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A shot at the bridal big time
In early June, Mike Bachmann and Rachel Bartovich found themselves entrenched in wedding tedium. From their apartment in New York City, they were calling reception halls in Mikešs hometown of Akron, Ohio, and fretting over the finery of the 2002 affair.
On a lark, the couple filled out an online questionnaire for the "Today" show's "'Today' Throws a Wedding" contest. The prize: A free wedding in Rockefeller Center - televised live and planned by online voters who would choose everything from the bride's gown to party favors.
Some 1,200 other couples wanted an all-expenses-paid wedding, too. So imagine Mike and Rachel's surprise when they learned they had made the cut to the final four!
"We didn't think anything was going to come of this," says Mike, BFA '95. "It was exciting to be picked, and we had a lot of fun."
The couple's three-minute video interview aired June 20; excerpts were shown daily the next week. On June 27, the day of the big announcement, they appeared live with the contest's other finalists.
And while they didn't land the wedding windfall, they were buoyed by their Athens connection. As viewers chose the contest winners, e-mails sped among alumni urging support for Mike and Rachel.
"People really came out of the woodwork," Mike says. "A lot of family and friends from OU e-mailed or called me to wish us luck."
But now it's back on task for Mike, an actor, writer and comedian, and Rachel, an administrative assistant for a medical investment research firm. They plan to tie the knot in mid-2002 in the Rubber City, not Rockefeller Center.
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