Nearly six weeks out from my wedding and the beauty prep has begun in earnest. I've had my hair trial, my make-up trial is in the diary, my skin is still glowing from my first pre-wedding facial and I have finally narrowed my bridal manicure options down to just five. Excessive? Perhaps. But as a beauty editor there's a certain level of self-induced pressure to go to town in that department, and as those precious twenty four hours are supposed to whizz by in a flash, I'm determined to enjoy the build-up.
I'm approaching the whole wedding fragrance situation in a similarly OTT manner, in that I plan to pack five for the big weekend. Yes, five. I'll be wearing two for the day itself, layered together - both Jo Malone London icons. Ollie - the groom - and I were lucky enough to be invited to the brand's Sloane Street store and, together with a clued-up Jo Malone London expert, we selected the perfect combination for both of us, even going so far as to have our wedding date and initials engraved on the bottles. See the appointment in action here.
I'm keeping in mind too, that the wedding itself really spans three days. The day before we have the rehearsal, followed by a gathering of friends and family in the evening, and the day after will be spent groggily reminiscing over the evening's events, coffee in hand, as everyone regroups for a late breakfast the next morning.
With scent so inextricably linked to memories, I want to max out on the possibility for nostalgia hits in years to come. I want a misting of Chanel's L'Eaux de Chanel Paris-Paris to give me that 'just married' feeling on our ten year anniversary, a spritz or two of Bamford's Wild Meadow Eau de Parfum to transport me to the Yorkshire countryside I know and love, even if I'm mentally bracing myself for a rainy day in London, and the merest whiff of Jo Malone London's Honey & Davana to give me a movie-style flashback of the big day itself.
Main image credit: Instagram @annievischer
The 5 Perfumes I'm Packing For My Wedding Weekend And Why
Annie Vischer Wedding Perfumes - Grazia 2022
1 of 5Jo Malone London Honeysuckle & Davana Cologne, £110 for 100ml
I was lucky enough to be invited to Jo Malone London's Sloane Square store and book in for their wedding scenting experience. They opened the store early for Ollie and I, which felt very special. There, our Jo Malone London expert set about guiding us through their fragrances, lingering over any that we particularly liked before narrowing the selection down until we'd hit on two each that we could layer on the big day. Mine were Honeysuckle & Davana and the brand's cult classic Wild Bluebell. If you like Jo Malone London's mainstay Orange Blossom Cologne, you'll love Honeysuckle & Davana. It's warm and heady without being overpowering. Adding Wild Bluebell into the mix lends a lightness and brings the luxurious, balmy notes of Honeysuckle & Davana back to the English countryside. I can't wait to mist it on on the morning of my wedding.
2 of 5Chanel Les Eaux de Chanel Paris-Paris Eau de Toilette, £114 for 125ml
I'm reserving this for the day after my wedding. It's a woody, floral scent with a distinct rose skew that's made sparkly by notes of pink peppercorn. The scent is intended to channel all the carefree elegance of a morning spent lounging on a Parisian café terrace, and that's exactly what I want to exude the morning after the night before - all sleepy eyes, tousled hair and lazy smiles. It had me at hello when it launched back in May this year - mere days after my birthday, meant to be? - and I'm already halfway down the bottle.
3 of 5Byredo Blanche Eau de Parfum, £182 for 100ml
This is for the evening before. We're having a gathering in an area of the venue promisingly called The Gin Terrace. A number of family and friends are joining us for wood-fired pizzas, Padrón peppers and presumably gin? My outfit is TBC, but I'm thinking simple, clean lines, you know the drill. I can think of no better perfume to be liberally spritzed over an outfit like that than Byredo's iconic Blanche Eau de Parfum. Ask a famous nose - perfume expert - and they'll tell you it's an aldehyde hit that peters out into a soft rose, sandalwood and musk mix, but to me it smells like diving into a mountain of freshly washed linen. There's something wildly nostalgic about the lungful of laundered cotton you get from this, and it makes sense to wear something soothing at a time I'm likely to be awash with nerves and anticipation.
4 of 5Bamford Wild Meadow Eau de Parfum, £95 for 50ml
This is the perfume I'll be making a grab for the day before my wedding. With notes of sweet honeysuckle, rosemary, citrus and vetiver, it's a scent that evokes springtime in the country. I grew up in the Yorkshire countryside, and it's the location of the wedding too. That heady hit of honeysuckle always signalled the beginning of the warmer seasons when I was younger, and rosemary is one of my favourite smells full stop. It's a fitting perfume for a day that will mostly be spent walking from the chocolate-box-pretty church for the rehearsal, to the idyllic venue and its gardens.
5 of 5Illuminum London White Gardenia Petals Eau de Parfum, £110 for 100ml
One of my favourite scents and the one the Duchess of Cambridge reportedly chose to wear on her own wedding day. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle a number of years ago, just before it quickly sold out mid-Kate-Middleton-fever. Illuminum London took years to re-stock, but the time has come. At first you're hit with notes of cassis, bergamot and lily, the gardenia scent comes afterwards in all its glory. It's a very expensive smelling floral.