Our wedding perfume series continues today with Angela Sanders, a writer at the perfume blog Now Smell This here to guide us.
Previously in the series we’ve gotten suggestions for a desert wedding, but today covers three perfumes for a classic Vegas chapel wedding. Not cheesy or cloying, these are sure to help you remember your day. Intrigued? Read on!
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You’ve watched the Rat Pack movies and scored a vintage Pucci mini-dress. Your best friends are waiting at the airport to fly to Las Vegas. (If only the old Sands were still open!) Sure, you want a wedding full of wit and fun, but that doesn’t mean you want a trashy fragrance. Well, maybe good trashy. Try these:
Neela Vermeire Bombay Bling: If you have the cash to spare, nothing says penthouse party better than Bombay Bling. Yet, the fragrance is complex, crafted from topnotch materials, and created by superstar nose Bertrand Duchaufour. [Read a full review of Bombay Bling]
Rochas Tocade / Prada Candy: Tocade is a confection of rose and vanilla that smells at once simple and inventive and delicious. Your guests, as they lean in to kiss you, will say something about how good you smell—you can count on it. You may have trouble finding Tocade in stores, but it’s a bargain online. Prada Candy steps in to cover the same “classy candy” territory, but not with as much romance. [Read full reviews of Tocade and Prada Candy]
Guerlain Nahéma: Nahéma is a lush—almost psychedelically so—mix of overripe peach and July roses made by one of the most respected perfume houses in the world. You might end up addicted to it. Nahéma has good street cred, too: it’s Shirley Manson’s (of the band Garbage) favorite. [Read a full review of Nahéma]
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You may catch up on all of Angela’s guest posts in the Vegas wedding perfume series.
Angela Sanders has been writing for the popular perfume blog Now Smell This since 2006. The Lanvin Murders, her mystery novel featuring a vintage clothing store owner, will debut in June 2014.
Horror films, zombies and other spooky themes have a way of surfacing on Little Vegas Wedding again and again, and I have no complaints. Today’s post is no exception…I mean, just look at that photo above!
Katherine and Chris are a very intrepid English couple who planned their spontaneous elopement in Las Vegas after their original plans for a more elaborate Vegas wedding did not materialize. It was in every sense a true elopement, as they hit the ground running as soon as they landed in Las Vegas, gathering all the things needed for the wedding including the license, outfits, and choosing a ceremony venue in just 48 hours.
Before the wedding they did a self-guided photo tour of some famous spots including the Valley of Fire and the Las Vegas Arts District. You can see more of their DIY wedding photo tour of here. Post-wedding (a mobile ceremony officiated by Las Vegas Luv Bug Weddings) they celebrated by attending Evil Dead the Musical, choosing to sit in the splatter zone. Read that again: they chose to sit in the splatter zone. In their wedding clothes. Aren’t they awesome? And fun fact: Evil Dead the Musical is now offering wedding packages. Trendsetters, these two!
Why Chris and Katherine Eloped to Las Vegas
We wanted to get married in Vegas because it’s our favourite place to be! Chris had been going to Vegas for many years before I met him and so it was inevitably our first holiday destination together. There’s so much to do and such variety from being on the Strip, or downtown, or out in the desert. Vegas guaranteed us the good weather we couldn’t have in England for an outdoors ceremony. I was also rather looking forward to showing our family and close friends around Vegas so they could hopefully understand why we keep coming back! :o)
When we’d discussed our wedding previously my only requirements were a pretty dress and pretty photos to remember the day. Vegas provided us with a unique opportunity to have photos in lots of really different locations in a single day — I had been researching companies who provide photo tours before we decided to just do it ourselves! :o)
Katherine and Chris’s Advice for Other Vegas Elopements
If you want to get married spur of the moment, Vegas is obviously an easy place to do it. With a couple of days we managed to create a special day for ourselves. David’s Bridal will sell you a dress off the rack, although they didn’t want to believe it was only us and were desperate to sell us a dress with a long train I couldn’t possibly have managed alone!
Don’t be afraid to trust in the kindness of strangers to take your photos! We had some great shots thanks to helpful people. Although we did buy a camera which auto-syncs the photos to my phone at every opportunity just in case someone decided to run off with it! ;o)
The Ceremony — Caesars Palace with Las Vegas Luv Bug Weddings
The evening of October 3rd we headed over to the Marriage License Bureau and filled out the required forms in the pencils provided – I’ve never signed an official looking document in pencil before! There was no queue, so we wandered up to a window, corrected our misunderstanding of their form, and in exchange for $60 we had the legal documentation required – it really is as easy as the movies make out!
