Like most contemporary romances, Raphael Aquino Jose and Alexander Samples met online. Ten years ago, Alex was house-sitting for a friend in West Hollywood, while Raph—shorthand for Raphael—dipped into Los Angeles from Seattle for a work trip. A casual connection, (or hookup, by their own admission) was what flung the door open for a long string of correspondence: from Facetime calls, visits between the two cities, and a lingering sense that something more consequential was about to bloom.
A 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, “what started as a chance meeting became a deliberate choice, again and again.” Intentionality was a touchstone of Raph and Alex’s relationship from the start, so by the time a proposal came into the play, it was simply a matter of when—the couple had been devising their dream nuptials candidly for an extensive period.
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’s hand, he promptly spilled his partner’s 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—a $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.
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. “The right to marry is a long road for queer people, and the wedding needs to feel like a celebration rather than a formality,” they tell Vogue. “We envisioned something classic but an unmistakably current vibe, with a lot of camp and colour.”
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’s 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.
Planning from Los Angeles also meant relying on virtual tours and trusted eyes on the ground, with Raph’s best man, Tristram John touring venues on their behalf. When he called from the twisting hectares of 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 —a place to gather chosen family from across the world.
To match the verdant, timeless backdrop, groomsmen chose their own shades of green—sage, 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’s 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—which came off later in the evening. Alex played with silk tones that complemented the earthy palette. Pussybow ties quite literally tied the looks together. “No idea was too grand,” they say of the process. Both rounded off their looks with cowboy boots—practical, playful and essential for the dance floor.
Accessories took inspiration from the 2025 Met Gala’s theme; ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’. 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. “We weren’t interested in subtle,” they say of their jewelled accents. “We wanted editorial and impact.” Florals, too, courtesy of September Studios, leaned into structural greenery and architectural pinks.
Personal touches were manifold. Contrast and movement in the form of Hurricane candleholders offered warm ambience, while the ceremony featured a string arrangement of Beyoncé’s ‘Love Drought’, and a reception soundtrack was custom-mixed by close friend Mitch Stallard, weaving together songs that mapped the couple’s shared history. Raph’s sister Christina hand-wrote guests’ place cards and welcome signs, a detail that reflected how deeply the wedding planning became a group project. “It felt important that everyone had a hand in it,” they muse. “That’s how love shows up in our lives.”
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. “Looking out and seeing people laughing, hugging and forming new connections stayed with us the most. The day flew,” they say, “we started with a joyful celebration as the goal but what lingered was the feeling—being surrounded by love.”
Ahead, look inside Raph and Alex’s heritage garden wedding.