Broadway's Christy Altomare Is Married! How Her Childhood Crush Became Her Husband After Chance Reunion

Christy Altomare and Chris Crook have officially tied the knot!

The actress, best known for originating the role of Anastasia in the Broadway musical of the same name, married her childhood crush Sunday during an intimate ceremony at the Lambertville Station in New Jersey, PEOPLE can exclusively confirm.

"We wanted to get married as fast as humanly possible," Altomare tells PEOPLE, adding that they chose a venue close to the Bucks County Playhouse in Pennsylvania, where they were engaged in February.

After all, the two grew up together and even attended the same schools. They went their separate ways before reconnecting 20 years later when Crook, a software engineer, met up with the singer after her solo concert last June at the Pennsylvania theater.

Altomare happened to save emails from Crook, in which he professed "his love" for her in middle school, though the timing had never been right up until their chance meeting during the pandemic. (Crook, 35, eventually married; Altomare, 36, was previously engaged.)

Last year, the two were once again single and found themselves in the same place at the same time — and the rest was history.

During Sunday's ceremony, the couple proved their love story stood the test of time, with one of Crook's best friends reciting that middle-school email he sent to Altomare once upon a time in 2000.

In a nod to their high school musical, Big The Musical — the only show the two ever performed in together — their bridal party walked into the reception to "Cross the Line" from the Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire show.

"We have a few guests who are from that era," Crook jokes.

Among the over 160 guests in attendance included Liz Callaway, who voiced the character of Anastasia in the 1997 animated film; Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, the Tony-winning duo who wrote Anastasia's score; Orange Is the New Black actress Kimiko Glenn; and husband-and-wife Broadway actors Krystina Alabado, who toured with Altomare in the musical Spring Awakening, and Robert Lenzi, among others.

Altomare donned a gown from Sposabella Bridal, one that she says is "reminiscent of my red dress in Anastasia."

She explains, "I got my dress while I was performing in The Wanderer [at Paper Mill Playhouse]. I only had two days to find a dress. It's like a princess dress." Her sparkly shoes, she notes, are from Worldtone Dance, a staple in the Broadway industry, so that she could dance the night away to the Bachelor Boys Band playing at the reception. Photographer John Barone captured the festivities.

Crook wore a dark charcoal gray suit with a eucalyptus green tie with Allen Edmonds double monk-strap shoes.

With a bridal party of 10 matching Crook's eucalyptus green accent, Altomare had her sister, Carrie Hirschman, by her side as maid of honor while Crook's friend Justin Hill served as best man.

During the reception, the newlyweds offered a performance of "Only Us" from the musical Dear Evan Hansen. "I'm slightly terrified," admits Crook ahead of the big day.

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"We just loved it when we started dating, and we would always sing it together in the car," says Altomare, adding that Justin Paul of the Tony-winning Dear Evan Hansen songwriting duo Pasek and Paul gave them his blessing.

But the most special moment of the night came when the couple shared their first dance to "When the Right One Comes Along," the song performed by Sam Palladio on the musical television series Nashville.

"Every time I dated a guy, ever since I heard this song, it was my litmus test to whether or not the guy I was dating was right. And the last four guys, I played this song for them, and they all were like, 'It's okay, this song's fine,' " says Altomare.

"When I played this song for Chris, he started to cry," she adds. "And I think this is when he said I love you for the first time."