Inside Emma Roberts and Cody John’s Timeless Mountainside Wedding in Sun Valley, Idaho

Some blind dates do have a happy ending—just ask Emma Roberts and Cody John. Emma tells Vogue that this kind of setup, made by their mutual friend Jeff Ward, was a “first for me.” She recalls, “Cody had made multiple dinner reservations in LA for a Friday night. I got nervous, so we settled for Tuesday night early drinks at one of my favorite LA spots, Edendale.” When that date finally took place in May 2022, Emma’s apprehension had no match for their chemistry. “The drinks turned into eight hours of talking and getting dinner after all at Birds,” she says. “He dropped me off at home, and on the way we listened to Luke Bryan’s ‘Play It Again,’ which is one of our favorite songs. We have been together ever since.”

During that first year together, Cody didn’t buy a ring—but he did secretly buy a ring box. “We were at a vintage store in Montclair, New Jersey, and I saw this gorgeous silver vintage ring box from the 1930s,” says Emma. “I picked it up and saw a sticker on the bottom that read ‘not for sale.’ I put it down only to then find my gorgeous engagement ring sitting in that box two years later.”

The proposal took place in Idaho—a vacation destination for Cody’s family since the ’70s. “It’s definitely our happy place,” says Emma. On this particular trip in July 2024, she had a feeling a proposal was coming. “But when it didn’t happen and I let my guard down, that’s when it happened!” The two were alone at Cody’s family ranch an hour outside of Sun Valley. “He surprised me with a trail of rose petals that led to a picnic with all of my favorite things—champagne, caviar, and a deck of playing cards,” she recalls. He revealed that ring box from so many years ago with a vintage round diamond from Platt Boutique Jewelry inside. “I was barefoot in jeans. We played our favorite card game Gin after he asked me to marry him, drank champagne by the pond, and made turkey burgers,” Emma says. “It was perfection.” The intimate, romantic moment was memorialized with disposable cameras. “We have some of those photos framed,” she notes.

The couple decided to return to Sun Valley for a wedding celebration at Cody’s family home on July 25, 2026. “Thank god Mercury just got out of retrograde,” Emma jokes. The bride says wedding planning with Heather Minor Events was seamless. “Cody and I were really aligned on everything,” she says. While the groom handled music, the bride dug into menu selection for the weekend of events. “My favorite part of the planning—because I am obsessed with ephemera—was doing the invitations.” The couple worked with The KFD Studio to create custom illustrations inspired by kitschy ’60s Sun Valley postcards. “It’s me in a wedding dress and Cody standing in a lake catching a fish,” Emma describes. “I just felt like I really wanted to set the tone that this wedding is going to be fun and should be like a vacation for everyone.”

Another major creative project for the bride was deciding on her weekend wardrobe. “I knew I wanted something that felt vintage yet modern,” explains Emma. “My stylists Elkin—who were also two of my bridesmaids, Brit and Kara—made tons of mood boards and have known me for so long [that] it was easy bringing the vision to life.”

To kick off festivities at their intimate rehearsal dinner, Emma wore a 2002 Richard Tyler strapless dress in baby blue sourced from Happy Isles. “I wore it with a gift from Kara and Brit—a one-of-a-kind Olympia Le-Tan book clutch of The Sun Also Rises,” says the bride. “That is Cody’s and my favorite book and the Hemingway-Idaho connection has always been something we’ve bonded over. The girls had a quote stitched along the spine that says, ‘We had a damned good time,’ and I think that pretty much sums it up.” For the welcome party the following day, Emma once again went vintage. “I wore another piece sourced from Happy Isles New York that is so incredible,” she says of the Pierre Cardin 2006 runway look.

The bride turned to Monique Lhuillier to create a custom gown for her walk down the aisle. Not only did the designer craft a bespoke dress with draping, corsetry, and French lace, but she also developed a custom color for the fabric. “I did not want a traditional white dress but more of an antique, almost tea-stained white. I had told them I wanted to look like a ghost in photos,” says Emma. She notes that the wedding dresses of Kate Moss, Kristy Hume, and Claudia Schiffer were all sources of inspiration. “Monique designed the dress in a way where it literally feels like second skin,” she says. To accessorize, Emma wore white Khaite sunglasses and jewelry from Jennifer Meyer, Platt Boutique Jewelry, and Brilliant Earth. Monique also recreated a dress from her archives for Emma’s after-party look. “It’s a black lace corset with the most insane skirt from the 2003 runway! I really wanted to change into black for the after-party for a vibe shift,” she says.

