Another 2 ft of water would help some but I would still consider it a wetland - now just a little deeper wetland. Pond may not maintain the level of the new water level very well. It would be expensive to keep adding water to try to keep it at the deeper level.
Half day sun will allow most plants to grow well. I would hold off from going out right away and buying plants from a nursery without doing some good homework. Some places are likely to sell you things that could be a real nuisance in shallow water. They will sell you things just because those are what they "carry" and standardly sell to water garden people. I suggest you first to some homework and have a list of good beneficial plants that will not cause you problems later, yet provide good habitat for a wetland. Then seek out those specific plants.
I was able to look through some past posts about bneficial plants for ponds. Check out this link below to some PBoss Forum posts that have lots of suggestions for some of the better pond plants. Some pond plants that are good for a deeper pond will not be good for a shallow wetland. I think you should focus on emergent shoreline plants. Many of them will grow into 12"-16" of water. This will provide good frog habitat. Also choose some small - dwarf spreading water lilies for good frog habitat. See my article about water lilies in the current issue (Jul-Aug) of Pond Boss magazine. Some small and dwarf spreading lilies will not take over your wetlands habitat, stay reasonably contained, and provide some great colors all during the summer.
http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=212891#Post212891For your location, about the only submerged plants for a shallow wetlands that stays wet all year round would IMO be dwarf Sagittaria (Sagittaria subulata - 'awl' leaf arrowhead) and sprial eel grass both short growing submergents.
I am available for second opinions regarding suggestions from others for what plants to buy.