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Michaela Rahal & Matthew Hatcher
After watching his team participate in a race in Sebring, Florida, in mid March, former Indy 500 champ Bobby Rahal returned to south Florida for a bigger event: the wedding of his oldest daughter, Michaela, to Matthew Hatcher on March 21 in Longboat Key, Florida.
Rahal, an Otterbein graduate and mom to a 5-year-old daughter, Adriana, met Hatcher almost four years ago in Columbus through a mutual friend. The original plan was for Rahal to go out with Hatcher’s friend, and for Hatcher to be paired with Rahal’s friend, who he was casually dating. “I didn’t mean to steal him, I swear,” Rahal jokes. (It should be noted there’s no animosity among the friends.)
The bride says Hatcher proposed at 3 am after “mulling it over all night to make it perfect.” He woke her up and escorted her downstairs, where he had lit candles and sprinkled rose petals. He designed Rahal’s ring with a stone from a ring belonging to her mother. Rahal found her dress at Gabrielé European Bridal & Formal in Westerville, and she says planning a wedding long distance was simplified with help from her wedding planner in Florida.
The couple hosted two rehearsal dinners, and the wedding and reception were held at Longboat Key Club & Resort. “It was supposed to be on the beach, but it rained. I’m talking torrential downpour, hurricane weather,” Rahal explains. But the rain helped Hatcher create a surprise for his bride-to-be. “Matt got up really early and went down to where we were originally going to get married. He drew a huge heart in the sand and wrote ‘I love you’ inside.” Maybe rain isn’t such a bad thing after all. “He loves me on my good days and my bad days. He’s made me see what’s important in life,” says the bride.
The newlyweds live in Pittsburgh, where Rahal is employed as a behavioral therapist and Hatcher works for his father-in-law at Bobby Rahal BMW. They plan to honeymoon in Mexico this November.
