Finding the Perfect Wedding Fragrance - from Royals to Real People

[ErikaPinrose]

This weekend marked my first wedding anniversary. As Meghan Markle prepares to walk down the royal aisle, I couldn’t help but think about wedding fragrances and their symbolism.

For me, choosing the scent I created and wore for my wedding was a journey. I had a large wedding with lots of great (and sometimes challenging influence) from my family. I was feeling a crazy pressure to match the fragrance to the location to the dress to the nail polish to the season to the vibe….

And then I made the best realization ever (one that I preach everyday as founder of Pinrose), and something I truly needed to hear myself. I realized that the fragrance was FOR ME. No one else would see it! It would be my little secret - my own piece of the day free from judgement - my own little ritual done for myself.

So instead of succumbing to the pressure of matching the fragrance to the fill-in-the-blank- anything wedding related, I thought about how I wanted to feel that day. I knew I didn’t want to feel the pressure or worry. I just wanted to feel effortlessly relaxed, beautiful and serene. One of my favorite moments happens at sunset after a day spent at the beach while on vacation. My body is relaxed, my mind quiet, and my skin is sunkissed and smells like a touch of salt and a bit of coconut. I feel relaxed and serene. Most importantly, I am excited for the night ahead - watching the sunset, spending time with family and friends, and having fun. It is this in-between moment that is the source of my personal joy.  

I used this inspiration for my wedding scent - which I called Sun Saint. And it worked like a charm. I love the personal ritual of applying it; the scent makes me feel more relaxed and at peace, and most importantly it reminds me of the anticipation and excitement of the life ahead of me.

For Ms. Markle, I wish nothing but this sense of peace and excitement in what we all know will be a grand and tradition-filled, structured affair.

If you’re looking for a scent for your wedding or any special moment in your life, I recommend you turn inward and let your emotions guide you. This particular beauty decision is truly for your own self. Smell lives in the same part of the brain as memories and emotions. Fragrances are a direct hit to emotions (there are no “stopping points” on its journey through your brain). Make sure YOU feel good about your choice because there’s no mental reasoning your way around it…

Many people will tell you that a wedding fragrance should be a white floral or should match your decor or flowers at your wedding. But I say, free yourself from the confines of these externals and find what resonates within you and what you want to feel during that moment.

To joy and peace and love and self-care during big life transitions,

Erika

[modernwarpaint]

@ErikaPinrose - agree 100%!  I’m planning my wedding in the next year and definitely want to capture my own essence and mood with fragrance.  I run lights for a local band and the band and We were discussing lights, sound, and production and realized we focus on visual and auditory senses, but wouldn’t it be cool to add olfactory stimulation to the equation?  I’m not sure if essential oils can be placed in fog machines, but it was an idea we will explore.

[blackkitty2014]

Congrat @modernwarpaint!!!!

[pocketvenus]

@modernwarpaint  - Congratulations on your engagement! I would be hesitant to use essential oils in a fog machine... You could try multiple oil diffusers pretty safely. Or if you made a concentrated water based scent, a humidifier could be another option 🙂 Good luck with the wedding planning, I think adding an ambient scent is a lovely idea.

[modernwarpaint]

Thank you @blackkitty2014 & @pocketvenus - you are probably right about the fog machine, but wouldn't that be an interesting concept... maybe I should patent scented fog fluid.  In the meantime, we could do diffusers.

[Lucki1]

@modernwarpaint It reminds me of when hotels have their own fragrance that they pump into the air. There are some interesting articles about it. There’s a hotel in Las Vegas that my husband and I LOVE the fragrance of. Anytime I smell something similar, I’m immediately taken back there. They even sell fragrance sticks of it in one of their shops. It would be neat if you could create your own scent that you could sell so people can recreate the experience of your shows while listening to the band’s music at home.