The NOYOKE Wedding

The NOYOKE wedding was two weeks ago.

But it’s going to take a lifetime to fully appreciate it all.

It was so:

• Warm.
• Joyous.
• Emotion-filled.

Really, there was just so much love.

This was the goal all along and we knocked it out of the park. You cannot buy what we had.

Now, instead of a prose piece about how wonderful it was, let’s list out some highlights.

Note: We have yet to received any images from our photographer. And, we asked our guests to unplug during the ceremony. So the pictures we have are limited and not the best quality. We’ll probably post a few to our Instagram once we receive. Okay, onward.

13 highlights from Lenny and Shalva’s wedding

1) The weather was perfect. 

Tough to convey via words and images. But we heard it a thousand times.

For an outdoor wedding in early September in Minnesota, the weather could not have been better.

And we did not plan this, but the sun set right as our ceremony began. It was majestic.

2) Shalva was perfect.

I kept telling her she looked like a goddess. She did.

And my only wish for the wedding day was that she was 100% present with me. Just me, just enjoying. She was.

3) The band was incredible. 

Nearly everyone at the wedding told me how great the band was. They were.

Bluewater Kings Band — A regional band co-op. Highly recommended.

4) The venue was incredible.

Shalva found this place on theknot when it was just an artist’s rendering. More than a venue, Leopold’s Mississippi Gardens was like a family who will host your event. For the perfect wedding in Minnesota, check them out.

5) The food was great.

This shouldn’t surprise you. If you’d like to know exactly what we served, leave a comment below. (If I’m going to describe the food, I want to be accurate and complete.)

For a late night snack, we served four flavors of fantastic gourmet popcorn made by our friends who just started Maddy and the Maize.

6) The speeches were touching.

When done right, these are the best part of any wedding. These were.

7) Shalva surprised (and embarrassed) me by Vitamixing my cake.

She brought a Vitamix to the venue and blended my special dairy-free cake in front of everyone. Yes, it happened and I was genuinely surprised and incredibly embarrassed.

Related: We made a smoothie flavored like our (main) wedding cake: Pistachio lavender lemon. You can get the recipe right here. For the record, it’s one of my favorite Vitamix recipes we’ve ever created.

8) I cried a lot.

This concerned our dog Lucy who came to me and rested her snout on my foot. This made me cry more.

9) We did The Hora.

Being lifted in the chairs terrified Shalva. I thought it was really fun.

10) We went to the Twins game the day after.

Shalva had a dog and I had a beer (or three).

11) We went to the MN State Fair the day after that.

There, we ate lots of horrible things.

But the best part was finding our commemorative brick near the grandstand. Amazing wedding gift!

12) We went to Napa the day after that.

There, we drank lots of wine and one of us ate a lot of cheese (not me).

Our first meal was In-n-Out. Three veggie burgers for me.

13) We came home to an avalanche of wedding gifts.

Thankfully, none of them were Vitamixes. 😉

***

If you liked this update, get on our email list right here. We send a new recipe (almost) every Sunday.

More touchy-feely LINY posts to enjoy

1) The NOYOKE Engagement (and how to throw a tailgate) — pictures and fun stuff

2) Q3 2016 Update – the note we left before we left

3) Why I’m 100% dairy free (and not going back)