As one of Australia’s online-it couples, the wedding of Vita Tomoana and Riley Tomoana, née Hemson’s might have been expected to be a cinematic spectacle. But for the couple, their instinct was to draw the curtains back entirely. Set against the rolling green hinterlands of New South Wales, their weekend nuptials became a reflection of everything they value most dearly: ease, family, and an unwavering sense of love.
The couple first met in June 2017, in Wellington, New Zealand, where the pair were studying—Riley, now a model and founder of fashion labels Remmie by Riley and Jorja + Joseph, and Vita, also a founder. What began as a simple connection quickly sparked into something more enduring. “It felt easy from the beginning in a way I hadn’t experienced before,” Riley shares with Vogue Australia. Within days, there was a sense of mutual understanding that felt almost too seamless to trust. “I remember texting a friend saying, ‘he told me he likes me, I said me too… but there has to be something wrong because at the moment he’s done everything right.’”
But as she would find out, there wasn’t. The pair’s early days were marked by an effortless routine: vegan café dates, long gym sessions, and nights that blurred into mornings. “We just never really left each other’s sides,” Riley says. What could have been fleeting trices instead became foundational for the couple.
That same sense of ease carried into Vita’s proposal years later. After secretly securing a ring from Tiffany & Co. and keeping it throughout their travels, he waited patiently not for an orchestrated moment, but for a reprise that felt true to them. That moment came unexpectedly in the Tuscan countryside. “It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t grand,” Riley reflects. “It was calm, intimate and completely us.” Sitting at a small vineyard with a glass of red wine, surrounded by rolling hills, Vita asked Riley to spend forever with him. Nearby, a cat resembling Riley’s childhood pet appeared, as if the universe was offering its subtle approval. “In that moment,” Vita later said, “there was nothing else to wait for.”
Their wedding, held across April 17 and 18 at the Linnaeus Collection in Berry, New South Wales, was a natural extension of that moment. Planned alongside Place of LB, the celebration prioritised feeling over formality. “We didn’t want anything to feel overly traditional or overworked,” Riley explains. “It was important that it felt like us—clean, warm, and considered, but still relaxed enough that people could actually enjoy themselves.”
The couple chose the Moraea Farm for its sense of privacy and natural beauty, reminiscent of their New Zealand roots. Having spent time there with friends in the lead-up to the wedding, the location already held meaning. “It gave us space to create something personal without needing to transform it too much,” Vita says. Rather than rigid schedules or overdefined concepts, the bride and groom focused on how they wanted each aspect of the ceremony to feel. “We made decisions emotionally,” Riley notes. “If something felt right, we went with it.”
The styling for the weekend reflected a distinctly modern, minimal and intentional aesthetic, layered with what Riley describes as “an understated European ease.” Notably, the couple chose to forgo traditional florals entirely—aside from the bride’s bouquet—in favour of custom fabric installations. “We wanted everything to feel lasting,” Riley says. “Something we could keep, rather than something that would disappear overnight.”
Fashion across the weekend was similarly considered. Riley wore three custom looks, each designed by Australian female designers. “It was important to me to celebrate the women behind the work,” she says. For the welcome dinner, she chose a playful, textural Atalie Studios ensemble featuring a sculptural corset and romantic skirt. “It felt like a deconstructed version of bridal,” she explains. And for the ceremony, the bride wore a Lillian Khallouf gown with a dramatic corset and princess-like skirt. “It felt like the most elevated version of what I had always imagined,” she says. “Strong, but still feminine.” Later, she changed into a custom Paris Jade Burrows piece for the afterparty—a more fitted, sensual silhouette designed for the movement and celebration required of a newlywed.
Accessories were also kept minimal, with Riley focusing primarily on earrings to mark each stage of the weekend. Aside from Jimmy Choo shoes that both bride and groom opted for throughout the celebration, the most meaningful piece was her great-grandmother’s earrings, worn during the ceremony. “She passed away a few years ago,” Riley shares. “Wearing them felt like carrying her with me.” By coincidence, her great-grandmother’s wedding anniversary fell the day before theirs. “That felt really special,” she adds. Pieces from Jaz Hand Made and Isabel Marant also made their way into the bride’s earring rotation. And beauty followed suit with a similar memo: clean, refined, and timeless. A French twist kept the focus on Riley’s face and gown, while a natural luminous make-up look enhanced rather than transformed the bride throughout the festivities.
Vita’s wardrobe mirrored this level of detail, transitioning from relaxed tailoring at the welcome dinner to a custom P. Johnson suit paired with Jimmy Choo shoes for the ceremony, and finally a more contemporary Boss look for the evening celebration. “We approached it the same way we approached everything,” he says. “Intentional, but not overthought.”
The reception marquee embodied this ethos: a striking “white on white on white” setting, softened through texture rather than colour. Clear acrylic panels floated overhead, and a live artist from Studio Roux painted guest silhouettes onto acrylic throughout the evening. Guests were seated to digitally printed plates—menus disguised as place settings—while a custom menu by chef Alex Pritchard wove together personal references from Riley and Vita’s life, offering dishes that felt nostalgic to their story.
As the sun dipped and conversation gave way to music, the reception began to soften at the edges, gradually giving itself over to boisterous celebration. But before the night fully unfolded, Riley and Vita marked the transition with a cake-cutting moment, eschewing tradition in favour of three smaller creations by Vege Mamma.
The final hurrah post-dinner formalities were when guests were led into a hidden barn, transformed into a dramatic afterparty space draped in deep purple velvet and accented with silver. “We wanted moments of surprise,” Riley explains. “That shift in energy was one of the most exciting parts.” From there, the dance floor quickly filled, remaining that way well into the night.
When asked about the most memorable moment, both Riley and Vita return to their vows. “We hadn’t shared them beforehand,” Riley explains, “but they ended up mirroring each other in ways we didn’t expect.” Standing together for those 20 minutes, surrounded by their closest family and friends, time seemed to pause. “It felt completely still,” Vita says. “Like everything aligned for a moment.”
“It never felt like just a wedding,” Riley reflects on the celebrations. “It felt like an extension of our life together.” As Vita puts it simply, “It was exactly what it needed to be. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Ahead, see inside Riley and Vita Tomoana’s countryside nuptials.