A Jenni Kayne Wedding: Inside Our Creative Director's Dreamlike Island Nuptials

Rip & Tan: Let’s start with one of the standouts of your wedding—the location.

Meaghan Cox: We had our wedding on Whidbey Island, a beautiful island north of Seattle on the Puget Sound. The islands are really special to both Dylan and I, from our childhoods through to our relationship. My mom owns a house on the island and Dylan grew up spending summers camping out there. It was where Dylan proposed and where we’ve had so many of our favorite memories together.

Rip & Tan: What led you to Whidbey Island?

Meaghan Cox: We were originally planning on getting married on another island with more than 150 people in attendance, but we revised those plans due to the state of the world. We ended up doing the ceremony at our favorite spot—Fort Ebey—situated on a beautiful bluff overlooking the water with 25 of our closest people, then we had dinner and danced at a house nearby. It was perfect and absolutely meant to be.

Rip & Tan: What was the general look and feel you were going for with your special day?

Meaghan Cox: Both our ceremony and reception locations are absolutely beautiful due to the natural surroundings. Fort Ebey bluff is a big, grassy field with a cliff looking out to the Puget Sound. It’s our favorite place in the world. We wanted to honor the space by keeping it relatively simple, so we worked with my friend and our florist Ondine to put tubers of Queen Anne’s Lace in the ground around us so they felt like they were natural to the bluff.

The dinner was hosted at a home on Ebey’s Prairie, perched on a ridge overlooking the most beautiful lavender fields. We set a long table with Jenni Kayne linens and settings, and Ondine used primarily foraged materials for the arrangements to keep it natural to the area. I really wanted it to just feel like the best dinner party you’ve ever been to. One long table of family and friends with oldies music, endless orange wine, Jenni Kayne candles lit (Topanga was everyone’s favorite), and delicious food.

Rip & Tan: The food looked incredible. Walk us through the menu.

Meaghan Cox: My best friend and dad prepared all the food (with chef’s jackets on, too!). My dad cooked a delicious paella in an outdoor fireplace over burning wood, and we served that with Daniel’s fillets, grilled artichokes with aioli (a Rip & Tan recipe), clams, and grilled bread. We sat around the table at candlelight until it got chilly, which led us to one of the best parts of the evening: lighting a roaring fire in the fireplace inside and dancing all night.

Rip & Tan: It wouldn’t be your wedding without some Jenni Kayne. Care to share the pieces you used?

Meaghan Murphy: Jenni Kayne was all over the place! Guests joked that they felt like they were shopping at the wedding. The tablecloths, placemats, and napkins were all Jenni Kayne. We had Jenni Kayne candles all over the house, vases, serving platters, and most of our guests’ sweaters happened to be Jenni Kayne because my family and friends are all obsessed. It wouldn’t have been my dream table without Jenni Kayne tabletop product. From the beautiful natural linen tablecloths with frayed edges to the ceramic platters used to serve the food, every detail felt perfect.

Rip & Tan: Any extra tidbits or words of advice for brides-to-be?

Meaghan Murphy: Someone asked me recently what an unexpected favorite part of my day was, and I think it was the set-up at the house. We had nearly the entire wedding party there prepping dinner, setting the table, and drinking lots of wine. The boys steamed all the girls dresses at the last minute! It was an all hands on deck situation, but it was so fun having everyone help—and the wine made it all the more enjoyable. By the end of the afternoon, my sister-in-law was dragging me into the bedroom to get ready because I was so busy styling. In the morning, I looked out our window and everything was still perfectly set up and it was so fun to know that all of us did it together.