Photo: Norman & Blake Save Story Save this story Save Story Save this story 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 on…