Anna Nicole Smith Weds in Spiritual Ceremony  9/30/06

Model Anna Nicole Smith has confirmed reports she 'wed' lawyer love Howard K Stern on a boat near the Bahamas on Thursday (28SEP06), but insists the coupling is "not legally binding".

The former Playboy Playmate, 38, married Stern in a spiritual ceremony onboard a catamaran anchored off Blackbeard's Cay in Nassau.

The happy event came just 18 days after (10SEP06) Smith's son DANIEL died from a combination of two antidepressants and methadone in the hospital where his mother had given birth to his half-sister Dannilynn on 7 September (06).

Another of Smith's lawyers Michael Scott confirmed the couple "exchanged vows before God", but admitted they didn't have the necessary legal paperwork, so the marriage would not be legally binding.

Scott adds, "It was not a formal, legal arrangement."

Up until Tuesday (26SEP06), it was widely believed photographer Larry Birkhead was the father of Dannilynn. However, Stern appeared on CNN talk show Larry King Live, insisting he was the newborn's biological father.

Smith has previously been married to Daniel's father Bill Smith and Texas oil billionaire J Howard Marshall.