The Power of Scent & The Invisible Detail: Why Every Celebration Needs a Signature Scent

By Kristin Sullivan, General Manager, The Alice  

When you think back on your most cherished memories, it is often not just the sights and sounds that linger, it is the scent. The smell of your grandmother’s garden roses, sunscreen from a summer vacation or the salt of the ocean air. Scent is deeply tied to emotion and memory, making it one of the most powerful (and overlooked) details you can weave into your unique events.

Couples are increasingly embracing the art of wedding scenting, curating a fragrance story that carries through every part of their celebration. From signature candles that flicker during the ceremony to subtle room diffusers in guest cottages, scent transforms a wedding into a multi-sensory experience. Long after the flowers fade, fragrance keeps the memory alive.

Why Scent Your Wedding & Celebrations? 

Scent has a direct connection to memory, more powerful than sight or sound. Studies show that smell activates the limbic system, the part of the brain linked to emotions and recall. This means when your guests catch the same fragrance years later, they will be transported back to your celebration in an instant.

• Memory Making: Your chosen scent becomes a fragrance heirloom, as meaningful as your photos or your first dance song.
• Atmosphere: Scent can set the tone—fresh citrus for a lively welcome party, soft florals for a romantic ceremony, earthy wood notes for a cozy afterparty.
• Personalization: Just as you select flowers and music, fragrance becomes another way to express your story and style.

Where to Add Scent 

• Welcome Gifts 

Set the tone as soon as guests arrive with a scented welcome. Tuck a mini candle, rollerball perfume, or sachet into gift bags, carrying your signature fragrance into their hotel rooms.

2. Getting Ready Suites 

Brides and grooms often spend hours preparing in their suites. Diffuse calming notes like lavender or chamomile to soothe nerves, or fresh citrus to energize the room. Choose a perfume or cologne to wear for the first time on your wedding day—one that becomes forever tied to “I do.”

3. Ceremony 

Line the aisle with blooms chosen not only for their beauty but also for their aroma. Think garden roses, jasmine, lilac, or eucalyptus. Add lightly scented candles or diffusers near the altar (especially in indoor settings) to create an enveloping, memorable fragrance.

4. Reception Spaces

Carry your fragrance story into the reception with strategically placed candles on tables or reed diffusers near lounges. Opt for lighter scents during dinner (herbal or floral), saving warmer, woodier notes for the dance floor and late-night lounge.

5. Guest Cottages or Hotel Rooms 

For destination weddings or weekend-long celebrations, extend the experience with pillow mists, scented soaps, or essential oil blends placed in guest accommodations. Each night feels like part of the celebration.

6. Paper Goods 

Have invitations, menus, or ceremony programs lightly infused with a signature fragrance. Guests will literally “get a whiff” of your style the moment they open their envelopes.

7. Exit & After-Party 

Send guests home with a favor that continues the memory—like a travel candle, perfume oil, or incense cones in your chosen fragrance. Even months later, lighting that candle will bring them back to your wedding weekend.

Choosing Your Signature Scent 

Selecting a wedding fragrance is a personal and thoughtful process. Consider:

Seasonality: Light florals and citrus for spring/summer, richer woods, and spices for fall/winter.

Venue: A garden wedding calls for different scents than a waterfront marina or ballroom celebration.

Story: Choose notes that reflect your journey, using orange blossoms to honor a proposal in Florida, or lavender to recall summers abroad.

In my role prior to joining The Alice, I spent a significant period of time during the pandemic creating my own signature scents and candle line with the help from a dear friend and colleague in the UK; it was such a unique and fun experience with Helen & Moments Candle Co. These signature scents will soon be available as an option with your events and celebrations at The Alice. Couples can collaborate with fragrance houses to design a custom wedding scent, blending notes that hold personal meaning. This bespoke approach turns your fragrance into a keepsake you can return to on anniversaries.

Beyond the Wedding 

The beauty of scenting your wedding is that it extends far beyond the celebration itself. On anniversaries, lighting the same candle or spritzing the same perfume instantly transports you back to that weekend. It becomes a private, invisible thread woven into your relationship like a sensory time capsule.

A wedding is already a feast for the eyes and ears, but adding fragrance transforms it into something richer, more immersive, and more unforgettable. By thoughtfully scenting your wedding weekend, you are not only elevating the experience for your guests, you are creating a love story that can be revisited, again and again, with a single breath.