"I like it when people say, 'How did it last so long?' I say, 'It's still going."
Updated Mar 04, 2025We Joined Kelsey Anderson's Search for the Perfect Wedding Dress
Get an inside look at 'The Bachelor' star's shopping appointment in New York City—and see if she found "the one."
Photo: Stephanie Stanley
,Salon: Jenny Yoo
,Hair: Joseph Maine,Makeup: Hailey Hoff
She got the final rose. Now, it's time to find the final gown. Ahead of her upcoming wedding to Joey Graziadei, The Knot joined Kelsey Anderson's wedding dress shopping appointment at Jenny Yoo in New York City. The former Bachelor winner arrived—hair in curlers and all—for an intimate experience with The Knot Editors and two of the salon's longtime stylists, Erin Dever and Corinne Grahn.
It wasn't Anderon's first time trying on wedding dresses. Her fiancé, who starred in ABC's hit reality dating series in 2024, set up a surprise shopping appointment with loved ones shortly after he re-proposed on his birthday trip to Cabo San Lucas in May. "He wanted to have dinner before his birthday, just us, because we were with friends. I was like, 'That's weird. Why wouldn't we all go to dinner?' Anderson recalled. Even when she saw rose petals lining the walkway to a table for two set up overlooking the coastline, it took her a moment to catch on. "I still was oblivious he was proposing to me. I saw the rose petals and I started tearing up because I thought he was proposing—but if he wasn't, that would have been embarrassing," she said with a laugh. "Then he got down on one knee, and it was very special. I was surprised."
With her new pear-shaped engagement ring perched on her hand—accented with blue French-tip nails as her "something blue" of the day—Anderson opened up about the vision for their upcoming nuptials. "We're getting married in Louisiana. The vibe is very romantic," she explained. It's a fitting term to describe their wedding considering the non-traditional start to their relationship, which unfolded on national television. And, interestingly enough, it's the same exact word that Graziadei used when teasing his season to The Knot when we caught up with him at the Golden Bachelor Wedding in Palm Springs, California, mere weeks before it aired.
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While the Bachelor couple didn't originally plan to tie the knot in Anderson's home state, one particular venue found them by fate. "I didn't even have [Louisiana] on my list of places to look," Anderson said. "There's one venue that I wanted to see. Immediately, I thought it was so beautiful. It felt different than the other venues I looked at because I'm from there and I felt connected to it. We looked at other venues in California and Georgia, but once we saw the venue in Louisiana we were like, 'Okay, this makes sense.'"
Armed with inspiration, Dever and Grahn pulled three looks to complement the bride's vision for a romantic, Southern aesthetic. See how it unfolded.
Dress One: Parent Trap-Inspired Halter-Neck Gown with Veiled Top Hat
The appointment began as Anderson slipped into an ensemble inspired by The Parent Trap—you know the one. In a scene from Nancy Meyers' 1998 family comedy, Hallie (Lindsay Lohan) watches her mother, a wedding dress designer, style a model in a halter-neck ball gown with white gloves and a veiled top hat to the tune of "Never Let You Go" by Jakaranda. It's a formative pop culture moment for so many women, particularly brides-to-be entering their wedding era now. In fact, when Jenny Yoo revealed the Blake dress with a Eugenia Kim hat during Bridal Fashion Week in April 2025, Dever recalls a collective gasp from the audience. "It was the moment of the show," she said. "The Parent Trap has always been an inspiration for brides, especially the younger millennial bride. Nostalgia is a big part of it. [That dress] was the epitome of traditional bridal, and we got to see it through a young girl's eyes."
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So, while you might not see Anderson in this exact style on her wedding day, it was an essential look to try out. Plus, the gown's voluminous silhouette further confirmed what she learned during her first shopping appointment. "I learned I like fuller skirts," Anderson said while taking in her appearance from the sunsoaked showroom floor. "I thought I would like straight skirts, but I feel so pretty in this." Beyond its nostalgic movie ties, the design also paid homage to many dresses Anderson wore as a child, too. "Growing up, my mom always put petticoats under all of our dresses, and I loved wearing my petticoat," she said. "It's very Southern."
Dress Two: Trend-Forward Drop-Waist A-Line with Neck Scarf
With the top hat placed back on its display table, Anderson changed into her next look: the Brooks gown, a strapless A-line design with an airy tulle drop-waist skirt. Dever and Grahn leveled up the look with an of-the-moment neck scarf, which is one of the biggest wedding dress trends The Knot Editors spotted at Bridal Fashion Week this spring. "It's so beautiful, and it feels really comfortable too," Anderson said while twirling around the showroom. "It feels so light—I could break it down on the dance floor. And I love the scarf with it."
While she tried a few drop-waist styles at her first appointment, she didn't love the silhouette as much as she thought she would. But still, that didn't deter the stylists from having her wear just one more. "[This job] is about being able to know everything within your collection like the back of your hand," Grahn explained. "We'll pull styles that we call a 'stylist wildcard.' It's what your client might not think looks as good on the hanger, but is worth giving a try because it could feel good on. Even if it's not a style they're going to love, sometimes it'll help guide them to the style they're going to like."
Dress Three: Convertible Off-the-Shoulder Ball Gown
For the last look, Dever and Grahn helped Anderson into Elle, an elegant off-the-shoulder Italian taffeta ball gown with a Basque waist and—surprise!—a removable skirt. With her hair twisted into an elegant updo, Anderson's aura instantly exuded old Hollywood glamour. But while she loved the draped effect, there was one minor problem with the neckline. "I love the open neck, but I feel like I can't put my arms up. It looks so pretty, but I want to be able to fist bump," she said, imitating the move. "I'm always dancing at a wedding."
With each style, there was one telltale sign that everyone was on the lookout for: the "bridal jig," as Dever calls it. It's a universal dance that inherently signals a client has found the dress of their dreams. "It happens with every bride," she explained. "The minute they start dancing you're like, 'That's their dress.'"
While we won't yet reveal if Anderson did find the gown during our shopping appointment, she did walk away with even more clarity on how she wants to feel on her wedding day. "I want to feel like myself—and I want to feel beautiful," she reflected as the appointment came to an end. "And because of our venue, I want to feel very romantic." And, unsurprisingly, she enjoyed yet another pivotal moment in her bridal era: "It's fun trying on dresses and feeling like a princess!"
