It’s finally going to happen.
In the coming days, George Clooney will marry Amal Alamuddin in Italy.
The “Oceans 11” actor is no stranger to relationships, but since his divorce from first wife Talia Balsam in 1993, no one has gotten as far as the human rights lawyer.
We first got wind of Alamuddin, 36, in March, when she and Clooney, 53, were spotted on safari on Tanzania. Days later the happy couple was spotted out and about in New York.
The pair wasted no time. Little over a month after they went public with their relationship, Clooney proposed to Alamuddin over a home-cooked meal. The romantic dinner wasn’t the only personal touch — the actor also designed his bride-to-be’s sparkling 7-carat engagement ring.
“We are very pleased,” his father Nick Clooney said at the time. “We like Amal and we are very excited for our family and thrilled for them.”
The couple soon hit Malibu to celebrate their engagement, along with some famous pals including Bono and Rande Gerber.
If anyone doubted the former People’s Sexiest Man’s commitment to his fiancée, it was clear from Clooney’s real estate dealings that he was serious about her. Clooney was reportedly looking into a London home so he could be closer to Alamuddin, who’s based out of the British capital. He was also looking into a love nest in the South of France.
But before acquiring more property, there was a wedding to plan. In June, the beaming couple was spotted scouting venues in Venice.
As well as things appeared to be going, there were some trying to burst the duo’s bubble. Namely: the Daily Mail.
The British tabloid ran a story in early July claiming Alamuddin’s mother was against the wedding for religious reasons. But, that wasn’t the case at all, something Clooney was quick to point out in an op-ed that ran in USA Today that torched the paper.
“The Daily Mail has printed a completely fabricated story about my fiancée’s mother,” he wrote. “It says Amal’s mother has been telling ‘half of Beirut’ that she’s against the wedding. It says they joke about traditions in the Druze religion that end up with the death of the bride.”
The paper took down the story and apologized, but Clooney wasn’t having it, again lambasting the paper for lying, even in the mea culpa.
“So I thank the Mail for its apology,” he wrote. “Not that I would ever accept it, but because in doing so they’ve exposed themselves as the worst kind of tabloid.”
With that out of the way, it was time for fun again, but not before we all got to see the barrister’s priceless graduation pic.
When they weren’t busy planning the wedding ceremony, the couple spent the summer doing a couple things, like hitting up Alamuddin’s cousin’s wedding (where she also officiated).
Meanwhile, the world didn’t stop spinning for two of Clooney’s ex-girlfriends: Stacy Keibler welcomed her first child with husband Jared Pobre in August and Elisabetta Canalis had an Italian wedding of her own in mid-September.
As summer inched towards an end, more details started to leak: Ellen Barkin was throwing Alamuddin’s bridal shower and Vogue editor Anna Wintour had scored a spot on the ceremony’s very exclusive guest list.
Most importantly of all, though: The couple filed a legal notice in London declaring their intention to marry in Italy.
The last few weeks have been spent ironing out the details. Alamuddin and her mother were spotted at Alexander McQueen in London and it was revealed that the wedding would take place at the romantic Belmond Hotel Cipriani.
Which brings us to Wednesday, when the bride-to-be was photographed arriving at the airport in Italy.
Let the nuptials commence!