The funny thing about a wedding day is how quickly it seems to disappear to time. From the moment you wake, the day, while filled with joy, can feel like it rushed past you and all you wish is to simply relive the moments. Well, what if there was a way? Join Melbourne Wedding & Bride’s Alice O’Brien as she sits down with Ebony Flett, founder of Red Hill Candle Co. & Perfumery, as they discuss the powerful impact of scent infused wedding gifts and experiences.
Despite it feeling like magic, there’s a deep scientific reason why scent can trigger memories you once thought lost. When we inhale, there’s a direct pathway connecting the inhaled scent to the brain’s emotional and memory centers. This phenomenon we experience is known as the Proust Effect, named after Marcel Proust, who had his own childhood memories flood through his mind when he smelt madeleine dipped in tea. The power of scent forms the basis of Ebony Flett’s idea behind Red Hill Candle Co. & Perfumery, which she founded nearly a decade ago in her spare bedroom. Now, the business includes handcrafted candles, perfumes, fragrance workshops, and scent experiences. But at the businesses core is awakening memories, sometimes long buried in the unconsciousness, through scent.
“That’s why fragrance makes such a powerful keepsake as it’s not just an object, it’s a trigger for memory,” Flett exclaims.
“Weddings have become such a beautiful space for what we do, as scent can bottle moments couples never want to forget.”
A wedding day is an experience in life, from the couple standing at the altar, to the maid of honour holding back tears or a guest watching the day unfold, all that people want to do is to remember. Having the chance to light a candle or spray a perfume with a beautiful memory associated has the power to transport you to relive the day.
So, why wouldn’t you want to gift magic?
Image courtesy of Red Hill Candle Co. & Perfumery.
Gifting A Scent
Red Hill Candle Co. & Perfumery has played a role in countless wedding experiences. Two ways in which the business involves wedding day fragrances is by offering personalised perfume gift sets created by the couple for their guests, and an interactive perfume pop-up bar on the day. Flett finds couples love to gift perfume as “it turns a small gift into a lasting memory.” However, Red Hill Candle Co. & Perfumery goes one step further, offering the personalisation of perfume gifting. This includes visible touches, such as custom labels or personal messages printed onto perfume bottles, to more subtle touches through the perfume scent reflecting the location of the wedding, or even a signature fragrance used throughout the ceremony. When it comes to deciding how to personalise a fragrance, the options are as endless as the number of scents which roam the earth.
“Couples choose scents inspired by places meaningful to them, for example a couple … loved having sea salt in their line up as it reminds them of where they met,” Flett says.
Scent personalisation could reflect a vineyard winery wedding, or the sweet smell of pine trees for a seasonal Christmas wedding or a simple honey-based fragrance representing the wedding cake flavour. However, if couples are after a more interactive guest experience, rather than only favor gifting, Red Hill Candle Co. & Perfumery offers wedding day pop-up perfume bars. “A recent couple designed a menu card for their perfume bar with His Scent, Her Scent and Our Scent as fun suggested recipes, but guests can also create their own to take home,” Flett says. Whichever option of scent activity, both allow guests to walk away with a small bottle of memories where the love, happiness and moments are forever savored.
Experiencing A Scent
Red Hill Candle Co. & Perfumery offers candle, perfume and charm jewellery workshops that are all built on the desire to learn; it also adds a little extra something as Flett mentions the workshops are “all about slowing down and creating something meaningful together.” This could be a bridal party pre-wedding experience, offering not only the chance to creatively build something personalised infused with memories, but also the chance to connect with your bridal party before the rush of the big day.
“The biggest takeaway is that everyone leaves with a scent they’ve made themselves, but also with the shared experience,” Flett points out.
This shared activity is unmeasurable in value, because a wedding is not just about love shared between the couple at the altar, but also the guests who are there to celebrate the love shared. Flett has mastered the ability to harness the powerful way scent can entice memories and turn its magic into a rare wedding day gift or activity. We physically can’t go back in time to relive a day, but what we can relive is our memories. Use Flett, use fragrances and use your creativity, as smells can capture emotions in a way words sometimes can’t. It’s one thing to read about memories; it’s another to be transported back into them.
Capture the gift of eternity with Red Hill Candle Co. & Perfumery.