I was trying on the gowns, I didn’t feel comfortable in the white gowns. I always felt that the most purest color that would not only reflect the purity of my love for Jay and how close we are would be nude.”
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Of her final look, she adds: “I definitely envisioned that the dress I would pick would be fashion forward but also classic in its own way and I had to put that twist together.”
The TV host would eventually settle on a custom nude Galia Lahav gown with a sheer bodice that flowed into a billowing chiffon skirt. Matching nude appliqués were applied to the dress by hand.
Earlier this month, she opened up to her co-hosts on The Real about the couple’s intimate, backyard ceremony in March. She said that while her dress meant a lot to her, the ceremony itself was also symbolic for the couple.
“Even the wedding arch, you notice that they weren’t flowers. We chose palm leaves, which is very popular in Vietnam,” she said. “They represent power and eternal life. And then the Italian ruscus, on the other side of it, represent humility, which is obviously before god. We wanted peace, eternal life and humility there.”
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She continued, “Everything was symbolic. Even our rings. Down to our wedding rings, we didn’t do anything traditional. I personally love the engagement ring that Jay designed for me. I couldn’t imagine stacking something to that, so I did pinky rings, one for him and one for me on my fingers.”
She told PEOPLE shortly after the wedding that the couple is looking forward to their next adventure together.
“I’m excited to call him my husband and he’s so excited to call me his wife,” Mai Jenkins says of Jeezy.
“I just can’t wait to start our love story. I mean, it’s already been written, but even more so now I’m eager to just fill out our entire journey,” says Mai Jenkins. “I’m just excited to start.”
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