We also booked Luv Bug Weddings to perform the ceremony, though we had no idea where! They’re a mobile company who come to you, to any public place, so first thing on Thursday we headed out to scout out locations – it was very early so the neon was still lit :) After a stressful day of visiting pawn shops for rings and wedding clothing shopping, Chris finally found his suit at an outlet mall. We headed over to David’s Bridal as I knew they would sell me a dress I could take away then and there and had the fun experience of trying on dresses in a proper shop!
Ceremony photos courtesy Pam Rowland of Luv Bug Weddings
The Reception — Eiffel Tower Dinner and Evil Dead the Musical
Dinner was actually pre-wedding at Paris Las Vegas’s Eiffel Tower Restaurant with a stunning view of the Bellagio fountains. Post-ceremony, attending a live showing of Evil Dead the Musical.
Was there a stand out moment, memory or challenge that has stayed with you?
The most memorable part of the whole experience was how lovely everyone was when we were in wedding clothes! Random people we passed were congratulating us, complimenting our outfits, offering advice. More importantly for us, strangers were helping us take photos. The kindness of strangers seems to multiply by huge amounts on your wedding day :o) Without their help we would have had far fewer photos to remember the day!
The most challenging part of the day was jetlag! We hadn’t factored that into the timing of the day. We were too excited to sleep much the night before and started the day pretty early. By the time it came to the ceremony we were already very tired and actually fell asleep before the evening entertainment! Thankfully we woke up just in time to get there!
Bonus: The next day, the couple headed out to the desert where they buried their “evidence” (i.e., wedding clothes) in a secret spot, Breaking Bad style. What happens in Las Vegas, stays…well, you know the rest. Congratulations, Katherine and Chris!
Venue and Vendor Details:
Photography: Chris and Katherine / Ceremony Photography: Pam Rowland, Las Vegas Luv Bug Weddings / Show Photos Courtesy: Evil Dead the Musical / Ceremony Venue: Caesars Palace Fountains / Reception Venue: Eiffel Tower Restaurant at Paris Las Vegas / Officiant: Tim Rowland, Las Veags Luv Bug Weddings / Wedding Dress: David’s Bridal / Chris’s Wedding Ring: Rocks the Jewelers at Hard Rock Hotel / Photo Locations: Valley of Fire, Arts District Downtown Las Vegas, Bellagio Fountains, Bellagio Conservatory, Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign
Sometimes wedding planning can spin out of control and you find yourself with a wedding you just didn’t imagine. Erin and Mike originally planned for a wedding in beautiful Sedona, Arizona, but it started to consume their lives, and their bank accounts. So the couple turned to Las Vegas and planned the intimate, fun wedding they truly wanted, in a Bellagio Penthouse Suite. I’m obsessed with Erin’s Vera Wang White gown, which looked incredible in their couples shoot with The R2 Studio at the Neon Boneyard. Total fashion mag material!
Erin + Mike’s Top Tip for Other Vegas Couples
My tip to anyone thinking of getting married in Vegas would be to find the “venue” that fits your personality. We liked the elegance of the Bellagio and they have an unbelievable wedding team that handles every last detail. And the edginess of The Neon Boneyard and Museum matched our personalities! Also, we found their seems to be this negative “stigma” associated with getting married in Vegas and I still can’t figure out why this is. (VEGAS IS AMAZEBALLS!) If you get push-back from friends and/or family, just politely remind them that, this is your day with your soon-to-be spouse and in the end it is all about the two of you.
Why Las Vegas?
We have always LOVED Vegas, it has always been “our getaway city.” We had originally planned this over-the-top, outrageously priced wedding in Sedona, but it became a monster. A very expensive monster, that took over every facet of our lives. So we cancelled all of that and turned to our “getaway city,” VEGAS! We wanted simple, elegant and NO FUSS.
(Okay…are you ready for their first look? It’s kind of amazing… -Kelly)
The Ceremony: Bellagio Penthouse Suite
While we were dating, we’d stayed at many resorts on the strip, but never the Bellagio. We decided if we were going to do Vegas, we wanted the wedding to be in one of the most beautiful resorts. We cut the guest list down to immediate family only and Mike’s best friend/best man. We had already booked The R2 Studio as our photographer, and we couldn’t imagine anyone else capturing our wedding. The Bellagio would only allow their photographer for their chapels, etc; however we could do their “Suite Wedding Package” and R2 could still shoot it. The package came with a smaller suite, but we upgraded to the Penthouse.
Again, “no fuss,” so all I did for “setup” was have the House floral department arrange my bouquet and his boutonniere. The room had a rich dark color scheme and floor to ceiling windows, it spoke for itself. R2 suggested the ceremony be in front of the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Strip, and it worked out perfectly. The suite was so large I was tucked away in the bedroom, while everyone else took their places. My little brother walked me down “the aisle” and we said our own vows in front of our family; it was small, simple and perfect. It was just about us and our love.
