Bachelor Nation’s Brayden Bowers and Christina Mandrell Are Married! Inside Their Intimate Elopement

Brayden Bowers and Christina Mandrell have eloped!

The Bachelor Nation couple revealed they secretly tied the knot in Tennessee on Dec. 12, 2024 — almost a year after their surprise proposal on The Golden Bachelor’s live Golden Wedding special in January 2024. Their official wedding video was shared via Bachelor Nation’s YouTube channel on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

"Make sure to grab your tissues 🥹💍," Bachelor Nation captioned a joint Instagram Reel with Mandrell that encouraged fans to watch the video.

The video began with Bowers and Mandrell excitedly preparing for their big day.

“We just got a marriage license. Nobody knows!” Bowers, 26, exclaimed in a selfie video clip with Mandrell, 30, who added, "Engagement was much different. Everybody knew … Nobody knows except for the people driving by when we get married in the gazebo.”

The video then transitioned to their winter nuptials. On the way to the small lakeside gazebo, Mandrell smiled in a form-fitting white dress with a dramatic leg slit and matching white fur coat. She wore her hair down in loose curls, accessorized with an elegant white bow in the back.

The bride held white roses, which she revealed she bought from Target and ripped up for her flower girl, 8-year-old daughter Blakely. Her daughter, whom she shares with ex-husband Blake Dennis, was picked up from school for the big day. Even though she had a tummy ache, she was a "trooper" and was carried "like a taco" by Bowers to the gazebo decorated with green garlands and red bows.

Bowers said "I do" in a navy suit and light blue dress shirt.

During their vows, the couple stated: “As I place this ring on your finger, I give you my promise. From this day forward, I give you all that I am. You’ll never walk alone. I commit my heart and soul to you for all the days of my life."

Being "so excited," Bowers leaned in for a kiss too early. But luckily the groom stopped himself.

"Now that the hand has been presented in marriage, I'd like to take a moment to bless these hands, for it is with the hands that we demonstrate our love for one another. I'm pretty sure one of the first acts of love at the Tenacious D concert was you held her hand," the officiant said, referring to how the bride and groom bonded over the band Tenacious D not long after Mandrell slid into Bowers' DMs.

"You're holding the hands of your very best friend," she continued. "These hands will work alongside yours, building your future. These hands will passionately love you and cherish and will be able to comfort you like no other. … And lastly, these hands, even when they’re wrinkled with age, will still be reaching for yours."

After they sealed their marriage with a kiss, Bowers and Mandrell shared their first dance as husband and wife next to the gazebo.

“It’s the best wedding ever,” Bowers said.

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A few hours after the YouTube video was posted, Mandrell confirmed the union on Instagram, writing, "Yes we are ACTUALLY MARRIED! 💒." She shared wedding photos from a styled shoot, as well as a throwback pic from her parents' big day.

Mandrell was introduced to Bachelor Nation on Zach Shallcross’ season 27 of The Bachelor in 2023 and Bowers on Charity Lawson’s season 20 of The Bachelorette later that year.

While the newlyweds' relationship was not shown on Bachelor in Paradise, their relationship was revealed on the season 9 finale of the reality show in 2023. A month later, Bowers popped the question on air.

"Christina, from the moment that I picked you up from the airport with your crazy ass rose and your fake disguise, I just knew that there was something special and there was something different," Bowers told Mandrell at the time.

Before dropping to one knee and pulling out an engagement ring, he continued: "I just knew that there was something special, and there was something different. And then I got to spend time with you, and I got to spend time with Blakely. I got to spend time and show you and introduce you to my family. And for the first time in my life, I feel like I found someone that I can be myself with unapologetically. And I have no doubts that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Th​​e pair recently opened up about their decision to have an intimate wedding ceremony on Tuesday’s episode of the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast. They wanted the celebration to be centered on them, rather than their guests.

“We want the guest experience, like, if we’re doing something, even if we just have people in town staying with us … we want to make sure our undivided attention is with them, making sure everything’s perfect, the napkins are swans and little things like that, which I know how crazy I get about that, and I know that you’re the same way, too,” Mandrell stated. “And so, we would probably be attending to them. We love doing that, and that’s the thing. It wouldn’t be a chore, but it’s like, ‘Okay, it would be less about us.’ And so, I love the way we did it."

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