George & Amal Clooney: A Relationship Timeline In Pictures

After a short courtship that seemed to last quite a while, the hotly anticipated wedding of 53-year-old movie star George Clooney and his lovely bride-to-be, International lawyer and human rights activist Amal Alamuddin, 36, is now just around the corner.


Let's take a look back over the last 12 months and see the twists and turns this whirlwind romance took.

George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin met – reportedly through a mutual friend – at a charity fundraiser. Clooney had just recently broken up with Stacy Keibler in July.

George and Amal are first seen together publicly. They have dinner together in London, however Clooney's rep denies that they are dating.

The couple are seen holding hands at the White House screening of Clooney's movie The Monuments Men.

George and Amal take a romantic trip to the Seychelles, a gorgeous tropical island nation off the coast of Southeast Africa. Soon after that lovey jaunt, the couple flew to Tanzania for a fun wildlife watching safari trip.

Clooney pops the question. According to reports, George made Amal a home-cooked meal and asked her for her hand in marriage during a small, intimate meal at his house.

Amal is seen sporting the insanely expensive engagement ring around town. The ring is reported to have cost over $750,000. It is a 7-carat, emerald cut diamond set in a platinum band.

Amal and George make their first major appearance after the engagement when they attend U2 front man Bono's birthday at a party in Malibu.

George spends time with Amal and her mother Baria at his home on Lake Cuomo, Italy over the weekend. It was around this time that word began to spread that the couple were planning on having their wedding in Italy in September.

Clooney goes to war with Daily Mail. The newspaper published an article online that claimed Amal's mother didn't approve of her daughter's impending marriage due to Clooney's religion. Clooney write an editorial for USA Today refuting the story and claiming the article was entirely "fabricated" and even "dangerous." Daily Mail ended up pulling down the story and halfheartedly apologizing.

George and Amal took the mandatory first steps towards tying the knot by filing for their marriage license. The notice had to, by English law, be posted on a public board on Chelsea Town Hall.

George Clooney's close friend and occasional co-star Brad Pitt marries his long-time partner Angelina Jolie in a secret wedding in France. Clooney later responded to the news, telling ET, " How great is that?!! I'm really happy for Brad and Angie and their whole family."

George and Amal finally make their stunning red carpet debut at the Celebrity Fight Night charity event in Tuscany. Dressed to the nines, George repeatedly professed his love for Amal, and at one point he even took to the stage and toasted, "I met my lovely bride-to-be here in Italy, whom I will be marrying, in a couple of weeks, in Venice, of all places… I would just like to say to my bride-to-be, Amal, that I love you very much and I can't wait to be your husband."

George and Amal wed at a lavish and star-studded ceremony in Italy. (Read all about it here)

George opens up to ET's Nancy O'Dell about why he fell in love with Amal, sharing, "She's an amazing human being. And she's caring. And she also happens to be one of the smartest people I've ever met. And she's got a great sense of humor. There's a number of reasons why."




He also dished on his wife's impeccable fashion sense. "It's amazing, because she's always -- since the day I met her -- she's always had this insanely … fun sense of fashion," he said. "How she does it while she's got 11 cases she's working on, and she was teaching at Columbia, and she's still like, 'I want to wear that dress.' It's crazy. It has been sort of fascinating to watch, because she has such great taste."

George and Amal visit Disneyland for the premiere of his adventure epic, Tomorrowland. The star told ET it was his first time at the iconic theme park in over 30 years, when he came for the premiere of Captain EO in 1985.

George and Amal laugh in the face of the Summer of Heartbreak as they pack on some adorable PDA after a fun date night at the Villa D'Este resort in Como, Italy.

The Associated Press comes under fire for referring to Amal as an "actor's wife," prompting Twitter to respond with a flurry of aggressive reminders that Amal is also a respected and celebrated international human rights attorney. Amal later addressed the blowback in an interview with the BBC, sharing, "When people criticize journalism that focuses on the wrong issues, that's heartening and that shows that people expect more from their press."

The couple make their family a little bigger when they adopt a 4-year-old Basset Hound named Millie, who was rescued by the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society in California.

Amal sits down with Cynthia McFadden on NBC Nightly News for her first U.S. broadcast television interview, opening up about her newfound celebrity status and stars using their fame to support causes they care about.




"I think it's wonderful that celebrities would choose to spend their time or energy or the spotlight they have to raise awareness about these causes," Amal shared. "I don't really see myself in the same way because I'm still doing the same job that I used to do before. If there's more attention paid to that for whatever reason then I think that's good."

George opens up for the first time about how he proposed to Amal while sitting down with Ellen DeGeneres. The actor said that, while he had everything planned out to a tee, the whole thing went off the rails in the most hilarious way, and ended up like something you'd see in a rom-com. Click here to check out the entire adorable story.

George and Amal help campaign for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton by throwing a star-studded fundraiser where tickets were priced at $33,400 per person. Guests included Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, Jane Fonda and Jim Parsons, among many others.

George and Amal get the chance to meet Pope Francis when they travel to the Vatican for an awards ceremony. The cute couple smiled as they shook hands with the religious leader at an event held at the Muro o Un Ponte Seminary at Paul VI Hall.

The Talk's Julie Chen reveals that George and Amal are expecting twins! Chen revealed that the couple are getting ready to welcome their first children in July.

George opens up about becoming a father for the first time while sitting down with French film journalist Laurent Weil on his program Rencontres de Cinema on French TV's Canal+. The Oscar-winner said he and his wife "are really happy and really excited," and that he's looking forward to the "adventure."