After years of speculation, singer Beyoncé Knowles wed her longtime boyfriend, rapper Jay-Z, on Friday, a friend of the couple tells People.

Though there is no official confirmation, the friend says, “It happened earlier this evening. Jay wanted it to be a really private affair – close friends and family.”

The ceremony was followed by a lavish party at the rapper’s Tribeca apartment that drew 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 (pictured above trying to hide her face).

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

DJ Cassidy, a favorite of Jay-Z, 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.

Early Friday morning, workers erected a white tent atop the building in Tribeca, where Jay-Z owns a penthouse apartment. Not long after, an SUV carrying what seemed to be AV equipment arrived, followed by deliveries of party rentals and flowers.

A source tells People that Amy’s Orchids was hired to provide 50,000 to 60,000 white orchid blooms from Thailand for a “big party.” At the apartment, waiters were seen practicing their service.

A couple since 2002, Jay-Z, 38, and Knowles, 26, always kept quiet about their relationship, even as they were photographed together on romantic holidays around the world.

Still, marriage seemed to be in the cards – eventually. “I never pictured myself as a bride,” she told Cosmopolitan in January 2006, “but after my sister’s wedding, I did start thinking about what kind of wedding I’d want. I don’t think I want a big one.”

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THE INSIDER has learned that preparations for a big event are being laid out right now at the Tribeca apartments on Hudson Street in New York that could very well be for Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z’s wedding. A box from Amy’s Orchids was just delivered and CC Rental has been delivering as well.

Busy workers are building an indoor tent with an all-white theme and the Roman numeral IV. We’re told the event will be for about 30 people. The “magic hour” — when all he workers need to be out — is 3 p.m. More details to come..!

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Rumors are rampant that Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles will exchange wedding vows in New York today after gossips learned the rapper has cleared his busy schedule for the day.

Jay-Z has performances with Mary J. Blige in Massachusetts on Thursday night and North Carolina on Saturday - but nothing on Friday.

And New York news organizations are reporting Knowles is currently in the Big Apple, together with her mother Tina and former Destiny’s Child bandmate Michelle Williams.

Jay-Z and Knowles successfully applied for a wedding license in Scarsdale, New York on Tuesday, and they have 60 days from that date to exchange vows - before the paperwork deadline expires. The latest rumors come just a day after Jay-Z staged an alleged bachelor party in Toronto, Canada. Representatives for both stars are refusing to confirm or deny marriage reports.

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Beyoncé Knowles and longtime beau Jay-Z have taken out a marriage license in Scarsdale, N.Y., People has learned.

According to a source, the pair took out a license on Tuesday morning. The document is valid for 60 days.

A rep for Beyoncé told People, “No comment.” Jay-Z’s spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

Beyoncé, 26, and Jay-Z, 38, have been dating since 2002, though the couple have stood reluctant to discuss their relationship publicly. Rumors about their romance began circulating after the singer appeared on Jay-Z’s song “‘03 Bonnie & Clyde,” followed by collaborations on Beyoncé ’s solo hit “Crazy In Love,” in 2003.

While the two have remained tight-lipped about the state of their romance, by no means has Beyoné brushed off talk of marriage. In Dec. 2006, the singer told InStyle, “You can’t rush a man into anything – whether it’s a relationship, marriage or having children.”

Earlier that month the pair was besieged by rumors that they were all set to get hitched in the Caribbean – a rumor that was quickly scotched by their reps.

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Solange Knowles is following big sister Beyonce’s lead and recruiting a band of unknowns to join her on tour. Beyonce held auditions for a dance troupe to appear in her videos and perform live with her and now Solange is hoping to form her own band the same way.

She will be holding auditions for her Hadley Street Dreams Band in her adopted home of Los Angeles on March 6th. And she’s hoping that her new recruits will be able to double up as dancers too. A spokesman for Knowles says, “The Hadley Street Dreams, a ’60s-inspired full band, will perform all live shows with Solange in support of her upcoming album, to be released this August.”

Knowles’ requirements include two female backing singers, a drummer, guitar player, bass player and two pianists. Musicians who cannot make it to the March audition are invited to submit an try-out video to Knowles’ website.

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Beyoncé is going to have the best coach in the biz when she takes on the role of Etta James in Cadillac Records, a forthcoming movie about Etta’s life. The legendary singer tells PageSix.com exclusively that she’s going to be advising the star herself.

“It’s a privilege and an honor to have somebody like that girl. I don’t think she looks like me, but that’s all right. They can fix that up,” Etta tells us.  And appearance isn’t all Beyoncé will have to work on.

“Oh my god, she’s going to have a hill to climb, because Etta James ain’t been no angel!” she says.

Producers have informed Etta that she’ll get the chance to consult with the 26-year-old Destiny’s Child star, giving her pointers on both the acting and the singing — the latter being something the “At Last” singer was most concerned with when she got wind of the casting.

Of her many hits, Etta feels, “I have my own way of putting those songs over, and I was just wondering if Beyoncé could, and my son said, ‘They’re thinking about how she looks, but mama, she can really sing!’”

It was the Dreamgirls star’s performance at the Grammys earlier this month that won Etta over, when Jay-Z’s main squeeze rocked “Proud Mary” with Tina Turner.

“I kinda have a man’s voice. It’s a contralto, more bluesy, religious. I would really like to work with her on that,” the 70-year-old songstress says.

Of her life lessons, Etta, who battled heroin addiction for many years, says, “I can tell Beyoncé some things; some of the things I might not tell her.”

She does stress that the emotional transformation Beyoncé must undergo will have to be a little intense.

“I wasn’t as bourgie as she is, she’s bourgeois. She knows how to be a lady, she’s like a model. I wasn’t like that… I smoked in the bathroom in school, I was kinda arrogant, so those are some of the things I would want to tell her.”

The flick will co-star Adrien Brody (reportedly replacing Matt Damon) in the role of music exec Leonard Chess, as well as Cedric the Entertainer and Jeffrey Wright.

The meeting between the divas will be happening soon, as sources tell us filming is scheduled to start on March 10 in New Jersey, with two days on location in Mississippi.

Splash, Page Six

Beyonce Knowles’ manager/father has fired back at “ridiculous” public comments Aretha Franklin has made about his daughter’s Grammy Awards performance on Sunday night.

Franklin, who is known throughout the world as the Queen of Soul, raged after Beyonce introduced her duet partner, Tina Turner, as “the queen” during the Los Angeles awards show.

Aretha has since accused Beyonce and the Grammy Awards writers of making “a cheap shot for controversy.” That comment has angered Beyonce’s father Mathew Knowles, who has lashed out at Franklin for being so ridiculous.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Knowles blasts, “Beyonce referred to Tina as a `queen’. Not queen of gospel, queen of soul, queen of blues, Queen of England. “I consider my wife a queen and sometimes call her that. Does Aretha have a problem with that?”

Oh snap! Your turn, Aretha!

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