Nick Lachey: 'Vanessa Minnillo took my breath away'

Nick Lachey has said that he was left breathless on seeing Vanessa Minnillo in her wedding dress.

The couple wed last Friday, tying the knot with just 35 of their closest family and friends in attendance. Lachey confessed that he will never forget the moment he first saw Minnillo in her gown.

"It literally took my breath away," Lachey told People. "It's a moment you fantasize about, and I was certainly not disappointed."

Minnillo said that she was eager to don a traditional dress for the ceremony, in spite of the wedding's tropical island setting.

"I wanted to be in that long traditional wedding gown with heels and I wanted my groom in a tux and shoes and not barefoot on the beach," Minnillo said. "There was just something so timeless, beautiful and romantic about having that element of a traditional wedding."

Lachey recently described Sir Richard Branson's private island in the British Virgin Islands as the perfect wedding venue.

The pair's nuptials will be televised in the TLC special Nick & Vanessa's Dream Wedding, which premieres July 30 from 9-11pm ET/PT.