Sign up to our newsletter<\/a><\/p>\nA few months later, the two reunited at a disco-themed party, prompting a serious commitment to one another. What followed was a three-year long-distance relationship with commutes up and down the West Coast. Raph moved to Los Angeles just before the global pandemic hit, and restrictions forced them into cohabitation. In their words, \u201cwhat started as a chance meeting became a deliberate choice, again and again.\u201d Intentionality was a touchstone of Raph and Alex\u2019s relationship from the start, so by the time a proposal came into the play, it was simply a matter of when\u2014the couple had been devising their dream nuptials candidly for an extensive period.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a long weekend in Palm Springs, the two returned home to their backyard in Highland Park, a suburb in Northeast Los Angeles, where they lunched beneath citrus trees, framed by the verdant patches of a vegetable garden Alex had been tending. It was an ordinary, perfect moment. Raph decided there was no reason to wait. Reaching for Alex\u2019s hand, he promptly spilled his partner\u2019s drink all over him. After a quick clean-up, Raph tried again, this time with more composure. Instead of a ring, he produced a black zip tie\u2014a $12 Amazon ring sizer with tiny printed numbers. Alex laughed, unsure what the piece of plastic was, but said yes. A week later, they visited a jeweller to design custom rings set with a single baguette diamond. The ring sizer, as it turned out, was perfectly accurate.<\/p>\n
By the time the big day rolled around, the two were set on what they wanted it to deliver: a sensory experience in which beauty, colour and atmosphere could unfold, with queer joy at the heart of the celebration. Alex and Raph leaned into nontraditional ways to create their own rules. \u201cThe right to marry is a long road for queer people, and the wedding needs to feel like a celebration rather than a formality,\u201d they tell Vogue. \u201cWe envisioned something classic but an unmistakably current vibe, with a lot of camp and colour.\u201d<\/p>\n
Planning kicked off with the location and season. The two aligned on a date in early spring in Sydney, knowing they wanted to be wed surrounded by nature, history, and friends and family from all over the world. More than 70 per cent of guests would be travelling from the United States, Japan, the Philippines and Ireland and many having never been to Australia, the wedding was an opportunity to experience and embrace Sydney\u2019s natural beauty. For Raph, who emigrated to Australia as a teenager before later moving to America for his career, getting married in Sydney felt like destiny.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Planning from Los Angeles also meant relying on virtual tours and trusted eyes on the ground, with Raph\u2019s best man, Tristram John touring venues on their behalf. When he called from the twisting hectares of\u00a0 Vaucluse Estate, the two knew immediately it was the one. Its layered history, sweeping gardens and sense of permanence grounded the location whilst celebrating it \u2014a place to gather chosen family from across the world.<\/p>\n
To match the verdant, timeless backdrop, groomsmen chose their own shades of green\u2014sage, moss, forest to inform their dress palette. The goal was to balance sharp, classic tailoring with camp and softness. Raph leans into maximalist touches, while Alex gravitates toward minimalism when he dresses, and the grooms wanted to equalise both individual approaches to dress. Working with Miray Kafardian Bik, co-founder of Klein Epstein & Parker in West Hollywood, two custom looks were created to reflect each groom\u2019s perspective while still remaining closely aligned, much like the union of marriage itself.Raph wore a modern, boxy double-breasted suit in peach, layered over a monochrome Mandarin-collar shirt\u2014which came off later in the evening. Alex played with silk tones that complemented the earthy palette. Pussybow ties quite literally tied the looks together. \u201cNo idea was too grand,\u201d they say of the process. Both rounded off their looks with cowboy boots\u2014practical, playful and essential for the dance floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Accessories took inspiration from the 2025 Met Gala\u2019s theme; \u2018Superfine: Tailoring Black Style\u2019. Raph wanted to involve his mother, who harbours a deep love of jewellery. For the occasion, she worked with her jeweller in Manila to create custom brooches for the grooms, groomsmen and celebrant. Every piece incorporated birthstones, baroque pearls and sustainable diamonds set in 18-carat gold. The brooches were presented and gifted as keepsakes to the wedding party while everyone was getting ready. Alex wore a double emerald pendant on his left breast pocket, while Raph adorned his suit with a blue and yellow topaz as the centerpiece of his collar. Sculptural orchid buttonholes completed the look. \u201cWe weren\u2019t interested in subtle,\u201d they say of their jewelled accents. \u201cWe wanted editorial and impact.\u201d Florals, too, courtesy of September Studios, leaned into structural greenery and architectural pinks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Personal touches were manifold. Contrast and movement in the form of Hurricane candleholders offered warm ambience, while the ceremony featured a string arrangement of Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s \u2018Love Drought\u2019, and a reception soundtrack was custom-mixed by close friend Mitch Stallard, weaving together songs that mapped the couple\u2019s shared history. Raph\u2019s sister Christina hand-wrote guests\u2019 place cards and welcome signs, a detail that reflected how deeply the wedding planning became a group project. \u201cIt felt important that everyone had a hand in it,\u201d they muse. \u201cThat\u2019s how love shows up in our lives.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a full weekend of celebrations, including welcome drinks at The Waratah in Darlinghurst and a boat day on Sydney Harbour, the wedding day felt like a joyous final segment. \u201cLooking out and seeing people laughing, hugging and forming new connections stayed with us the most. The day flew,\u201d they say, \u201cwe started with a joyful celebration as the goal but what lingered was the feeling\u2014being surrounded by love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahead, look inside Raph and Alex\u2019s heritage garden wedding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sign up to our newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Like most contemporary romances, Raphael Aquino Jose and Alexander Samples met online. Ten years ago, Alex was house-sitting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,75407,134],"class_list":["post-687830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brides","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}