Bachelor Nation’s Christina Mandrell “had work after” she and Brayden Bowers eloped, making for an extremely low-key wedding day.
Mandrell, 30, explained during the second part of their recent “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast appearance that she and Bowers, 26, had been talking about going to the courthouse on a “cool date.” When December 12, 2024, popped up on the calendar, they decided to go for it.
“We didn’t plan it,” Mandrell said during the episode released on Thursday, January 23. “It was in our heads, but nothing had been done.”
Bowers clarified that he and Mandrell “did the research ahead of time” but understood that it was more of a walk-in situation.
“When we were planning ahead, we looked online,” he said. “Everything we saw said you just come in and you don’t have to schedule an appointment. You sit down, you bring XYZ, sit down at the table and they’ll get you your certificate made out.”
Are Bachelor Nation’s Brayden Bowers and Christina Mandrell Married?
When the day finally came, the couple “walked in” the courthouse and did it.
“We also thought when we were looking up that we could get married at the courthouse, and they would have someone there — like a judge or something — but ours didn’t provide that,” Mandrell added. “We had to go somewhere else.”
Mandrell and Bowers announced on Tuesday, January 21, that they had secretly gotten married last month.
“We just got a marriage license. Nobody knows!” Bowers said in a video uploaded via the Bachelor Nation channel. “Nobody knows about this.”
The couple tied the knot in a small gazebo, and according to Mandrell, the only people who knew about their nuptials were “the people driving by when we get married.”
Mandrell made her Bachelor Nation debut during Zach Shallcross’ season of The Bachelor in 2023, while Bowers appeared on Charity Lawson’s Bachelorette season that same year.
Brayden Bowers and Christina Mandrell’s Relationship Timeline
Bowers later appeared on Bachelor in Paradise season 9, and his relationship with Mandrell was revealed during the December 2023 finale. The following month, Bowers proposed to Mandrell during the Golden Wedding special.
The video of their impromptu wedding ceremony released on Tuesday showed Mandrell — who welcomed daughter Blakely in a previous relationship — and Bowers exchanging their vows.
“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,” the duo said to each other. “I commit my heart and soul to you for all the days of my life.”
