Saara Aalto reveals she broke down in tears at ‘bittersweet’ lockdown wedding to wife – with zero guests and no dress
SAARA Aalto has told The Sun Online that she broke down in tears at her "bittersweet" lockdown wedding to wife Meri, which had zero guests.
The 32-year-old singer revealed that the ceremony adhered to strict social distancing rules in her native Finland - and they weren't even allowed to shake the officiant's hand.
Saara and her manager Meri had been engaged for three and a half years and were planning a big wedding surrounded by their loved ones this summer, but the ongoing coronavirus pandemic forced them to cancel.
So the former X Factor star's fans were left stunned when she took to Instagram last month to announce that they had tied the knot anyway - and Saara has now admitted that it was a "spontaneous" decision.
She told us: "We had been waiting for the wedding for years, then finally we were doing it this summer!
"But we couldn't risk our parents and friends, so we thought that we would postpone... But we kind of felt like we had already been waiting for so long, I really wanted to call her my wife, and legally it's just safer to be married - so there were romantic reasons and practical reasons - and we thought: 'Let's just do it now.'
"We thought that with the world in a difficult place, we should do something to increase love; love will always win. It wasn't what we had planned, we did it quite spontaneously."
Saara and Meri ended up tying the knot with just the person who married them present, in outfits they had bought from a local mall - and Saara revealed that she was surprised by how emotional the ceremony was even though it was nothing like what she'd dreamed of.
She shared: "We were crying, it was really touching - I thought it'd just be about getting a bit of paper, but it was actually really, really nice.
"We both started crying at the same time - at the end when they ask: 'Do you want to take this person...' it kind of hit me; this is the sentence I've been waiting for.
"It was really emotional. It wasn't what we had planned, I didn't expect my wedding to be like this.
"With social distancing, we couldn't even shake hands with the person who married us, we had to try and stay two metres away, so it was weird. It wasn't normal.
"It definitely wasn't what I imagined and there was a part of me that was a bit sad that this is what we had to do, but at the same time I was the happiest girl in the world to stand with Meri, look in her eyes and cry like: 'Yes, you are going to be my wife'.
"It was bittersweet. It's not the perfect way to get married but we will remember it for the rest of our lives, in life we always face these crazy challenges and this is one of them; something crazy that we will remember."
Thankfully, Saara and Meri's family and friends "understood" their decision to get married without them - and they are planning a "big party" once lockdown is over to celebrate their nuptials.
The star has saved her actual wedding dress for the big day, opting for something that "wasn't too fancy" in the intimate ceremony last month.
She also told us that while she was reluctant to sing at her own wedding, Meri really wants her to perform so she is going to pen a special song dedicated to her bride.
Saara, who shot to fame on the 2016 series of The X Factor, went on to add that the dream would be to have judge Nicole Scherzinger perform - but she has not heard from her with regard to the wedding.
It's not just Saara's wedding that got thrown into chaos due to lockdown, with the star confessing that she was "devastated" to have work commitments cancelled - including taking on a lead role in musical We Will Rock You.
However, she admitted to being "more creative than ever" during this down time, with her and Meri even launching an online school to give people courses that could improve their lives.
The first course on No Fear School sees Saara teaching people how to sing, with the star telling us: "Voice is my passion and I want to show that anyone can sing - it's online and should be really fun."
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This evening [1 May], Saara is also performing a concert on her Facebook page to celebrate her birthday tomorrow with fans.
She shared: "It's on Facebook but it's not a typical Facebook live - it's very professionally done in my living room.
"I wanted to keep it intimate but glamorous, so there will be outfit changes and sparkles as well as some birthday surprises."
Saara concluded that she is enjoying making the most of lockdown; and the quality time with her new wife and their two dogs makes it all easier to deal with.
She added: "I just really love to call her my wife, we are sharing the same last name now - it's something new to get used to but it's all really lovely."