The couple who met on the Dancing with the Stars program got married on Saturday in Tallinn.
Aki Riihilahti and Katri Mäkinen got married over the weekend. Matti Matikainen
It started as a simple dance step, and deepened into a great love.
A dancer known from TTK last weekend Katri Mäkinen and CEO of HJK, ex-footballer Aki Riihilahti got married in Tallinn Cathedral. About 130 family members, friends and relatives came to the party organized on Saturday, August 19.
The couple got to know each other in the Dancing with the Stars program in 2021. Over time, the friendship deepened into bigger feelings, and falling in love could not be prevented.
– We once went to a dance together, but this dance lasts a lifetime, says Aki Riihilahti to Iltalehti.
– Our journey from friendship to love has created a wonderful basis for understanding and getting to know each other. This step was easier for us than the dance for Aki. We are an excellent team, continues Katri Riihilahti.
Tallinn was chosen as the wedding venue for the couple, because Katri’s mother’s side of the family is from Estonia. This way, Katri’s beloved grandfather was also able to participate in the couple’s important celebration.
The couple’s dear friends arrived in Tallinn, including domestic and international influencers in the world of football and dance. Among the wedding guests were, among others Jaana Pelkonen, Emma Kimiläinen, sami Hyypiä and familiar from TTK Jukka Haapalainen.
The ceremony took place on Toompeanmäki in Tallinn Cathedral, from where the wedding party moved to the Kultuurikatel event center built in Tallinn’s old energy plant.
Wolfcom’s PR professional was one of Riihilahti’s bestmen Samuel Sorainenwho praises the party as memorable.
– The ceremony itself was of course emotional, but in keeping with the style of the wedding couple, it was also full of joy and humor. As wedding marches, Wagner’s classic march plays when entering Bridal choirbut when he went out, the audience was delighted Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta made familiar You’re the One That I Want. Sami Pitkämö moved the wedding couple and the congregation with his beautifully performed version I Can’t Help Falling in Love -song, Sorainen says.
– One moved from the church to the celebration venue, among other things, by city train, i.e. the so-called on a piggy train, which was apt to raise the mood of the party. The party was very good, he reveals.
The wedding program included a lot of dance performed by both Finnish and Estonian professional dancers. Sami Pitkämö Band, an Estonian DJ, was responsible for the music of the evening Tom Lilienthal and a saxophonist Ivo Lille.
According to Sorainen, many party guests enjoyed themselves in Tallinn and had time to take a small city vacation at the same time.
– On Friday, we spent a nice and relaxed evening with the friends and the wedding couple who came to the place with the local star chef Orm Ojan in a new pizzeria in the old town. On Sunday, some still had time to visit the museum, eat and shop before returning home.
Little by little together
Riihilahti’s relationship slowly matured from friendship to love.
Katri Riihilahti told earlier For Me Naiset magazine, how he needed time to build trust and connection with Aki. Joint trips and spontaneity strengthened the relationship.
– Many who followed us from the sidelines were of the opinion that it was only a matter of time before we became a couple. But it wasn’t really clear to me, Katri told Me Nais in March.
They performed together for the first time in public at the Kultainen Venla gala organized at the beginning of the year.
Riihilahti’s friendship started at TTK. Atte Kajova