stillmotion

we always want our films to uniquly reflect the couple, and the family, for which it was so carefully put together. that means a lot of time in getting to know each couple beyond their wedding, and the huge bonus is all of the awesome people and great friends we meet along the way. when it comes to destination weddings, it can be somewhat more challenging to got to know a couple at the same level as if they were local. being that we travel so much, we often try to schedule dinners with our couples when we are in the area ahead of time. the night before joyce + raymond’s wedding, we got a chance to go out with jennie + howard, who will be getting married later this year. i learned that jennie writes speeches for some very important people. we also had a great time with a rather unique dinner.

i thought // is this a blog post in the making…

and here is jennie’s version of the story with a couple pics i took during dinner just for fun (hopefully amina doesn’t mind us not photographers posting some still images :)

P.

” … do you know any places that have free range or organic meat options?”

it’s ok i told myself, just breathe, step away from the fresh memory of deep fried oreos and move towards a healthier, more socially responsible place…

after fiercely researching and cross-examining each of the innumerable restaurants on my list, i didn’t think i would have a place to take our SM family. it was utterly hopeless. even in a city like LA, it came down to a choice between two types of restaurants: 1) organic vegetarian or 2) those that served only one organic protein dish, usually served with an ambiguous sauce – a suspicious resemblance of bad wedding food.

but… what was the alternative? could i really take them to a place called ELF cafe? (btw – if there’s someone out there reading this who loves elf cafe in echo park, no offense. it sounds like a real gem — really — i only take issue with the name of the establishment and the fact that their website is a myspace page, but i digress).

then as if to add insult to injury, howard’s instinct to protect the SM talent suddenly kicked in. he pelted me with more considerations (and quite frankly, what i considered to be ‘unwelcomed commentary’ from my other half):

“how could you suggest something like CURRY, of course they wouldn’t eat that before a wedding.. definitely not… too dangerous”
– right okay, doh, my bad

“… and we can’t stay out too late, they need to sleep early…”
– of course, you’ve given them a curfew now, i forgot

“pick a place that’s easy to find and nearby so they don’t have to drive in the rain.. the rain is also dangerous”
— sure, shouldn’t be too difficult considering i haven’t even found one restaurant within 30 miles. let’s shrink that search radius to zero, why not

don’t worry, there’s a happy ending to this story because my frenzy paid off when i finally found a place (with a respectable name). and the food was amazing. and i could breathe again.

we knew that dinner with patrick, casey, and troy was going to be fun from the get-go. but it only got better as i began to recognize the look on patrick’s face whenever an idea entered his mind: brief concentration followed by an ever-so-slight twitch in the smile. it was a signaling mechanism designed to prepare us for the unexpected.

… like when he pulled out his camera on us, paparazzi-style.

… and like the time we were ordering pickled treats, “we’ll take pickled cucumbers and sweet onions, please”
patrick furrowed his eyebrows at the menu, looked up at our server, and asked, “pickled cucumber? isn’t that just a pickle?”
my laughter drowned out the indignant response (complete with a french accent).

… or like the other time when he suggested i write this blog entry. yeah, totally unexpected.

anyways, i know you’re curious, so i thought i’d share the damage:

1 mason jar (with potted berkshire pork);
2 picked vegetables (cucumbers, sweet onions);
2 cows and 1 goat (cheese);
3 sea and 2 land animals (organic and locally sourced, thank you very much);
3 desserts (see the pistachio cake + mint leaf pictured below, yum!)

needless to say, we left full that evening.

good food + friendship = decadence. 3 hours melted away into a happy haze by the end of the evening. but more importantly – it altered, irrevocably, what our new friends will mean to us when this wedding stuff is all said and done.

signing off,
jennie