Sarkozy marries Bruni at the Elysee

By Crispian Balmer and Sudip Kar-Gupta

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy married supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni at the Elysee Palace on Saturday, just three months after they started dating.

"Ms Carla Bruni Tedeschi and Mr Nicolas Sarkozy would like to announce that they got married this morning in the presence of their families and in the utmost privacy," a statement from Sarkozy's Elysee office said.

The pair tied the knot at a low-key, civil ceremony conducted by the mayor of the Paris district that houses the president's grandiose official residence.

"I married two voters ... who live at 55 Rue du Faubourg St Honore," Mayor Francois Lebel told Europe 1 radio, giving the official address of the Elysee.

"The bride was wearing white and was ravishing, as usual," he said, adding: "The bridegroom wasn't bad either."

Another official told Reuters the wedding took place at 11 a.m. (10 a.m. British time).

Sarkozy and Bruni indicated last month that they planned to marry after a whirlwind romance and made clear that it would be a private affair, far from the eyes of the press.

Their relationship has been splashed across the media and Sarkozy's popularity ratings have plunged in recent weeks, with voters complaining that the president was focusing too much on his private life and not enough on the country's many problems, including rising prices and flagging consumer confidence.