For her wedding beauty, Emma wanted a minimal feel. “I think that starts with skin prep, which I did with the incredible Sarah Ford in LA,” says the bride. “She gives the glow!” She also toned up for the celebration with Katy Schuele Scanlan of The Sculpt Society. For makeup, Emma brought Kate Synnott out to Idaho. “She makes me feel like the prettiest version of myself,” the bride says. As for hair, her longtime stylist Nikki Lee prepped her tresses. “I always said when I get married, you are doing my hair—and here we are! Not only does she do the best hair but has the most calming energy when it comes to weddings,” notes Emma. Since she’s “big on energy,” the bride also worked with spiritual mentor Christina Rice to prepare for the wedding. Emma adds, “What’s going on inside is just as important prep to me as how you look!”

Meanwhile, the groom wore Ferragamo to say “I do.” Cody worked with Elkin to craft a chocolate brown tuxedo by the design house. He paired the look with Ferragamo shoes, Platt Boutique accessories, and Oliver Peoples sunglasses. As for the bridal party? “They’re all wearing black for a little bit of witchy-gothic romance by De La Vali and Shona Joy,” says Emma.

The final jewelry pieces for the bride and groom—their Tiffany & Co. wedding bands—were purchased at the very last minute. “We kept putting it off and putting it off until finally it was the week before the wedding,” Emma recalls. “It happened to be my only day off and the hottest day in New York. We literally walked to Tiffany, and I was like, ‘We’re in shorts. We don’t have an appointment. We’re getting married in a week. What are we thinking just showing up here?’ We were definitely the least chic people getting a wedding band at Tiffany that day.’” Regardless, the staff welcomed them and helped each of them find perfect bands. Emma originally planned to go without a band, as she didn’t think she could find something to fit with her vintage ring. “They were like, ‘We have something perfect—an Elsa Peretti that’ll hug the shape of your ring,’ and I was like, ‘Of course you do. You’re Tiffany.’” While the groom originally intended to choose a platinum band, he ended up selecting one in gold. “I was secretly excited that we both had gold,” says Emma. “I think it feels so vintage and classic and timeless.”

The wedding weekend finally arrived and the couple, along with their friends and family, settled into Sun Valley for the festivities. “We had a beautiful rehearsal dinner at The Kneadery, where there were incredible toasts made by some groomsmen and bridesmaids,” recalls Emma of the first night. “We did name plates stamped on copper fish that I thought was a sweet touch, with a ruffle napkin for fun.”

The welcome took place at Roundhouse, a restaurant atop a mountain with sweeping views of Sun Valley. “All of the guests took a gondola up to the top,” shares Emma. “I rode up with Cody, my mom, and my son Rhodes, which was such a nice moment of calm before stepping into the party.” The couple describes it as the perfect kickoff for the weekend. “Everyone left with a L.L. Bean goodie bag customized with ‘hitched’ on the side with a Wythe custom hat inside,” says the bride. “It was so fun to see people sporting both the rest of the weekend. Some even at the wedding!” The goodie bags also included a deck of playing cards and Larchwood Huckleberry Caramels for a local touch.

As the big day finally arrived, guests gathered to watch the bride and groom exchange vows with a flowing creek and organic floral arrangements by Bloom Theory as their backdrop. “The wedding literally felt like it was out of a book,” says Emma. “Our favorite movie is Breakfast at Tiffany’s, so I walked down the aisle to an instrumental of ‘Moon River.’” Cody’s brother-in-law Luke officiated the wedding with a “short, sweet, and from the heart” speech. “He absolutely killed it,” says his new sister-in-law. The couple also shared vows they wrote themselves before saying “I do.” Emma adds, “We didn’t read our vows ahead of time, and yet there was overlap which I thought was really beautiful. It made the ceremony feel really unique to us.”

The newlyweds and their guests then moved to cocktail hour, which featured two of the bride’s favorite bites: spicy tuna crispy rice and caviar on potato chips. Emma and Cody took to the floor for their first dance to Ryan Adams’s “Dancing When the Stars Go Blue.” Says the bride, “We had no time for lessons, so it didn’t last long before we had the whole room up slow dancing with us! We then played ‘Man I Need,’ by Olivia Dean, which got literally every person dancing like I hadn’t seen them dance before.”

That energy continued into the night, ending with Metro Music Club Band playing “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. “I have never seen people sing louder or dance harder,” Emma says. The party didn’t stop there—rather, it moved over to The Cellar, a popular bar in town, for country music and custom pink jello shots. “The day after, we had an unofficial meet-up at Grumpy’s,” she says. “It was really fun because family came, friends came, and for people that hadn’t been there, I feel like Grumpy’s is a Sun Valley must.”

Reflecting on the wedding weekend, Emma describes it as feeling like time stopped. “Which for me, is just the best feeling in the world,” she continues. “I feel like I’m always in a rush. All my friends are always in a rush. My family, we’re always in a rush. So to feel like people really got off their phones, were present, and that everybody I love was in one room… I can’t even capture the feeling of that. I couldn’t have dreamed it better.”

This article was originally published on Vogue.com.