Yahoo Finance Inside Adam Rippon and Jussi-Pekka Kajaala's Low-Key Wedding Style — and the Story Behind Their Rings
Adam Rippon and Jussi-Pekka Kajaala totally flipped the script on a traditional wedding, from their spontaneous ceremony to the sweaters they wore to mark the occasion!
Rippon, 32, and Kajaala, 34, secretly tied the knot in a marriage service in Encino on Dec. 31, and made sure they wore outfits that left them feeling like themselves when saying "I do."
"We did dress up, but nothing special. Like just nice stuff. We wanted to look like ourselves," says Kajaala, a Finnish real estate broker, whom everyone calls JP.
The Olympic figure skating medalist turned TV personality chimed in saying: "Yeah. We wore like what you would wear [to] the Easter Sunday mass."
courtesy Adam Rippon Jussi-Pekka Kajaala (left) and Adam Rippon
Rippon adds: "It looks like a sweater. Easter Sunday mass looks like a sweater."
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Rather than get new wedding bands, the couple chose to use the rings they picked out together while in Finland before getting engaged in December 2020. "I wanted diamonds in it because I wanted it to glisten," Rippon says of his, while Kajaala's is "a thicker band that has a line carved in through the middle."
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"He did not want diamonds in his. This was the great divide," Rippon says.
Adam Rippon Adam Rippon and Jussi-Pekka Kajaala's rings
Rippon and Kajaala always knew they wanted a low-key wedding and decided New Year's Eve was a good time because "now we have a great meaning for that day."
"We always wanted to do something simple and just the two of us," says Rippon. "And so we were looking at different options of what we could do and so obviously when you do that, the next best thing that you can do is you reach out to [California marriage officiant] Maria and you ask Maria: 'When is her next availability for a wedding?' And she goes, 'I have availability this week, but I also have something today.' And so then I said, 'Listen, Maria, we're on our way.' We're going to be there for the one o'clock appointment in Encino, California, the happiest place on earth.' "
After the short ceremony, the couple celebrated (with champagne, of course!). "We were in bed by 10:30, but we got home and got right to champagne immediately," Rippon says. "No excuses. Winners don't quit champagne."
Despite their intimate ceremony, the couple does plan on throwing celebrations with their friends and family once the COVID-19 pandemic settles.
"Here and then one in Finland, eventually. Not like a wedding, but just friends over, family over," says Kajaala. "Some good food. Drinks."
In December 2020, the pair proposed to one another while Rippon was visiting Kajaala in the latter's home country of Finland.
"I'm excited to marry JP because he's just the best," Rippon told PEOPLE in a statement at the time. "He's kind, he's funny, and he's just as beautiful on the inside as he is on the out (which is a lot). He's my cheerleader and I'm his. I just love him a lot."
"We didn't have the chance to see each other for most of 2020," Rippon shared, adding that they had talked about getting engaged prior to Rippon's months-long stay in Finland from November 2020 to January 2021.
"We bought the rings together and picked them up at the same time. I really wanted us to have rings from Finland," Rippon continued. "I thought it would be fun to have a little piece of Finland with us all the time as JP is getting ready to move to Los Angeles hopefully by the end of the year."
Rippon and Kajaala first started dating in 2017 after meeting on app Tinder.
