Los Angeles, Jan 11 (IANS): Actress-director Angelina Jolie has said that she and her husband Brad Pitt were actually married before their secret nuptials in August last year.

"Before the wedding in France with the kids, Brad and I were already married in California. As Americans, we couldn't marry legally in France," she told Italian magazine Io Donna, reports usmagazine.com.

The "Unbroken" director also shared how the wedding really went down.

"One day I said to Brad, 'Let's meet up at 4:30 p.m.?' I called a justice of the peace and we signed the documents," she said.

Later on, the "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" co-stars exchanged vows inside an ancient stone chapel at Château Miraval, the Jolie-Pitt family's estate in Correns, France.

Their 20 guests, which included Jolie's brother James Haven, hummed the traditional processional tune "Here Comes the Bride" as the brunette beauty made her entrance.

The groom kept up with tradition and didn't get a glimpse of his bride's Atelier Versace gown until she walked down the aisle with their eldest sons, Maddox and Pax.

The A-list actors' complementary wedding bands were designed by Robert Procop and carried by ring bearers Shiloh, 8, and Knox, 6.