Mariah Carey on "Ellen" Tuesday

Photo: Warner Bros.

Mariah Carey appeared on "Ellen" Tuesday (May 13) an talked about her recent wedding to Nick Cannon.

She said the pair used a "video shoot" as camouflage for bringing friends out to the Bahamas for the beachside ceremony, and noted that very few people were invited.

"[It was] mostly people to do my hair and help me with my dress ... and three of my friends and he had three people with him," she said.

"We wanted to be at the beach, we didn't want other people taking pictures, because we both experienced the hoopla of trying to make something into, like, a publicity stunt, which is what everybody thinks and will think anyway," she said. "We don't really care about that mentality. Instead of trying to be like, 'You're invited, but shhh, don't tell anybody,' we're just going to have another [wedding] next year. [Nick's] plan is to have one every year."

(Cannon himself squirmed when asked a battery of questions by MTV News about engagement rumors on the Monday before the ceremony.)

Host Ellen DeGeneres then held up photos of the pair's tattoos: Cannon's is a large "Mariah" across his back, while hers is a small butterfly on her lower back that incorporates the letters "MC" — which she said stood for "Mrs. Cannon," but DeGeneres quickly pointed out could also simply stand for the singer's initials, if the marriage doesn't work out.

"That's so mean, Ellen!" Carey said.

She continued, "I never had a tattoo before, and it's his first tattoo also — that's why it was a big deal. I fell asleep during my tattoo. People were like, 'What?' I was gangsta for that, a little bit."

Carey also said Cannon is the man she wants to raise a family with. "My parents divorced when I was 3 and I didn't have many examples of what was the 'norm,' " she said. But "I found the right person."