Beauty Beyoncé Knowles wed her longtime boyfriend, rapper Jay-Z, PEOPLE reports.

The nuptials follows years of speculation..

A friend says, "It happened earlier this evening. Jay wanted it to be a really private affair – close friends and family."

DJ Cassidy, was hired to spin. "Cassidy mentioned a week ago that he was really excited for the Jay Z and Beyoncé's wedding party to happen," says the friend.

The ceremony was followed by a party at the rapper's Tribeca apartment , where Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles, her father/manager Mathew, her sister Solange, her Destiny's Child mates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, and the couple's friend Gwyneth Paltrow partied.

The wedding buzz began when the couple went to get a marriage license at a village hall in Scarsdale, N.Y., on Tuesday.

A couple since 2002, Jay-Z, 38, and Knowles, 26, always kept quiet about their relationship.