Hitched Heroes: Heather Allen + Bernard Hudgens

{2017 Seacoast Hitched Heroes}

Every year, a lucky military couple is selected to be Seacoast Hitched Heroes. Wedding vendors donate their services as a thank you for the military couple’s services.

Heather and Bernard, winner of the 2017 Seacoast Hitched Heroes wedding, met at a military ball in Manchester, NH. They had an instant connection. “The commonality in our lives was undeniable,” Heather says. “We both have two children, we both love the outdoors and the ocean, we love country music… the list goes on and on. I felt like I found my other half.” Bernard, a sergeant in New Hampshire National Guard, joined the army in 2004 and served two tours in Iraq. “The void I didn’t even know existed was filled by this amazing man that I was lucky enough to stumble across one night,” Heather says.

More than 20 area wedding vendors donated their time and services to make Heather and Bernard’s wedding one to remember. The couple, who wrote their own vows, were marred in an intimate ceremony at the Hartley Mason Reserve at the York Harbor Inn in Maine. Heather’s sons, Brady and Colby, walked her down the aisle; Bernard’s daughter, Abby, was a bridesmaid and his son was a groomsman. Everyone enjoyed dinner and dancing afterwards at Foster’s Clambake, also in York. It was, indeed, a special evening.

–Written by Debbie Kane