Your Introduction to The Italian Edit & Destination Event Planning

TO FOLLOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT FROM A RECENT INSTAGRAM LIVE, WHICH YOU CAN WATCH HERE IF PREFERRED.

Hello! I’m Sara Graham - and I created The Italian Edit as a full-scope destination event & travel planning service.

While the business is new, I’m not new to event planning.

One could say that event planning is in my DNA.?

My father and his father were funeral directors, after all.

I’m now based in Spain, but growing up in Bermuda, I started to find my own event planning footing with fashion shows and coordinating proms.

My eyes were open to weddings while at university in Toronto, and discovering celebrity planners like Colin Cowie (who I actually met years later) in InStyle magazine.

I actually had the idea of starting a business with my dad called ’Til Death Do Us Part… Which just sounds like a really bad joke now.

Fresh out of wrapping up my business degree at university, I worked for one of the most prominent event planners in Toronto.

That job was a pretty concentrated on corporate events (read: I got bored quickly) so it wasn’t long before I was looking elsewhere.

Landing a position as a marketing coordinator with a fashion label (who remembers Modrobes?) where I created promotional events, set up shop at music festivals in Canada, and booked the brand at trade shows all over the US.

My next career move was into publishing, where I eventually became editor-in-chief of Canada’s top teen magazine. Managing big budgets and producing cover and fashion shoots, as well as advertorials for major brands like L’Oreal… All mini events within themselves!

I had two stints in publishing - having moved away to start my own fashion label in between. I’m dating myself, but this was all happening pre-Instagram so you won’t find a trace of Sister Underwear there, but it was a well-known brand in Canada.

Sister Underwear’s debut show was the lead story (with photo!) in the Toronto Star’s fashion week coverage. I did everything to build that brand (except sew), which was featured a ton in magazines and sold in boutiques in Canada and the US.

Giving both the fashion industry and publishing about 3 years each, I quit both to take time off (hello, burnout!).

From there I organically moved into communications - producing content for major malls in Ontario, including The Eaton Centre, as well as supporting female entrepreneurs… eventually with full brand & website development.

In 2010, I launched The Travel Presse as a way to document my travel experiences and, by happy accident, it became a popular blog and I was also writing a lot for other online and print publications.

In 2014, wanting to expand beyond travel and into lifestyle content, TTP became Fresh Presse. This was also the year I relocated with my now husband from Toronto to Prague. 16 months later we moved again — this time to Sweden.

During that process, I was inspired to write and self-publish How To Make Big Moves: Relocate Without Losing Your Mind (2016) raising $10k on Kickstarter to finance that project.

Once we moved again — from Italy to Vancouver, Canada in 2019 — I worked with Lulu Publishing to refresh the guidebook and make it available in print as well as ebook format. It’s now widely available through online stores like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

At some point in 2016, I said to my Italian, We’re getting married, right?

In the spring of 2017, Mario and I got engaged and the planning began for our September 2018 wedding in Tuscany! I coordinated every detail — from the venue and decor (contracting a team from Milan to ensure the flowers and perfect atmosphere were created), to the menu and music (crafting a Spotify playlist for dinner and dancing), to contracts and booking hotel rooms and helping guests plan their trips to Europe.

I honestly enjoyed the process…mainly because I had clients, but wasn’t working full-time on my business.

At times, doing the unfun things, I very much wished I had had someone to help me. Especially on the day of as I?found myself worrying about the lighting and timing and so many little things that a planner would have taken care of.

In any case, everything flowed, but it was way too much for me to manage.

So now, with our move back to Europe, I have decided to combine all skillsets and offer full-scope planning for small events and weddings in Italy. Taking the weight away from brides-to-be and those wanting to plan a special event in a special place… So you can concentrate on the fun and not worry about the small, but very important details.

Going hand-in-hand with joining the team at Fora Travel to become a certified agent, so I can also offer honeymoon planning and bookings as well.

NOW FOR SOME …

Destination Wedding Planning Tips

When it comes to a destination event, you likely want to know When, Where and How Much, right?

When? My recommendation is to avoid June, July and August and, instead, consider the cooler temperatures (and costs!) you’ll get in April and May or late September and into October. You’ll also be avoiding those high season crowds.

A simple Save The Date should go out 12 months before so your guests can plan. For my wedding we sent out an email S-T-D 18 months in advance knowing people have kids and need as much notice as possible to plan and budget. Remember it’s not just your wedding they’ll be flying over, but more than likely they’ll want to make it part of their own European tour.

Where? Don’t focus on the most popular places. Italy has so many gems — that won’t cost the earth!?

With my events, we start with the vision and the budget before researching venues. For example, I just met with a young couple living in Prague who want to get married in Italy next year. They know Italy well, and while the bride is not picky on the region, she wants a small chapel for the ceremony and an intimate, secret garden vibe for the dinner. So that really helps me narrow down venues… Maybe Umbria, maybe Tuscany, and I’ll also look at Sicily as the couple have been there and love it.

How Much? Loads of variables on this, so I invite you to follow me on Instagram as I’ll go live on another day to talk budgets. Of course if you want this information asap, please feel free to message me and book a time to talk all things Italy and the event planning process… These are completely free, no obligation consultations. More than happy to chat with you!

Before I wrap it up today, let’s dive into a big trend for 2023.

Dried flowers This one’s for couples with an eye for eco-friendly weddings. Of course no water is required and, not only do dried flowers offer rich colours, they are lighter to transport. Which also means guests can take some of the arrangements home as momentos.

For my wedding we used dried flowers as confetti, which is a brilliant biodegradable way to celebrate and looks great in photos — giving much more texture to your images than rice.

For the weddings I produce, dry or fresh flowers that aren’t scooped up by the guests will be donated to the local hospitals or a charity.

I’ll be discussing hair & makeup trends for 2023 soon with Vancouver-based artist Beatrice Grimoldi soon so please stay tuned to my Instagram profile for that!

In the meantime, learn more about The Italian Edit here.