Beyonce reveals her 2008 wedding was 'very small' - and guests didn't know

Nearly 20 years after Beyonce and Jay-Z tied the knot in a surprise 2008 ceremony, the singer is finally sharing the details. In an i-D interview published Nov. 11, she described the wedding as deliberately low-key - "a very small wedding in our home."

"We told guests we were having a party, and no one knew they were coming to our wedding but our parents and a few friends," the 45-year-old said.

The surprise was the point. The couple invited people over for what they believed was an ordinary celebration, and only a tight circle - their parents and a handful of close friends - knew the real plan.

"My favorite dress my mother designed was my wedding dress. It was gorgeously simple and made with her love."

If there was one non-negotiable, it was the dress. The gown came from her mother, Tina Knowles, and Beyonce said wearing it mattered more than any famous label.

"It was gorgeously simple and made with her love," she said, adding that the choice was "very important - more important than any designer dress."

A reflective season for the Carters

The wedding reveal arrives during a busy, nostalgic stretch. Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, released the HBO Max docuseries Jay-Z in 8 in September, which traces his life and career across eight episodes. His debut album Reasonable Doubt also marked its 30th anniversary in June.

Jay-Z admitted the series gets personal in front of his kids. "It'll be fascinating to see on a big screen and at times, I know it'll be, like, cringe," he told E! News.

"It's just all aligned," Jay-Z said of the timing. "We didn't plan on it being part of a 30-year celebration. We were just, you know, creating a piece that we both believed in, and it just so happened it all lined up."

Beyonce and Jay-Z share three children: Blue Ivy, 14, and 9-year-old twins Rumi and Sir. Nearly two decades on, the wedding remains one of pop culture's best-kept secrets.