Your Wedding Scentscape: 7 top tips to a planning a memory-making wedding
This
by Jennifer
Cram Brisbane Marriage Celebrant ©
(08/03/2019)Categories: | Wedding Planning |
We recognise this in the importance that is given to still-life photographs including the signature perfurme chosen by the bride, and the cologne or aftershave chosen by the groom (though not so much, the latter).
Science tells us that smells trigger more vivid emotional memories and are better at inducing that feeling of “being brought back in time” than images. Science also tells us that fragrances can have a powerful calming effect.
So it stands to reason that the fragrance of your wedding venue can really make a difference to the whole atmosphere of the day. This means not just choosing a personal fragrance, but planning your wedding scentscape. If you do this well, the scentscape of your wedding will bring back fond memories of your wedding day not just for you, and not just when you use that special (and usually costly) perfume on special occasions, such as your wedding anniversary, when you want to feel reconnected to the love, joy, and excitement you felt on your wedding day, but for you and your guests for the rest of your lives.
What is a scentscape?
Think Scent + Scape (as in
Land + Scape). The scent scape is an
environment redolent with fragrances. At a
wedding this will include the natural
smells of the environment, your wedding
flowers, the
personal fragrance chosen by each of you, and
the aromas of food and wine.
1. Think in terms of a wedding fragrance journey
When you're planning your wedding, you're planning a day that moves from ceremony to party. What scents will match up with each stage of the experience? Zingy, interesting fragrances work well with the reception/party half of the day, but you might want to choose something more symbolic, something softer, for the ceremony. And don't forget lobbies and entrance halls. Walking through a more highly scented entrance before entering a space where the fragrance is more subtle is a great way to signal a change of pace.
2. Start with your venue(s)
3. Build a little list
1. Think in terms of a wedding fragrance journey
When you're planning your wedding, you're planning a day that moves from ceremony to party. What scents will match up with each stage of the experience? Zingy, interesting fragrances work well with the reception/party half of the day, but you might want to choose something more symbolic, something softer, for the ceremony. And don't forget lobbies and entrance halls. Walking through a more highly scented entrance before entering a space where the fragrance is more subtle is a great way to signal a change of pace.
2. Start with your venue(s)
After the date,
the #1 priority for most couples
is choosing the venue, or two, if
you plan to have the ceremony and
the reception in two different
places. There
is a long list of things you should
consider before signing on the dotted
line. And, if at all possible, a
personal visit is a must. But it is
very likely that your visit to venues
will not coincide precisely with the
time of the year and the time of the
day you are planning to have your
ceremony and reception. So you not
only need to bring your sense of smell
with you (and pay attention to it),
but also ask questions such as
to what is planted in
and around the area you'll
be using, whether
what is planted is annual or
perennial, and whether they have plans
to change what is planted. Also ask
what will be in flower when you plan
to be married, and whether those
flowers are scented.
The time of day, as well as the season can make a difference. One of my favourite venues has jasmine prolifically growing over pergolas in the ceremony space. It looks so pretty during the daytime, but it is on summer nights that the full fragrance can be appreciated.
Allow the scents of your venue to guide your wedding style overall. A bush environment, redolent with the scent of eucalyptus, suggests a very different type of style to that of a lavender farm, for example.
The time of day, as well as the season can make a difference. One of my favourite venues has jasmine prolifically growing over pergolas in the ceremony space. It looks so pretty during the daytime, but it is on summer nights that the full fragrance can be appreciated.
Allow the scents of your venue to guide your wedding style overall. A bush environment, redolent with the scent of eucalyptus, suggests a very different type of style to that of a lavender farm, for example.
3. Build a little list
A good preliminary step
is for both of you to write a list of
scents/smells that you really like (and
any that trigger bad or unhappy
memories), to use as a guide.
Including a smell you associate with a
loved one who is no longer with us can be a
lovely, and private way of evoking their
presence on you special day. Including
a smell you associate with your first date,
or the proposal, can add to the romance of
the day.
