On September 27, 2014, Amal Amaluddin, an acclaimed human rights lawyer and activist, married George Clooney in the glittering city of Venice among a star-studded audience of all their closest friends and family. The glamorous affair consisted of an emotion-filled speech from Clooney’s father, a five-course traditional Italian meal and of course, a jaw-dropping and whimsical wedding gown that made everyone’s hearts skip a beat. Follow along for 12 hidden details on Amal Clooney’s wedding dress:
12. Designed in partnership with Oscar De La Renta
Acclaimed fashion designer Oscar De La Renta was the mastermind behind the stunning gown, but definitely took a lot of Amal’s ideas into consideration in the designing process. The duo clicked instantly and became quite fond of one another throughout the multiple fittings. “He is the man every woman wants to hug,” Amal gushed about De La Renta. “George and I wanted a wedding that was romantic and elegant, and I can’t imagine anyone more able than Oscar to capture this mood in a dress,” she explained to Vogue. “Meeting him made the design process all the more magical, as he is so warm and such a gentleman.”
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11. Made with fourteen yards of Chantilly lace
The stunning and luxurious De La Renta gown definitely did not skimp on lace, material, and detail! “The dress is an exquisite mille-feuille of ivory tulle appliquéd with fourteen yards of Chantilly lace, its bodice hand embroidered with beading and crystals,” Vogue disclosed while sharing the details of the stunning gown in their wedding dress exclusive.
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10. De la Renta did not want her to have a dinner veil
On the highly anticipated day, Amal wore a cathedral length gown that extended past the hem of her dress. During the final wedding fitting, De La Renta was asked whether he would recommend the creation of a shorter veil for the reception portion of the event. “No, I think after the wedding you take off the veil altogether; you don’t need it anymore,” he replied. “Once you are married, you are married.” The cathedral gown was covered in the same Chantilly lace as the dress and featured matching beading and crystal embroidery.
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9. Bodice was hand embroidered
The dress was designed by Oscar De La Renta in partnership with head tailor Raffaele Ilardo and the duo definitely took all the stops while designing this extravagant gown. Not only was the dress was a mille-feuille of tulle that was appliqued with fourteen yards of Chantilly lace, but the off the shoulder lace neckline and bodice was covered with intricate beading and crystals and was hand embroidered to ensure ultimate perfection and accuracy.
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8. Her mother wanted to add additional layers of tulle to the skirt
According to Vogue, Amal’s mother welled up when she first saw her step out in the dress at the final fitting. Despite her awe and astonishment of seeing her daughter in a wedding dress, she made a comment about adding more layers of tulle to the dress. Her mother’s desire for additional tulle was denied by the committee who argued that holding the train of the dress might become too difficult if the dress was too heavy and voluminous.
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7. The dress was not pure white
Despite initial speculation that the De La Renta design was pure white, the final fitting and insider scoop from Vogue proved it was not! The gown was actually a subtle shade of ivory rather than a stark white for a softer look. In the exclusive final fitting, the floor was covered with crisp white butcher paper to protect the dress from dragging across the floor. The pure white paper made it clear that the dress was not actually white when compared to each other. De La Renta explained, “Look at the color of the paper on the floor; that color is true white, so you can see the dress is cream.”
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6. The dress was too heavy for her flower girl to carry on her own
Despite Amal’s mother wishing her dress had more tulle layering, the gown was actually too heavy on its own for the 12-year old flower girl to carry by herself! Her niece, 12-year old Mia, was given the role of train shepherd but De La Renta was confident the extravagant dress would need more assistance during the ceremony. “That won’t be enough,” de la Renta explained at the fitting. “You will need a grown-up to help as well—your sister,” he suggested in reference to Tala, Amal’s sister. Tala agreed and took on the task along with her daughter at the ceremony.
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5. Her shoes were hand-embroidered beaded pumps
Not only did Oscar De La Renta design the awe-inspiring gown that Amal wore on the day of her wedding, but he also took on the task of designing her lavish and glittering heels! The amazing stiletto pumps were posted on Twitter and featured a glittering silver texture and featured sparkling floral embellishment of sequins swirling into intricate floral and leaf patterns.
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4. Her wedding ring was ethically mined
As a human rights activist, it comes as no surprise that Amal was proposed to by George Clooney with an ethically mined engagement ring! The dazzling gem is seven-carat, features a classic emerald cut, two tapered baguettes set in platinum and is rumored to have cost Clooney a hefty £450,000. Despite the obvious beauty of the ring, Amal shared she will not be wearing the expensive sparkler to her human rights work in fear that it might detract from the seriousness of her work and appear overly pretentious.
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3. De La Renta designed a second party dress for Amal
It’s a common tendency for a bride to slip into something a little more practical and comfortable following the ceremony on the day of their wedding. Amal Clooney was no different and had a second party dress designed for her to wear during the reception! The silver number featured beading, layers of fringed hem and was taken from the De La Renta 2014 fall collection. The dress was shortened to act as more of a party dress than the original midi-length gown that appeared on the runway. The flapper-inspired dress was the perfect choice for party attire for the Gatzy-themed wedding affair!
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2. The dress was the last wedding gown Oscar designed before his death
The lavish off the shoulder De La Renta original ended up being the last wedding gown the iconic designer Oscar would ever create before his death. Oscar lost his battle with cancer on October 20, 2014, at the age of 82. News of the fashion legend’s death came less than a month after the Clooney’s luxurious nuptials took place in Venice in September 2014.
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1. The dress went on display in Texas three years after the marriage
Three years after the marriage of Amal and George in 2014, the iconic custom De La Renta design was put on display in Texas. Amal donated the treasured design to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston where “The Glamour and Romance of Oscar De La Renta” exhibit was open to the public and was one among almost 70 pieces featured from the late designer’s collection. “We have the great Amal Clooney’s wedding dress, which is the last wedding dress that Oscar designed before he died. It’s on loan from Mrs. Clooney, but we have been very anxious to have that dress for so long. We wanted it [in San Francisco’s 2016 de Young museum retrospective], but Mrs. Clooney reached me through her assistant to say that she felt it was too early to have her dress in an exhibit after she married [George Clooney].”