A not-so-secret plan to propose. A bilingual wedding ceremony. A truly unique pick-up line?!
You'd be surprised what you don't know about Alec Baldwin's marriage to his wife Hilaria.
Alec Baldwin met his future wife at a New York City eatery called Pure Food and Wine.
Hilaria related to the Daily Mail about how their first encounter went down:
"I had just said to my girlfriends, 'Universe, I'm ready to meet someone and fall in love.'
And my girlfriend whacked me and said, 'Shut up, Alec Baldwin is looking at you!'"
After spotting Hilaria near the door chatting with friends, the actor felt compelled to introduce
himself. She describes him as approaching her, taking her hand in his, and saying,
"I must know you," before offering her his card.
Once home and feeling uncertain about how to respond, Hilaria enlisted a friend to
dial the number, only to have the call go unanswered. In short order, however,
the two connected and ended up going on a first date along with some other friends.
The evening ended with him shaking her hand and telling her that he really wanted to get
to know her. At the time, Hilaria didn't worry much about his celebrity status.
However, she was initially concerned about their 26-year age difference.
During a stint as guest host of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Alec Baldwin took the
opportunity to invite his wife Hilaria Baldwin onto the stage. After introducing her as the
co-host of the "Mom Brain" podcast and "co-host" of his marriage, Hilaria joined him in front of
the audience to share some anecdotes about the beginning of their courtship. She said:
"Do you guys know that he shook my hand for six weeks and didn't kiss me when we met?"
Alec, feigning embarrassment, playfully admonished her:
"You shouldn't tell them that!"
Hilaria went on to describe that he would take her out on dates and talk in great
detail about the future they were going to have and the family they were going to
build together ... only to shake her hand at the end of the evening. He offered an explanation:
"I didn't want you to think that I just wanted to have sex with you."
Whatever his strategy was, it definitely worked.
Even though she knew it was coming, Hilaria was still moved to tears
when Alec got down on one knee to propose. She told Daily Front Row:
"He brought me to Montauk, out by the lighthouse. He's not great at keeping secrets from me, which
is a very good thing. He told me earlier that he was going to propose. We're very organized."
Baldwin told her that he'd chosen the spot because it was the closest he could get her to Spain.
Alec, who had admittedly dated a lot of people after his divorce from Kim Basinger,
told The New York Times that he just hadn't been ready to
take the plunge into marriage again until he met Hilaria.
For her part, Hilaria said that when they met, she knew who he was, but didn't realize
he was that famous. She credits the success of their relationship to her decision to resist
conducting a deep dive on the Internet after meeting him. She told Daily Front Row in 2012:
"It gave us a fair chance together,
and I think it's one of the reasons we're getting married now."
Just three months following Alec's proposal, he and Hilaria wed. On June 30, 2012, they made
their wedding vows in front of friends and family at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York City.
The bride wore a gown by famed wedding dress designer, Amsale. During the ceremony,
she also wore a mantilla-style veil and fanned herself with a flamenco
fan. As for Alec, he wore a Tom Ford tuxedo, according to People.
The nuptials were conducted in both English and Spanish and culminated
in them saying "sí," per the Daily Mail. Hilaria said about the affair:
"I liked that I brought in a bit of my culture."
The wedding was attended by 175 guests, including the groom's famous siblings as well as Tina Fey,
Lorne Michaels, and Woody Allen. The couple's wedding bands feature the inscription "somos
un buen equipo," which translates to "we are a good team" in English.
"Married life is really nice."
Although Alec and Hilaria have a large family, they've also experienced several losses during
their parenthood journey together. In June 2021, Hilaria took to Instagram to reflect on everything
her body had gone through fertility-wise up to that point. In the caption she wrote:
"After 5 babies out of my body,
3 chemical pregnancies, 1 miscarriage at 9 weeks, one at 4 months and a round of ivf,
resulting in Marilu — my body has gone on quite a journey for the family we have."
In an interview with People, Alec spoke about one Hilaria's miscarriages, saying:
"She was very upset for a while, but we knew pretty quickly that it wasn't going well,
you know, heartbeats and then sonograms and things like that."
He also described feeling broken-hearted at the loss but affirmed that they were still
planning on more children. In an Instagram post from August 2021, Hilaria wrote:
"I will always be sad, they still flow from time to time, and I hold
this sadness written permanently in the pages of my life's book.
