Pop star Britney Spears [ tickets ] married childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander before dawn on Saturday (1/3), but the quickie wedding was headed for a quick annulment later that day.

Spears, 22, and Alexander, of Kentwood, LA, "took a joke to far by getting married" at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, said a statement issued over the weekend by Jive Records. "Ms. Spears and Mr. Alexander have filed for an annulment, which will become official on Monday (1/5)."

According to various reports, Spears and Alexander went to the wedding chapel after spending some time at Ghostbar, a club at the Palms Casino Hotel. Upon their arrival at the chapel, they reportedly were told that they needed a marriage license. They obtained the license from a Clark County Marriage Bureau office, and returned to the chapel via a limo for the wedding.

A bellman from the Palms escorted Spears down the aisle, People reported.

By Sunday (1/4), Alexander reportedly was at home in Louisiana. "He'd been through a lot," his grandfather, Robert Alexander, told "Entertainment Tonight." "We picked him up in New Orleans coming back and he didn't have much to say."