Beauty Bridal Editorial: Scent

As a bridal writer, I find that nothing embodies "WEDDING" more so than one word: b e a u t i f u l.

When I was a little girl, my mother knew I wanted my ears pierced. For months I had begged and campaigned for pierced ears. All my friends had theirs pierced, and really, to be an '80s Lady', I, too, absolutely needed pierced ears. One busy Saturday afternoon as a reward for my doing well in something, she took me to the biggest, most fabulous department store downtown to pick out earrings for my piercing. Of course, I chose sparkly diamond and sapphire studs. It was springtime, and the store was unusually packed. I remember that as I waited for my ear-piercing extravaganza, nestled in a director's chair at the dazzling cosmetic counter, looking over the rows of colorful testers, I was captivated by a vision at the Estee Lauder counter:   A bride and groom, he in a tux, she in full bridal regalia of gown, veil, exquisite flowers, upswept hair, immaculate complexion, and glowing, all for the debut of Beautiful perfume.

The perfume is now a well-known classic and from its launch has been marketed toward brides. The flowers, the springtime air, the colorful bouquet of glorious flowers, the Paulina Porizkova-esque model, arm-in-arm with her husband—I mean another model—all made for a beguiling spectacle. From that moment I was seduced.

Years, and many studies later, gleaning the strong, residual effects of pheromones, scent-memory, scent-association, arousal, and aromatherapy benefits, for example, perfume remains an important element in everyday lives, nights, occasions, and of course, weddings. For the bride, this is a day that will be remembered, and brides should choose scents that appeal to them, relax them, invigorate them, or other benefits, rather than being seduced by the marketing and promoting of what a bride should look like and for that matter, smell like. Case in point, I never did wear Beautiful because the scent was not as appealing on me as on someone else, nor did it have the ability to transform me into the bride I saw that day, now filed into my memory under "beautiful occasion."

Brides have the option of selecting or trying various scents also marketed to appeal to our senses and our selective memory. Newcomers such as Amarige's Marriage is one such scent, as well as relatively new Ralph Lauren's Romance. Who wouldn't want to be Happy (Clinique) on your wedding day? And what is better than being So Pretty (Cartier), Lovely (Sarah Jessica Parker), adored in J'Adore (Dior), for Eternity (Calvin Klein)?

Whether you are a fan of the scents themselves, or seduced by documented effects of the color, bottle, packaging, print ads, remember there's still the option to go without a scent on your day and bask in the natural floral scent of your flowers.

Pamela Heath

<<Back