I also welcome and rejoice in my two rainbow babies, feeling that I am such a lucky mama."
During an interview with People, Alec Baldwin joked that his wife Hilaria was similar to a
car factory, in that she had new models — aka children — coming down the assembly line at a
fairly brisk pace. He also said that they weren't finished growing their family yet.
Hilaria gave birth to the couple's son Edu at the end of 2020 and the family welcomed
María Lucía via surrogate a few months later. Though no specific explanation has
been given as to why they used a surrogate, Hilaria told People that her eldest, Carmen,
had expressed some disappointment about only having brothers.
As of this video, Hilaria is pregnant with her seventh child,
whom they recently announced is a girl, so it looks like Carmen will ultimately
have two baby sisters. Alec recently posted a video on Instagram of María Lucía mugging for
the camera and offered an answer as to why the couple has so many children. The caption read:
"People ask why. This is why. Being a parent is the ultimate journey."
Alec and Hilaria have decided they want to approach things a bit differently
with their seventh child, according to People.
Hilaria took to Instagram to reveal the gender of her baby. The post read:
"It's always been both fun and meaningful for me to find out what is the sex of my baby,
yet, as I grow and learn, I want to do it a bit differently this time around. What will make
our baby a loving, whole person? What matters? What will make them feel seen, free, and proud?"
The 90-second video opens with Alec telling his unborn daughter:
"One characteristic doesn't define you."
Their eldest daughter Carmen follows up with:
"You are a complicated and multi-faceted human."
Several of the younger "Baldwinitos" — as Hilaria refers to her children — successively chime in
to offer advice. In their initial pregnancy announcement on Instagram, Hilaria revealed:
"We were pretty sure our family was complete, and we're beyond happy with this surprise."
You may remember the infamous tweet that started trouble for Hilaria. It read:
"You have to admire Hilaria Baldwin's commitment
to her decade long grift where she impersonates a Spanish person."
The person behind the assertion claimed that she, along with others who had known Hilaria while
growing up in Boston, were incensed that she had been lying about her heritage for so many years.
Alec swiftly came to his wife's defense, even to the point of telling one social
media commenter to, quote, "go f--- yourself". Hilaria, who seemed mystified by the attack,
eventually took to Instagram to apologize, saying, in part:
"The way I've spoken about myself and my deep connection to two cultures could
have been better explained — I should have been more clear and I'm sorry."
Unfortunately, things only got worse for the couple in October 2021,
when Alec was involved in the on-set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
It was Hilaria's turn to be the supportive spouse and she showed up for her husband in
a similar way. In a lengthy birthday tribute to Alec shared on Instagram, Hilaria wrote:
"Dial down the negative noise. It is a distraction from what life is about."
She also assured him that despite everything they had been through,
she would do it many times over.
In the days following the fatal "Rust" set shooting and subsequent death of
cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, Alec Baldwin was predictably hounded by a flurry of reporters and
paparazzi that were eager to speak with him. Apparently worn down by their dogged pursuit,
he attempted to appease them by answering some questions in the middle of the road one afternoon.
Looking worse for the wear, he told the group that he cannot respond to anything specifically
related to the incident because of the ongoing investigation. As he interacts with reporters,
Hilaria Baldwin circles protectively while recording the interaction on her phone.
With emotions running high, Alec admonishes his wife a couple of times during the tense exchange,
but the couple collectively shames the reporter
for momentarily forgetting victim Halyna Hutchins' name.
Alec, who could not find the words to describe what meeting Hutchins' family was like
after the shooting, characterized the accident as having a one in a trillion chance of happening.
In an ABC News interview following the shooting, he told George Stephanopoulos:
"Someone is responsible for what happened and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me."
Alec wrote in an emotional post on Instagram following his rare ABC interview:
"No matter what happens to me. No matter what I suffer. If I win or lose, anything.
Anything. No one can take away from me the joy and love you have given me @hilariabaldwin."
He went on to explain that his wife has "given [him] a reason to live."
The next day, Hilaria Baldwin responded with a supportive post of her own, writing in part:
"'I am here, I love you, and I will take care of you.'
These were the only words that came to me when we learned Halyna had died."
The actor was so distraught after the shooting, he told The Independent:
"I might have killed myself if I thought I was responsible,
and I don't say that lightly [...] I couldn't give a s--- about my career anymore."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts,
please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.