Brayden Bowers and Christina Mandrell are officially married.
On Tuesday, the 29-year-old actress took to Instagram to announce that she and her Bachelor in Paradise co-star Brayden Bowers had secretly said 'I do' on December 12, 2024.
In a video jointly posted with the official Bachelor Nation account, fans got a behind the scenes look at the lovebirds' big day as Bowers, 36, filmed the blonde walking down the isle to a small gazebo where they exchanged vows.
The pair got engaged live on The Golden Bachelor’s live Golden Wedding special, back in January 2024.
'We just got a marriage license. Nobody knows!' Brayden said in the vlog. 'Nobody knows about this.' To which his bride responded, 'Except for the people driving by when we get married in the gazebo.'
In the sweet clip, fans see Christina eagerly walk herself down the dirt-path isle, where it was also revealed only the officiant, her now husband and her daughter Blakely, 8 — who she shares with ex Blake Dennis — were the only ones in attendance.
The After Darkness star bundled up in a fuzzy white coat while modeling a sexy white bodycon gown with a daring leg slit and cream heels. Her highlighted locks were curled in voluminous, bouncy ringlets that sat above her shoulders.
Brayden looked dapper, in a navy suit and light blue dress shirt paired with brown dress shoes. His long brunette locks and trimmed goatee were on full display as they exchanged nuptials.
Just behind him was his new step-daughter, who was adorably dressed in a brown fur dress.
At the altar, the pair said to one another: '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.'
And as they joined hands, the officiant explained to the TV stars that from that day forward, they were 'holding the hands of your very best friend.'
'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,' she continued.
When declared Mr. and Mrs. Bowers, the newlyweds shared their first dance as husband-and-wife just feet away from the gazebo as Blakely filmed the sweet moment.
The groom said, 'It’s the best wedding ever.'
After the bride shared the YouTube teaser to her page, she also posted a stunning photoshoot of she and her new husband looking loved-up as they cut their wedding cake and exchanged a kiss.
The pink two-tiered cake was adorned with sugar pearls placed in heart shapes and featured five decorative cherry's on top.
In some images, the groom wore a sage green suit while the A Belle for Christmas star repurposed her mother's vintage wedding gown.
She penned in the caption: 'Yes we are ACTUALLY MARRIED! last photo is of my parents wedding because I wore my moms wedding dress for a lot of these photos #novemberrain This was a styled shoot though. Check out my last post if you want to see the actual day of photos taken by Blakely on my phone.'
On Tuesday, the pair appeared together on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast for the first time since exchanging vows, and discussed their elopement as a focus on them as husband-and-wife.
'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,' Christina said.
'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, "OK, it would be less about us." And so, I love the way we did,' she added.
Christina appeared on season 27 of The Bachelor in 2023 and fans met Brayden on season 20 of The Bachelorette that same year.
Christina's wedding announcement was a hit with her 194K followers, racking up thousands of likes and comments from fans who wished the newly weds a loving marriage.
'Congratulations y’all are perfect together! I am obsessed with all of these photos. They are gorgeous wishing you nothing but the best ❤️,' one pan penned.
'The cutest couple to come out of bachelor nation,' another chimed in.
The actress was previously married to her ex-husband Blake Dennis from May 2015 until they called it quits in December of 2020. The exes ultimately divorced in March 2021.
