Rory's debutante dress can be seen briefly in the wedding shop.
Luke's ex-girlfriend Anna is played by Sherilyn Fenn, who was originally cast to play Jess' step-mom in his own spin-off series, Windward Circle. The spin-off never went into production and Fenn was re-cast as Luke's former love interest, because creator Amy Sherman-Palladino really wanted to work with her.
When Paris is handing out the new assignments at the Yale Daily News, she mentions a "Russ Tamblyn." Russ Tamblyn is an actor and father of Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel's real life best friend and co-star of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005).
When Paris, now editor of the Yale Daily News, is handing out assignments, a "Russ Tamblyn" gets the Sports beat. Russ Tamblyn is the actor who played Dr. Jacoby in the cult series Twin Peaks (1990). Later in this episode, Luke's old girlfriend Anna Nardini makes her first appearance, played by the actress Sherilyn Fenn, who also had a major role in Twin Peaks. In seasons 2 and 3, another Twin Peaks actor - Mädchen Amick - appeared as Rory's dad Christopher's girlfriend Sherry Tinsdale.
Luke is a Red Sox fan.