Shorty Star Says 'I Do' Beulah's Magical Big Day

Tears flow as they wed

- Sebastian Van Der Zwan

Soon after Georgia Otene first met Beulah Koale, while jogging Auckland’s annual Round the Bays fun run in 2013, she told the former Shortland Street actor, “When we get married, I want my poppa to marry us.”

Even back then, she knew they were perfectly in step. Sadly, Georgia’s grandfather, Reverend Edwin Rogers, passed away in August last year, but his presence is keenly felt as the Hawaiian-based pair prepare to tie the knot at Kauri Bay Boomrock, a scenic farm overlooking Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf.

Green and white flowers, like the ones on Edwin’s casket, are everywhere and as Georgia, 24, gets ready to marry her soulmate, a fantail flies into the lodge, where it lingers for the next two hours.

The bride tells, “It was hopping around and looking at my nana, then when all my hair and make-up was done, it flew out again. I really felt Poppa there.”

Meanwhile, Beulah – who stars as officer Junior Reigns in the US series Hawaii Five-0 – is waiting nervously at the altar alongside celebrant Reverend Geoffrey Hickman, who was one of Georgia’s grandfather’s best friends.

As Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years” plays, the couple’s two-year old twins Isaac and Xavier toddle down the aisle, although they’re soon overwhelmed by the presence of the 80 guests and sit down.