A Salute to Love

Divina Hernandez and Antonio “Tony” LeBlanc met at the neighborhood bus stop in Massachusetts when they were in the sixth and seventh grades respectively. Tony had been born and raised there, but Divina, a native New Yorker, had just moved to the new state and the new neighborhood with her family. They shared a seat on the bus that day and nearly everyday afterward. It was the beginning of an enchanted true-life tale that will soon have a sponsored storybook wedding to match.

Hernandez and LeBlanc’s coming-of-age love story captured the hearts of the panel of judges that selected the winner of a wedding contest entitled, “A Salute to Love,” which was pulled together by Gary Moulliet and his wife, Charlene, co-owners of Moulliet Productions in Perry. The husband-and-wife team started their wedding consultant business in 2010 once Moulliet retired from the military after 30 years of service (six in the Marines and 24 in the Air Force).

“This is actually the second incarnation of this,” Moulliet said regarding the wedding contest. “We did this about 10 years ago. This one started around midway through last year. We reached out to all military bases, and what we wanted was to sponsor the wedding of a young military couple. We didn’t want to accept any applications from anyone ranking above E-5, so it was E-1 through E-5 only. We selected that range because we felt that was the income level in the military that could most use this. Anyone above that, we felt, made enough money to support their own wedding.”

Moulliet said that fillers were put out and they began taking applications in the forms of videos and essays that explained why the couple thought they’d be the perfect one to win the contest. The contest was open to military couples worldwide.

“There was no requirement for them to live here,” Moulliet said. “They would just have to get here for the wedding. It was just ironic that the soon-to-be groom turned out to be stationed at Robins Air Force Base,” he shared with a chuckle. “There were quite a number of applicants, and we forwarded all those to a panel of people from different walks of life—military, business—both inside and outside the wedding industry. They were to look over the applications and tell us who they thought was the perfect couple. Moulliet Productions wasn’t directly involved in the selection process; we just wanted to be the ones to give this to the couple,” he added. “We were told a winner, and we notified the winners right around the first of October last year.”

Moulliet said that the love story of the selected winners was a standout one for the panel of judges—and it’s no wonder. Many people brag about marrying their high school or college sweetheart, but there isn’t an abundance of stories out there about those who marry their middle school sweetheart—their first and only love. Yet, such is the story of LeBlanc and Hernandez.

“To an extent, I always knew,” Hernandez said when asked at what point she realized that what she had in LeBlanc was far more special than a bus stop buddy. “I have always known that Tony was someone that I wanted to grow up with. In what sense, as a kid, I wasn’t really sure,” she admitted, “but I knew I wanted him around because he was my best friend. My mom will tell you that she called it from the beginning,” Hernandez added with a laugh, “but I don’t think it was until he moved to a different high school that we came to realize that what we had were more than friend feelings.”

Explaining how they ended up at separate schools, LeBlanc said, “I applied to a different high school. I went to a technical high school instead of the city one. My new school was about 20 minutes away from hers.”

Even when attending schools that were miles apart, it was a bus stop that still brought them together every day.

Hernandez said, “I always got home before him after school, so I would walk from my house to his bus stop and meet up with him, and we would walk back to our homes together.”

As they grew up together, the only real time that the two spent apart lasted for less than a year. It was then that LeBlanc spent some time halfway across the country with his dad.

“That was just long enough for us to realize that we were not meant to be apart,” Hernandez said.

With him at one high school and she at another, the two still attended their proms together as a couple. And even when LeBlanc decided to join the Air Force in 2019, it didn’t change a thing. Hernandez knew that she’d wait for him, and LeBlanc knew that he would eventually come back home to her.

“Basic training was the time when we weren’t really able to talk every day because I was so busy with military training and she was in college,” LeBlanc shared. “But from the time I was done with my training and permanently stationed at Robins, we’ve been able to call each other every day—multiple times a day, sometimes. We’ve been able to video chat regularly. I would go home to Massachusetts for Christmas, and she would come and visit a couple of times of year. We just spent as much time with each other as we were able to and kept looking forward to the time when it would no longer be that way.”

That time has finally come. Now ages 20 and 21, the couple became engaged in September of 2019 once LeBlanc was complete with basic training, but they figured it would be three or four years down the road from there before they would be able to get married because of all that it would take to bring together the memorable day that they desired. Then they heard about the contest.

“It was actually through one of my friends at work. He had gotten a notification on his Facebook, and someone had shared a link to it,” LeBlanc mentioned. “He sent it to us because he knew we were engaged and looking to get married. We thought it was going to be one of those things that we would enter and not win. We don’t know anybody who has won contest like these,” he added, laughing. “But we entered it, and they had said they’d be announcing it on a certain date. That date came and went, so we assumed we didn’t win. Then a couple of weeks later, Divina called me while I was at work and said, ‘Oh well, my family is trying to figure out how to get down to Georgia for May.’ And I’m not good on picking up on hints like that, so I was like, ‘Why? We didn’t win.’ And she said, ‘Yes we did!’”

Hernandez shared the moment she got the call about the win. “When I saw Moulliet Productions’ name on my caller ID and answered, I was freaking out; I was just so excited,” she recalled. “I cannot believe how absolutely blessed we are!”

And blessed is the perfect word for it. The LeBlanc/Hernandez wedding is almost 100% sponsored. Everything including the bridal venue, the catering, the bride’s and groom’s cakes, the decorations, the music and DJ, the parents’ attire, the bridal party attire, the groom’s suit—it’s all coming at no cost to the bride and groom; even a custom-made gown for the bride.

“The designer is Justin Alexander,” Hernandez disclosed. “Initially, Bridals by Gilbert was kind enough to offer me $1,000 toward any dress that I wanted, but then they ended up getting this designer who told me that he would just let me pick any dress he had designed. When they took my measurements, he said he’d custom tailor it to my body. The gown is so perfect,” she expressed. “It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of in a gown. There is nothing more that it could be than what it is.”

LeBlanc has not seen his bride’s gown yet, and Hernandez said he won’t … until she walks down the aisle on Sunday, May 30.

“I cannot accurately express my gratitude to everyone who has come forward for Tony and me,” Hernandez said. “I’m so grateful for all the sponsors and for our families who have supported us and are making the trip all the way down to Georgia. We are so blessed and so grateful.”

The complete list of sponsors for The Salute to Love winners are: Moulliet Productions (wedding coordinating and DJ and sound support), Hummingbird Hill Farms (wedding venue), Lisa Mae Cakes (wedding cake), Slice Custom Cakes (groom’s cake), Danielle Rojas Crosby Videographer (videography), Jenny & Ashley Weddings (photography), Creekside Catering (reception caterer – 100 people), Butchershop Catering (rehearsal dinner caterer – 25 people), Bridals by Gilbert (bride’s dress and groomsmen suits), Intensify by Patience (hair and make-up), Luxury Unlimited Limo Service (limo service), Mossy Creek Natural (bridal party gifts), Tony Di Sarli (minister), The Cookie School by Katelyn Doss (cookies), Katie and Brian Wilkerson Vacation Rentals (vacation rental) and Southern Florals & Drapes (florist).

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