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Ian Balding proposed to Kristi
Woodruff just nine months after
they were introduced. On the
evening before Thanksgiving, the
couple was en route to Bald Head
Island when Ian stopped his boat
as the sun was going down. With
champagne in hand, he caught
Kristi off guard by proposing.
“We met our family at Bald
Head for the holiday and of course
they all knew he was proposing to
me,” Kristi says. “We celebrated
the entire time.”
Planning for the intimate wedding
of 14 began right away. Kristi
and Ian wed on Wrightsville Beach
on April 29, 2011, also the day of
the Royal Wedding.
The bride, who wore orchids
in her hair, walked through sand
dunes to reach her groom. Standing
beneath the arbor he had handcrafted
just for the occasion, the
two became husband and wife.
Kristi’s niece and nephew served
as the flower girl and ring bearer
while the couple’s chocolate lab,
Buxton, made an appearance in the
ceremony as well.
The Balding wedding carried
a tropical theme with steel drum
music by Eduardo Somech and a
sand ceremony to symbolize the
unity Ian and Kristi now share.
The newlyweds spent nine days in
the Bahamas splitting their time
between Harbour Island and the
Staniel Cay Yacht Club in the
Exumas.
“We were blessed by God to
have had such a perfect wedding
and a perfect honeymoon,” Kristi
says.
The couple lives in Wilmington
where Ian continues to make a
name for himself with his custom
surfboard and paddleboard company.
He also spends time working
with his family-owned renovation
business, Balding Brothers. Kristi
currently works with Procter &
Gamble selling top-quality hair
products to local salons. Even as
the two are busy with work, not a
day goes by that they don’t remember
their perfect day and their perfect
wedding.