Some celebrations are worth crossing an ocean for.
Not every journey needs a group. Sometimes it's just you, your closest people, and a milestone worth marking properly.
I design and host journeys - and every so often, someone comes to me wanting one built entirely around them. A 60th birthday in Tuscany. A 25th anniversary that starts in Paris and ends somewhere neither of you expected. A reunion for a family that hasn't all been in the same country in a decade. You describe the experience you're after. I build everything else.
That's a Private Edition - a celebration and a journey in one, designed around a single occasion and the people who matter to it, anywhere in the world.
The occasions people bring me
Most Private Editions begin with a milestone. A few of the ones I've designed - and the kind I love most:
A landmark birthday - a 50th, 60th, or 70th, spent somewhere that finally feels worthy of it
A milestone anniversary - a 10th, 25th, or 40th, retraced or reinvented
A family reunion - several generations, several time zones, one long table
A retirement or a new chapter - marking the end of one thing and the start of another
A proposal or an elopement - intimate, private, and entirely yours
A celebration of a life well lived - a gathering that honors someone, somewhere that means something
Small, private gathering for a company or founding team - a leadership offsite or a milestone that deserves more than a conference room.
What I handle (which is everything)
Twenty years in the Foreign Service taught me how to make complicated things happen across borders - vendors, protocol, and the quiet logistics that derail a trip when no one's watching them. I bring all of it to your celebration, so you never have to.
That includes:
The full itinerary - where you go, where you stay, how the days are shaped
Every vendor - private chefs, drivers, guides, photographers, florists, musicians - sourced, vetted, and managed
The details that make it feel effortless - welcome dinners, dietary needs, the surprises, the toast under the lights
The logistics of moving your group across a country (or a few) - the part most people dread, handled entirely
A single point of contact - me - from the first conversation to the final goodbye
You show up and celebrate. That's the whole idea.
Why a former diplomat plans it
Planning a celebration abroad is really an exercise in trust. You're handing someone a once-in-a-lifetime moment and asking them to get it right - far from home, often in a language you don't speak. That's precisely the work I did for two decades: getting things done in unfamiliar places, where the details and the relationships both had to be right. A Private Edition is that same discipline, turned toward something joyful.
How it works
Tell me the occasion. The what, the who, and where you're imagining it - even if "where" is still just a feeling.
We shape it together. Dates, group size, and what "a good time" actually means for the people you're bringing.
I design and build it. The itinerary, the vendors, the surprises - the whole thing, start to finish.
You show up and celebrate. I handle the rest, quietly, from beginning to end.
Client Words
“Cynthia thought of everything — from the welcome bags to the final toast under the lights. It was effortless, beautiful, and completely us.”
“Sojourn & Soirée made planning from abroad feel easy. Every detail was exquisite — even the surprises felt intentional.”
Some celebrations are worth crossing an ocean for. If you have one in mind, let's talk.