Desperately seeking seclusion, the Queen of Pop said "I do" to Guy Ritchie yesterday in a fairytale Scottish castle surrounded by her closest friends, family and hordes of frustrated paparazzi.
While secrecy was the watchword outside the exclusive Skibo Castle, it was thought the bride wore a gothic-style creation, with tartan sash, by fashion designer Stella McCartney. Film director Ritchie (32) was reported to be donning a kilt with matching socks and his grandfather's sporran for the ceremony conducted by the Rev Susan Brown.
Meanwhile, hundreds of photographers camped outside wore thermal underwear and chilly expressions as Madonna's wish for privacy wrecked their chances for snaps of the celebrity wedding of the year which it was estimated would fetch up to u 1m £1 million.
Not everyone respected the wishes of the newly-married Madonna (42).
Paparazzi hiding under bracken and behind bushes on the 7,500-acre grounds of Skibo, hideaway of the rich and famous, were escorted out of the estate by security guards only to climb back over the castle's perimeter walls when the coast was clear.
Two men were arrested in the nearby town of Dornoch yesterday for breaching security at the cathedral where the couple's baby, Rocco, was christened on Thursday evening.
There were slim pickings for the camera crews who trudged through mud in the dark outside the castle gates, taking sips of whiskey to keep off the cold. From around 4 p.m. the guests began arriving but there was only a glimpse of Sting, his wife Trudie and Donatella Versace, from behind the blacked-out windows of Range-Rovers before the cars and their VIP contents disappeared behind dense pine forest. No one really expected to see anything and no one did. Except if you count ubiquitous Spud the Piper in full Scottish regalia who got into the groove for about the fifth time in what was dubbed Madonna week on local radio.
The press could only wonder and wait although fans can take heart in the fact that Madonna is thought to be planning to release a video of the proceedings.
Speculation about what was going on inside included wedding trivia such as reports that Haggis and wild Scottish salmon were on the menu.
The wedding was expected to have an authentic Highland feel with a local ceili band booked. Thoughts of guests such as Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and Jon Bon Jovi kicking up their heels for a highland jig provided a rare moment of light relief as darkness fell on a place another celebrity bride Catherine Zeta Jones recently dubbed "the most romantic place on earth".
Earlier the minister who was to marry the couple spoke about the task.
The Rev Susan Brown said the wedding would be a "special and meaningful" occasion for the couple.
She said: "I hope the service is one we can enjoy above all else. It's good a couple want to commit themselves to each other for life. It is a big day for them and their friends and family."