When Miss Patty is teaching Rory and Dean how to ballroom dance, Loralei makes the comment that, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." This is a reference to a line said by Patrick Swayze in the movie, Dirty Dancing (1987). Kelly Bishop, who plays Emily Gilmore, played the mother, Marjorie Houseman, in that movie as well.
Emily buys Richard cufflinks with bulldogs on them. This is probably a reference to that Richard went to Yale, whose mascot is the bulldog.
Actress Samantha Shelton plays débutante Libby Doty. In Bridesmaids Revisited (2006) she plays Walker, one of Honor Huntzberger's slutty, drunk bridesmaids.
When her parents are arguing, Lorelei refers to her parents as "Martha and George". This is a reference to the married, bickering couple in Edward Albee's play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf".
Lorelei jokes to Rory that Christopher's new girlfriend is named after a Journey song. In fact, "Oh Sherrie" is a Steve Perry solo song.