Wedding season starts in earnest next month and runs from May to September. Wedding website Hitched has surveyed couples getting married this year and found that Thursday 23rd May is the fourth most popular date, because it falls before the May Bank Holiday on 27th May, giving guests four days to recover from the revels.
Online beauty retailer Escentual.com has gone through the history books of famous bridal fragrances and has compiled a list of some of the most celebrated wedding day perfumes, many of which are making a comeback this year.
Princess Diana wore Houbigant Quelques Fleurs Eau de Parfum Spray 30ml £50 at Escentual.com at her wedding to Prince Charles on 29th July 1981.
Audrey Hepburn wore GIVENCHY L’Interdit Eau de Parfum Spray 35ml £44.20 at Escentual.com for her second Marriage on 18th January 1969 to Dr Andrea Dotti.
Adele wore DIOR Hynotic Poison Eau de Parfum Spray 50ml £66.30 @ Escentual.com at her wedding to Simon Konicki 6th May 2018.
Kate Moss wore Serge Lutens Fleur d’Oranger Eau de Parfum Spray 50ml £99 @ Escentual.com when she married Jamie Hince on 1st July 2011.
Escentual.com Campaigns & PR Editor Ceryn Askins said: “We are already starting to see an increase in customer enquiries for “wedding perfume” and last year traffic doubled from April to July for brides and guests looking for the perfect fragrance for the big day.”
This year there has already been a growing interest for classic fragrances like Princess Diana’s wedding fragrance Houbigant Quelque Fleurs as well as Audrey Hepburn’s perfume Givenchy L’Interdit and Kate Moss’ Serge Lutens Fleur d’Oranger has seen such demand that it’s nearly sold out.
“We find that floral fragrances are generally the most popular as a wedding choice and that certainly was the case for the majority of our best-selling famous perfumes.”
Here, we have worked with online retailer Escentual.com to compile a list of the most famous wedding day fragrances below, to assist soon-to-be brides.
Princess Diana – Wedding to Prince Charles on 29th July 1981
Houbigant Quelques Fleurs Eau de Parfum Spray 30ml £50
https://www.escentual.com/pp-4825/
According to Diana’s make-up artist, Barbara Daly, and reported widely, the soon-to-be-princess spilled some Quelques Fleurs perfume on her Emanuel bridal gown on the morning of the wedding. As recounted in Rosalind Coward’s book, Diana: The Portrait, Daly says that to hide the stain, the bride tucked in the front of the dress.
Quelques Fleurs by Houbigant Paris is a vivid scent with a rich history, hardly surprising given the name Quelques Fleurs it is a rich procession of over 300 floral essences. Originally launched in 1912, it was relaunched by request in 1988 for a new generation of appreciative wearers.
Top Notes: Greens, Bergamot, Orange Blossom.
Heart Notes: Rose, Jasmine, Tuberose, Lily-of-the-Valley.
Base Notes: Sandalwood, Oakmoss, Amber, Musk.
Audrey Hepburn – 2nd Marriage 18th January 1969 to Dr Andrea Dotti
GIVENCHY L’Interdit Eau de Parfum Spray 35ml £44.20
https://www.escentual.com/givenchylinterdit016/
For her second turn as a bride, Hepburn wore a long sleeve funnel-necked minidress in pale ballet pink made by her friend Hubert de Givenchy, and the bespoke Givenchy fragrance that had been created for her in 1957.
The fragrance gets its name from Hepburn’s light-hearted rebuke to Givenchy, “Je vous l’interdis” (I forbid you) when he asked if he could commercialise her fragrance. The original L’Interdit was launched in 1957, and was a floral aldehyde, the 2018 reboot is a floral woody composition but both the bottle and the fragrance stay true to the original.
Top Notes: Pear and Bergamot;
Middle Notes: Tuberose, Orange Blossom and Jasmine Sambac;
Base Notes: Patchouli, Vanilla, Ambroxan and Vetiver.
Kate Moss – Married Jamie Hince on 1st July 2011
Serge Lutens Fleur d’Oranger Eau de Parfum Spray 50ml £99
https://www.escentual.com/serge-lutens/sergelutens60/
Kate Moss never revealed what fragrance she wore at her wedding but did divulge in an Evening Standard interview that this Serge Lutens fruity floral was one of her favourite perfumes.
Fleurs d’Oranger is a fragrance for men and women which was launched in 2003.
The heady and sweet scents of orange blossom, white jasmine and tuberose are highlighted with a hint of citrus and enhanced with just the tiniest wisps of warm spice to create a perfume that is ever-changing and with an ultra-complex nature.
Top Notes: Orange blossom, white jasmine, Indian tuberose
Middle Notes: White Rose, citrus peel.
Base Notes: Hibiscus seeds, cumin, nutmeg.
Adele – Married Simon Konicki 6th May 2018
DIOR Hynotic Poison Eau de Parfum Spray 50ml £66.30
https://www.escentual.com/hypnoticpoison005/
Much of Adele’s wedding to Simon Konecki was cloaked in secrecy and no pictures from the nuptials were ever published, the picture above is from Alan Carr’s wedding in January 2018, when Adele got ordained in order to perform the ceremony in her garden in Los Angeles.
One thing that is fairly certain is that Adele wore her favourite fragrance Dior Hypnotic Poison at her wedding, she told 247 magazine in 2011 that it was her go to perfume.
Hypnotic Poison is an amber vanilla fragrance for women which launched in 1998.
Top Notes: Coconut, Plum and Apricot.
Middle Notes: Brazilian Rosewood, Jasmine, Caraway, Tuberose, Rose and Lily-of-the-Valley.
Base Notes: Vanilla, Almond, Sandalwood and Musk.
Princess Elizabeth – Married Philip Mountbatten 20 November 1947
GUERLAIN L’Heure Bleue Eau de Parfum Spray 75ml £81.60
https://www.escentual.com/guerlain16/
Floris London White Rose EdT 50ml £60 at florislondon.com
https://www.florislondon.com/products/white-rose-eau-de-toilette-50ml
The late Queen has never confirmed what her wedding fragrance was but there are two contenders that have been speculated for many years. You Magazine has reported that it’s between Guerlain L’Heure Bleue, a classic amber floral for women first created in 1912, and Floris London White Rose.
Kate Middleton – Married Prince William on 29th April 2011
White Gardenia Petals by Illuminum 100ml £69.95 – illuminumlondon.com
According to What Kate Wore Founder Susan Kelley, The Duchess of Cambridge wore this floral fragrance by boutique British perfumier Illuminum. The fragrance is currently quite hard to get hold of. The Illuminum website is down and the fragrance is in short supply on eBay but can be bought for £69.95 on a handful of vendors.
Top Notes: Bergamot, Lily and Cassis
Middle Notes: Gardenia, Lily-of-the-Valley, Jasmine and Ylang-Ylang
Base Notes: Precious Woods and Amber.
Meghan Markle – Married Prince Harry on 19th May 2018
Bergamotto di Positano Eau de Parfum by Floris London £100 at Selfridges.com
According to Hello magazine Meghan wore a bespoke fragrance by the Queen’s perfumier Floris London which was a variation of their Bergamotto di Positano scent. It’s currently out of stock on the Floris London website but can be purchased at Selfridges. It is a citrus aromatic perfum for men and women that was created in 2015.
Top Notes: Bergamot, Sea Notes and Mandarin Orange
Middle Notes: Vanilla, Green Tea, Orange Blossom and Ginger
Base Notes: Vanilla, Amber, Spices, Woodsy Notes and Ambrette (Musk Mallow).
