Photography: Captured by Tahlia.
Acclaimed Kiwi actor Semu Filipo has played many great parts on TV, film and stage during his long career, but now he has taken on the role of his life – as a first-time husband.
“I always knew I wanted to get married, but it was just a matter of finding my right person,” says the star, 46, who has appeared in Hollywood movies The Fall Guy and Next Goal Wins, as well as Young Rock and Shortland Street.
“As soon as I met Sarah, I knew she was the one.”
Their magical Rotorua wedding came exactly two years after they met and Semu says he was “100% all in” from the very start, but as Sarah, 43, remembers it, the path to their first meeting wasn’t entirely smooth.
“I’d signed up to a dating course and part of their advice was to set up dates with three different people,” she shares.
“Semu was date number two, but when my first date seemed to go well, I cancelled our date.”
“She put me on the bench for three months!” grins Semu, who recently received rave reviews for his role in the Silo Theatre production of A View From The Bridge, opposite Beulah Koale.
From first date to instant connection
When date number one didn’t work out, Sarah returned to her dating app, saw she was still matched with Semu, and organised another meet-up. The chemistry was instant.
“It was like having dinner with my best friend,” she recalls.
“We got on so well and our values aligned. Things moved pretty quickly after that.”
A ring, a moment, a yes
Semu, who is of Samoan and Tokelauan descent, was immediately attracted to Sarah’s lovely smile, but as he got to know her, the actor discovered what a “genuine, kind, caring” person she is. After a year of blissful dating – and with the blessing of Sarah’s sons Toby, 18, and Joel, 16, plus Semu’s daughter Falelagisoa, 25, and son Tipene, 18 – he popped the question at their Auckland home.
“I knew early in our relationship I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Sarah and while on a trip to the States in April last year, I found a beautiful, elegant ring,” smiles Semu.
“When I got home, I went down on one knee in the lounge.”
A wedding of love and legacy
Almost exactly a year after his romantic proposal, a beaming Semu stood at the altar at St Michael’s Catholic Church in Rotorua, waiting for his beautiful bride. He was dressed in traditional Tokelauan attire, including a special malo (skirt) woven by his late mother when he was just 18 in the hope he’d one day wear it at his wedding.
“My mum always wanted me to get married, but she passed away when I was 28, so unfortunately wasn’t here to see it,” Semu tells.
Having also lost his dad when he was 15 and his brother when he was 30, it was important for Semu to marry in Rotorua, where his wha¯nau is buried.
“It felt like I was coming home to Mum and Dad, and meant I could visit their graves on my wedding day,” he shares.
A heartfelt tribute to family
The cemetery visit was even more emotional for Semu when he arrived to discover Sarah had already left flowers that matched the bridal party’s blooms, as well as a card with a heartfelt note to his parents.
“It was such a beautiful, thoughtful thing to do.”
Family is everything to the pair and was at the heart of their service. Semu escorted Sarah’s mum Sue Bruce down the aisle, with the couple’s children, grandkids and the rest of the bridal party making their entrance, before Sarah appeared on the arm of her father George.
A relaxed start to their wedding day
She looked gorgeous in a sleeveless, full-length lace gown, which she later accessorised with her great-grandmother’s fur jacket. The pair felt excited rather than nervous about the ceremony, with Semu’s only concern that his emotions might get the better of him during the vows.
“Sarah and I wrote our vows the morning before the wedding,” he reveals.
“I said, ‘Shall we read them to each other?’ We spent a few minutes sharing our words, which was a settling thing to do before we shared them with everyone else.”
A celebration of two cultures
The couple’s big day honoured Semu’s Pacific heritage and Sarah’s European background, both during the service and at the happy reception at nearby venue Longfords, which overlooks stunning Lake Ōkāreka.
“We incorporated lots of little things into the day to reflect the huge respect and acknowledgement we have for each other’s cultures and families,” shares Semu.
“There’s a Tokelauan tradition called tuala, where the newly married couple walks around the island and sings a song together to let everyone in the village know they’re married. We sang the same song to our guests before they went into the reception.”
With 200 attendees, it was a big wedding, but Semu and Sarah’s special touches made it feel like an intimate occasion.
Thoughtful touches for every guest
“I wrote a message for every guest to ensure they felt special to us for being at the wedding and not just a number in the large crowd,” says Sarah.
“At the reception, we also chose a captain for each table, who was in charge of keeping the vibe and energy high. It was lots of fun!”
After speeches and a delicious buffet catered by local firm Terrace Kitchen, guests enjoyed “male and female cakes” in the Samoan tradition, then the newlyweds hit the floor for their first dance, quickly joined by their kids and the rest of the bridal party.
The band RnBeast, featuring Fran Kora of Kiwi reggae group Kora, kept the dance floor pumping, while guests gathered around a firepit to toast marshmallows. Other treats included personalised donuts featuring messages in English, Samoan and Tokelauan, created by Sarah’s gift-giving business Edible Blooms.
A quiet ending to a perfect day
Once their guests left the venue on buses, the bride and groom shared some special time alone at the end of their magical day.
Sarah recalls, “We stayed behind toasting marshmallows and having a quiet drink together. It was a beautiful way to end the day.”
She’s happy to have married her soulmate, she says, adding, “We’re always there for each other and are each other’s biggest cheerleaders.”
A new chapter in work and love
Professionally, Semu will star opposite Melissa George, Simone Kessell, Robbie Magasiva and Oscar Kightley in the upcoming Three drama Ms X, and his short film Silent Giant, directed by rising Mexican-Samoan talent Peter Filimaua, comes out later this year. He also has more plays in the works, but in the meantime, he’s loving life as a newlywed and is even helping out as a “bloomette” at “gift giving queen” Sarah’s company.
Semu enthuses, “Love shouldn’t be hard – it should give you peace and that’s exactly what I’ve found with Sarah. I’m so content, happy and settled to be married to my favourite person. Sarah gives me room to grow and to fall more deeply in love with her every day.”
