Following the death of her older sister, Vimala married her sister's widower Don Charles Wijewardene (1892-1956) at age eighteen. He was the fifth son of Don Philip Tudugala Wijewardene; a timber merchant of Sedavatta and Helena Dep (née Weerasinghe) and the younger brother of newspaper magnate Don Richard. They had three children; Ananda, Padmini, and Rukmini.