4. Talk fragrance with your florist
6. Less is more
Even the most beautiful scent can become overpowering. I remember when I was at university, living in college, one of my friends received 144 red roses from the guy she was dating. In a small college room, the scent was unbearable, so they were put out in the corridor and spread around the college to reduce their impact! Advice to use room sprays and scented candles at the reception is common. But when you've taken care to choose a delicious menu, and the chefs have gone all out to produce a beautiful meal, you want your guests to savour the aroma of the food and the wine. So minimise the use of scented candles, for example.
7. Don't ignore ordinary "everyday" smells
Think about your favourite, everyday smells. Mine include the scent of rosemary, the smell of freshly washed sheets, and all of those wonderful citrus smells - orange, lemon, lime. The good news is that these are scents that don't compete big time with other fragrances, and they are all scents that can bring back loving memories on ordinary days, doing ordinary things. Here are some suggestions:
4. Talk fragrance with your florist
Bridal bouquets were
originally all about fragrance - the
fragrance needed to mask unwashed
bodies! So they were highly scented.
While your bouquet and buttonholes
or pocket posies no longer need to
mask other smells, fragrance serves
a powerful purpose. When talking
with your florist about the flowers
in the bouquets and buttonholes,
talking about your preferred
fragrances can help narrow down your
floral choices - and can also be a
great help in sticking to what is
local and what is in season (both
ways of keeping costs down).
Unfortunately, many rose varieties,
for example, bred to be long-lasting
in a vase, have sacrificed perfume.
Talking fragrances can help you have
the flowers you like the look of,
together with a subtle fragrance
that will not only bring back great
memories, it will be a calming
influence on the day.
5. Co-ordinate
5. Co-ordinate
As the marrying
couple, you are going to be side
by side throughout your wedding,
so make sure your signature
fragrances complement one
another. I'm told by fragrance
experts that, while fragrance
choice is a personal thing, brides
are most likely to opt for floral
scents, while grooms will tend to choose
fresh ones. Generally speaking, these
won't clash, but best to check - and not
just by smelling what's in the bottle.
Fragrances react with your personal body
chemistry, so what smells great in the
bottle can smell quite different on your
body. And definitely coordinate bouquet,
buttonholes, and signature fragrances. You're
going for layering, not the wars of
the noses.
6. Less is more
Even the most beautiful scent can become overpowering. I remember when I was at university, living in college, one of my friends received 144 red roses from the guy she was dating. In a small college room, the scent was unbearable, so they were put out in the corridor and spread around the college to reduce their impact! Advice to use room sprays and scented candles at the reception is common. But when you've taken care to choose a delicious menu, and the chefs have gone all out to produce a beautiful meal, you want your guests to savour the aroma of the food and the wine. So minimise the use of scented candles, for example.
7. Don't ignore ordinary "everyday" smells
Think about your favourite, everyday smells. Mine include the scent of rosemary, the smell of freshly washed sheets, and all of those wonderful citrus smells - orange, lemon, lime. The good news is that these are scents that don't compete big time with other fragrances, and they are all scents that can bring back loving memories on ordinary days, doing ordinary things. Here are some suggestions:
- Add fresh rosemary to the rose petals
scattered on the aisle, include rosemary in
your bouquet, the buttonholes, or a pocket
posy for your groom. Rosemary is a
traditional wedding herb signifying happy
memories, loyalty, and faithfulness.
Elizabethan brides carried rosemary to
ensure faithfulness and keep their spouses
from “forgetting” they were married!
Rosemary is cheap and easy to work into
table centrepieces, or to create lavish
garlands.
- Don't go past mint - in Ancient Greece, Athenians wove mint and marigolds, which they believed to be aphrodisiacs, into bridal garlands and wreaths, mint features in quite a few cocktails, and on dinner plates with everything from lamb to salads.
- Orange blossom is the traditional bridal scent - from the days when brides wore wreaths of orange blossom as an emblem of innocence and chastity. But also, because the orange is one of the few plants that blooms and bears fruit at the same time, as a promise of future fertility. Citrus scents in general are fresh, and complement, rather than clash with floral scents and the aromas of food. The possibilities are endless.
- Freshly starched and
ironed linen has its own subtle scent,
that speaks of luxury and fine dining. But
you can also lightly spritz a linen spray
on tablecloths and napkins to link with
your overall scentscape.
- Gum leaves!