Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo explain wedding island choice - Monsters and Critics

Newlyweds Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo have revealed why they chose to tie the knot on Sir Richard Branson's private island paradise in the British Virgin Islands.

Celebrities at the 2008 American Music Awards, NOKIA Theatre, Los Angeles, California. - Russ Einhorn / Splash News

The couple said 'I do' in front of 35 friends and family on Necker Island on Friday, and Nick said that for them, the venue ticked all the boxes.

'We love to travel and we love Necker Island,' Lachey, 37, told People magazine. 'We've vacationed there multiple times, and when we got engaged, we both immediately thought of the island as the perfect place to have our wedding.'

Minnillo, 30, added, 'We were on a boat, on vacation, passing the island and we both looked at each other and he said, 'Yes!' I was so glad he said what I was thinking. Nick saw it in my eyes.

'We used a lot of what the island had. It was timeless, beautiful and romantic.'

Their nuptials will be shown on television later this month.