Amber Heard Celebrated 30th Birthday Without Johnny Depp Weeks Before Divorce Filing: Inside the Ups and Downs of Their Marriage

In late April, Amber Heard celebrated her birthday at the Parker Palm Springs. Surrounded by a small group of girlfriends, the actress had a “great time” ringing in her 30th birthday poolside. “They looked to be enjoying themselves,” says a source. But notably missing from the fëte was her husband of more than a year, Johnny Depp.

Shrouded in secrecy, the couple’s whirlwind courtship reached a high note when they surprised the world by privately marrying at the actor’s L.A. home. But just as quickly as the couple raced to the altar, so has their marriage ended (PEOPLE confirms Heard filed from divorce from Depp on Monday).

It’s a sudden and surprising end for the couple, who first met on the set of their 2011 movie The Rum Diary. “She was in my head, so I tracked her down,” Depp gushed three months ago at the 31st Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. “We tracked each other down. Actually, incidentally, it was amazing.”

Revealing their engagement in January 2014, the duo legally wed in February the next year before heading to the actor’s private island in the Bahamas for a “casual, romantic and intimate” second wedding celebration a few days later.

At the time, a source told PEOPLE Depp was “madly in love” with his new bride. “She is a free-thinker and an independent woman who makes her own decisions,” said the source. “Her presence has changed his life.”

Last June, Heard (slightly) opened up about her marriage to Depp in a cover interview with Elle, saying “nothing is a dramatic change. We’ve been together for a long time now, so it’s been a fairly organic process.”

In the fall, the newlyweds took their love on the road as they shared kisses on the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival. They also headed to Rio de Janerio in late September to help distribute hundreds of hearing aids with the Starkey Hearing Foundation.

“They were very, very much in love. They’re doing great,” Alice Cooper – who was also on the trip – told PEOPLE afterwards.

In an interview with Marie Claire magazine in November, Heard touched upon rumors she and Depp were going through a rocky period. “I try not to react to the horrible misrepresentation of our lives, but it is strange and hard,” she said.

The actress also opened up about becoming a stepmother to Depp’s two children with his ex Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose, 16, and Jack, 14. “[It’s] an honor and the greatest, most surprising gift I have ever received in my life,” she said.

At the same time, the Pirates of the Caribbean star gushed about his wife at the Los Angeles premiere of her film The Danish Girl, saying he couldn’t pick what he loves most about Heard because she has “far too many amazing qualities.”

“She’s a voracious reader as I have been so we connected on that level as well,” he added. “And she’s kind of brilliant. I’m a lucky man.”

Earlier this year, their marriage continued to appear on track. In January at Stella McCartney’s Autumn 2016 presentation party in L.A., Heard rubbed elbows with guests including Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Hudson and more as Depp rocked out on stage with Marilyn Manson.

And at the Grammy Awards three months ago, the actress hung out backstage with Selena Gomez while supporting her husband’s band The Hollywood Vampires during their performance.

But the relationship may have taken another turn in the spring. Though they made an appearance at a hearing at the Southport Magistrates court in Queensland in April, the duo hasn’t been photographed together for months, aside from their video apology resulting from the actress’ dog smuggling court case (Heard was given a one-month good behavior bond).

Heard also attended the Met Gala in May without Depp, who has also been promoting Alice Through the Looking Glass solo the last few weeks. Taking a breather before the L.A. premiere’s after party on Monday (the same day Heard filed for divorce), Depp was spotted sipping on red wine and digging into steak with Sacha Baron Cohen in the lobby of The Roosevelt Hotel. “He seemed down,” says an onlooker.