Treasure the fragrance
Debra Prinzing
One of the most enduring images of a wedding is that of a bride inhaling the special fragrance of her bouquet. For brides who cherish the scent of a flower as much as its beauty, ribbon-wrapped blooms are a delightful and symbolic way to celebrate marriage. Fragrance creates a sensory experience that will forever frame your wedding memories. In any season, a bounty of scented flowers, herbs and foliage is available to enhance your personal bouquet, each with its own unique aroma. Like taste-testing flavors of the wedding cake or sampling the champagne you’ll use at the reception, it’s a good idea to scent-sample flower choices. Discover what makes you swoon!
FLORAL MEANINGS -- Because fragrance is so personal, it’s also extremely memorable. From early childhood, we associate many experiences with fragrances and aromas. In the nineteenth century, flowers were symbolic, carrying unspoken messages to their recipient (such as heliotrope for “devotion”). The scents helped create remembrances associated with each bouquet. Be it an intoxicating gardenia, or a light, sweet-smelling freesia, the scent “signature” of your wedding flowers can forever after trigger emotions of love, sentiment and passion. Floral, spicy, woody, herbal or fruity, it takes only a hint of a distinct fragrance to transport a woman to the breathtaking moment years earlier when she and her beloved exchanged their vows.
STIRRING MEMORIES -- “A smell can be overwhelmingly nostalgic,” writes naturalist and poet Diane Ackerman in A Natural History of the Senses, “because it triggers powerful images and emotions.” She points out that, unlike the other senses, smell needs no interpreter. Indeed, when choosing the flowers for their wedding, brides often recall special childhood memories, such as a summer spent playing in grandmother’s rose garden or gathering lilacs for girlfriends. Incorporating these scents into a bouquet is one way to recall those charmed experiences. The fragrance of certain flowers can be so special that it influences generations of brides, perhaps inspiring you to select the same intoxicating gardenias that were part of your mother’s 1950s bouquet. Each time you smell that fragrance, it allows you to cherish special family memories.
PERSONALIZE YOUR CHOICE -- Even if you don’t consider yourself sentimental, consider a flower for its distinctive scent, one that complements your own personality. Be sure to wear your chosen wedding fragrance when smelling potential bouquet flowers — you don’t want the flowers to compete with you! Experiment with floral combinations to create a bouquet that, when smelled, can tease the senses. For example, if you want an all-white bouquet, gather gardenias, white lilacs and freesias and Champagne roses. Use the highly fragrant stephanotis as an accent flower. When mingled together, this combination evokes evening in a summer garden. While it depends on the balance of flowers, it’s rare that one scent will overpower other fragrances. Like flowers planted in a mixed garden border, it’s only natural that fragrances blend themselves in a bouquet. But if you have doubts, consult with your floral designer about the right proportions of scented and unscented flowers. If you want one predominant fragrance, such as a peppery-scented freesia, it’s safer to combine it with other fragrance-free blooms.
DEGREE OF FRAGRANCE -- Floral designers will often ask brides about allergies to strong fragrances (see sidebar). For example, tuberoses, gardenias and stephanotis are highly aromatic flower choices. If you’re worried about being overwhelmed, choose lighter scents from heirloom and cottage roses or garden sweet peas. Keep in mind that most flower fragrances are minimal when they are refrigerated. Scents become more apparent when your bouquet reaches room temperature. Many flowers, especially roses used by the floral industry, have been bred for beauty and longevity, losing their distinct aroma. To add fragrance to a bouquet of non-scented flowers, consider using the Virginia rose, a large cream-colored bloom with a soft, floral fragrance.
WHAT ABOUT THE GROOM? -- The groom can also influence your “scent memories.” Ask your fiancé for his floral suggestions, and you may be surprised. He might want to incorporate the special rose from your first date, tucked inside your bouquet for you alone to see — and smell. Make sure his boutonniere is a subtle complement to your bouquet, or pull one or two flowers from your bouquet to create the groom’s boutonniere. It will enhance both of your wedding memories. It only takes one whiff of a delicious scent to recall your wedding, giving you a sensory image that can last forever. Fragrance enhances your wedding, invoking the past and promising future memories.
FRAGRANT FLORAL PRIMER -- Floral designers take their design cues from a bride’s personality or even the style of her dress. A modern and streamlined gown calls for the exotic fragrance of jasmine. A Victorian wedding suggests a cottage garden-scented bouquet. Looking for something fragrant but can’t remember which flower produces the scent? Consider some of the suggested blooms and herbs in the Planning Help Essentials on page 338 along with fragrance descriptions and associations. Remember, choosing a fragrant flower is highly personal. What seems strong and heady to another bride might inspire passion in you!
FRAGRANCE-FREE BOUQUETS -- If allergies are a concern for you, your fiancé, or a close member of the wedding party, you have lots to consider. The good news is that there are many lovely options for decorating the ceremony or reception space, including potted plants, silks or dried floral designs. When it comes to a fragrant-free bouquet, however, ask your floral designer to suggest the most beautiful and feminine unscented flowers available. Take your memories from the bouquet’s floral appearance rather than its fragrance. There is an enormous selection of elegant and graceful orchids, most of which have little or no fragrance. Cattleya, phalaenopsis, cymbidiums and dendrobium orchids will make any bouquet special — without the scent! And take note: A lot of greenery is notorious for bothering sensitive noses, so be sure to also smell-test the foliage when ordering your bouquet.