The Sunday Digest 138
"...and now it's the weekend, roll with me."
Welcome to The Sunday Digest — a free Sunday newsletter featuring long (and some short) reads, original columns, things I’ve saved over the last week, relaxing playlists, episodes releases, exclusive product drops, and more. Yes, you can reply to this email. I’d love to hear from you. Or, if podcasts are more your speed on Sundays, we’ve got that too.
Sunday Read › Italian Destination Weddings Are Having a Moment — Again
by Tammy LaGorce for The New York Times
Without having two friends (or family members) get married in Italy over the last two summers, I’m not sure I would’ve ventured out of the country during those months. But now that I have, I’m so glad I did.
International weddings are a big ask for everyone involved — your time, your wallet, your sanity. But the experiences I’ve had that surround the weddings itself have turned into the most timeless memories I’ve had. Creatively speaking, those trips have done more for me than any other travel I’ve enjoyed over the last few years.
While a portion of this week’s read relates to the Bezos wedding in Venice (which I truly care nothing about), I still think you’ll enjoy. Here’s an excerpt:
Convention Bureau Italia, a private national authority that promotes tourism, documented a double-digit surge in American weddings in 2024, which also recently found that 30 percent of all weddings held in the country are now American. The trend is also supported by data from the Virginia-based travel agency Journeys Inc., whose president, Kim Goldstein, said that Italy consistently ranks among the top five countries for U.S. weddings abroad.
“Since the pandemic, we’ve seen a 10 percent increase in American couples choosing Italy as their destination wedding location,” Ms. Goldstein said.
Though Venice remains a picturesque location for weddings, with more than 600 weddings each year, according to city hall officials, Ms. Giangreco said that she has noticed a shift to other parts of Italy that satisfy American couples’ desire for novelty.
Read in full here.
The Sunday Haiku
Long weekend ahead,
short week on the horizon,
still not enough time.
New Episode › Retail Therapy 116: Lobster Cobbs in The Hamptons
And after a brief paternity leave for Barrett, we’re officially back. We talk $5,000 Hamptons girls weekends, Jeff Bezos and the allure of Italian weddings, my review of Graydon Carter’s book, torpedo sneakers, Drake’s x New Balance, Loewe x Grateful Dead, and more.
Listen to Retail Therapy on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and anywhere else podcasts are found. You can also follow Retail Therapy on Substack.
Things I Saved This Week
My Sunday To-Do List
Mentally pack for the long weekend.
Clean my house so it’s clean when I leave for said long weekend.
Panic about all that I have to fit in over the short week.
Get a sandwich from the deli I’m currently gatekeeping.
Read at least two chapters of the book I started last week.
Catch up on Love Island UK so I can catch up on Love Island USA.
Rest.
I hope you have an incredible Sunday,
Will
“How can I support Sunday Scaries?”
Buy our zine, Scenes of Note.
Listen to Retail Therapy.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Subscribe to all Washed Media Podcasts.
Or, you can simply subscribe here:
This week’s episode was lovely- two peaks:
1. Barrett’s mild crash-out about parenthood had me nodding in solidarity.
2. The stunned silence on Harry Styles’ babygirl status
Thank you!