Mariah CareyMariah Carey and Nick Cannon might have rushed down the aisle after just a month of dating - but they still had time to get tattoos done before hand.

Friend Oprah Winfrey revealed yesterday that both the bride and groom went under the needle before their nuptials earlier this month, with Mariah having “Mrs Cannon” inked on her back, while Nick went for a simple “Mariah”.

The couple married at Mariah’s luxury estate in the Bahamas at the start of the month after Nick proposed on 25th April. According to People magazine, only about a dozen guests were invited to the beachfront ceremony and the wedding party enjoyed on Maine lobsters and Dom Pérignon champagne for the wedding dinner.

Nick told the magazine he was quite overwhelmed by the whole event: “I haven’t been shy in years, but I was speechless. I was elated, but I was thinking, ‘Don’t pass out.’”

And regarding his new bride, he explained: “She is beautiful on the outside and 10 times as beautiful on the inside.”

Mariah added: “We really do feel we are soul mates. I never felt a love like this was in the cards for me.”

And it’s made her reconsider her previous no-children stance: “[Having children is] part of the whole purpose of getting married. I’d just want our children to have the best childhood and upbringing they possibly could.”

After a brief honeymoon in the Caribbean, the couple are now said to be back in the US - Nick in Los Angeles and Mariah preparing for the Time 100 Gala party in New York this evening.

But the separation so soon after their wedding hasn’t dulled Nick’s joy. His younger brother Reuben told OK magazine: “He’s here [in LA] and he’s really happy. I’ve never seen him so happy.”