A fresh and new day-of fragrance, not only checks the box for “something new,” it can also serve as a strong reminder of your wedding day down the line.
“We all know the phenomenon; when scent brings a memory back in full out, vivid complexity, it isn’t just an image in your head—you can feel the reality in your entire body,” shares Jacqueline Steele, perfumer and founder of Goest Perfumes, the LA-based brand that’s gained a cult following for its ultra-chic blends and packaging. After studying the perfume industry in France, Steele returned to the States inspired by the “primal signal” scent sparks deep within us.
WHAT ARE “HEART NOTES?” For about the price of a Chanel pouch (starting around $2,000), Steele can create a totally unique scent memory. “If your scent is truly custom, that means that there are no other smells in the world that are exactly the same,” she explains, referencing how a familiar smell like coffee likely doesn’t remind you of a specific place and time, since it’s so widespread. “A custom fragrance is different, especially one for your wedding—you can smell it in 30 years and it will still feel like that day.”
Suggesting a blend that features your “heart notes,” or your ultimate favorites, as well as molecules from fresh cut flowers (a specialty of Goest Perfumes), the process for customization involves an in-person visit to the Los Angeles studio and about two months to complete the recipe. Rather than a questionnaire, the experience is a sniff-test with a series of real odors and fragrances that take the guesswork out of your personal scent interpretation. “It’s actually a ton of fun to do and people often tell me how much they learned and enjoyed it,” says Steele of the process, which can also be mailed out for customers who aren’t based in LA. “People have so many stories while they’re reacting to fragrance, it can be a setting for spontaneous release of memories. ‘This reminds me of my childhood, when my grandfather bought a new car…’”
SCENT TIME CAPSULE As a lasting investment, Steel can even create a “scent time capsule.” After designing a custom fragrance, the team can package a duplicate in an “ultra-neutral archival bottle” that helps the fragrance last for years and years, and suggests storing it in a wine cellar, for instance. “In thirty years, maybe it will be time to open it. For your daughter’s wedding? For your 30th wedding anniversary and renewal of vows? Now that is as close as we can get to time travel on planet Earth, I think.”
READY-TO-WEAR MEMORIES For brides interested in a memory-evoking scent with a more manageable price tag, simply selecting a new fragrance for your wedding day is enough to link it to such a momentous occasion. Another option? Layering. “One of the best ways to create a bespoke scent is layering fragrances,” says Erika Shumate, co-founder of Pinrose’s pop fragrances, who designed a Style Kit for exactly that purpose. “It allows you to experience several feelings at once. The limbic system of the brain houses both memories and smell—the two are tightly linked.”
And with a new wave of multifaceted fragrances cropping up on the ready-to-wear end of the spectrum, like Dior’s cashmere-soft and smokey Thé Cachemire, Creed’s cedarwood and Bulgarian rose-spiked Floralie, and the “electric nectar” scent of Birds in Paradise by Regime des Fleurs, finding an pre-perfected option is just as chic and twice as easy. Wishing for a lighter-than-air option? Dyptique’s fresh-and-spicy Eau Des Sens Hair Mist can be spritzed just onto strands for a breezy waft of its nourishing camelia oil formula.
Whatever your personal preference, use that new and ideally suited aroma on your amazing day, and in the future, you will be able to spray that fragrance and remember in perfect detail, the blissful moment you said "I Do,"
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