Favorite Wedding Memory
There are a lot of great memories that stick out from that day. But one of our favorites was the morning of the wedding. We had room service bring us a great big breakfast. I don’t think we woke up that morning until 10AM! So we sat there in these glorious white robes, with this delicious breakfast spread, in front of a huge window overlooking the Strip, just the two of us. It was romantic, peaceful and relaxing. I loved the tranquility of that moment with my husband-to-be; no chaos…just us.
Post Wedding Vogue Shoot: Neon Museum
Because we weren’t able to shoot any photographs on the resort property, R2 suggested The Neon Museum for pictures. We arranged a limo to take us immediately following the ceremony. Our family hung out for “cocktail hour” while we snapped those amazing pictures amongst iconic Vegas history! When we got back to the suite, Bellagio catered a dinner for us and our family in the Suite. After that, everyone hit the Strip for whatever fun they desired! The next day we all met our guests down in the sportsbook for some betting fun!
Erin + Mike’s Las Vegas Wedding Guestlist and Budget
Just ten guests were invited to this $6000 affair (which included four nights in the Bellagio penthouse, but not photography and gown)
Vendor and Venue Details:
Photographer: The R2 Studio / Ceremony Venue: Bellagio Penthouse Suite / Post-Wedding Bridal Shoot Venue: Neon Boneyard at The Neon Museum / Wedding Dress: White by Vera Wang “VW351011“ Organza Fit and Flare with Flange Skirt in Blush Pink / Hair + Makeup: Allyson Stagg of Las Vegas Style Sirens / Bride’s Shoes: Nine West / Groom’s Suit + Menswear: Jones of New York / Catering: Bellagio / Floral: Bellagio Floral Department / Celebrant: Rev. Jerome G Blankinship / Transport: Bellagio / Corset Alterations: Janet Kirkman Bridal Redesigns (Scottsdale, AZ) / Purse: Charming Charlie / Earrings: Etsy / Gold Ring: Heirloom / Custom Wine Bottle Labels: made by a friend
To me, perfume is about memories, and there are very few days in our lives that are as memorable as a wedding day. So why not enhance those memories by choosing a scent which will trigger a sweet revisitation of your wedding day every time you (or your mate) smells it? You might already have a signature scent, but this is a great occasion to step outside your comfort zone and try something new.
But, where to start? To answer this question I turned to Angela Sanders, a writer at the fabulous Now Smell This perfume blog to assist Little Vegas Wedding readers as they consider wedding day perfumes. Each Wednesday for the next month Angela will be recommending three perfumes for three unique Las Vegas wedding venues, using her expert knowledge in scents. The mini-series will close out with a post of general tips, including where to go perfume shopping in Las Vegas.
Today, Angela’s posts start with what perfume you might wear to a boho wedding in the desert at sunset, surrounded by the warmth of your closest friends.
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Your wedding dress is in the closet and invitations are in the mail. The only question remaining is what perfume to wear.
I believe a fragrance should not only suit the person who wears it, but should complement with the mood of the day. After all, you wouldn’t dab on the same scent to attend the Indy 500 as you would for a Chanel runway show, right? With that in mind, I’ll be sharing three wedding scenarios, each with three perfume possibilities over the next three weeks. Today’s suggestions are for a desert wedding.
For you, your wedding is all about the experience. You want to smell the desert sagebrush at night and stay up late while your fiancé’s best friend, the chef, makes paella on the fire for dinner for your friends who have pitched tents nearby. For your honeymoon, you’re driving a Volkswagen Bus across the Mojave. Here are a few perfumes that will stamp your spirit on the day:
Vero Profumo Rubj Eau de Parfum: Rubj (pronounced “ruby”) features orange flower, but thick and laced with something that hints at a naughty interlude spent in the tent sometime before the wedding bonfire. The daring among you might want to sample Vero Profumo Onda for the honeymoon. [Read full reviews of Rubj and Onda]
Aftelier Sepia: Mandy Aftel, based in Berkeley, makes all of her fragrances from natural materials. She doesn’t chase market share but relies on the originality of her compositions to draw true fans. Sepia was based on her memory of a ghost town—old wood, the desert, an almost sweet and evocative decay. [Read a full review of Sepia]
Guerlain Jicky: Here’s one for both you and your honey. Jicky is bright with lavender, warm with amber, and intriguingly fetid with civet. Remember artist Francis Bacon’s quote, “There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness”? That’s Jicky. [Read a full review of Jicky]
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Be sure to come back next Wednesday to read Angela’s scent suggestions for a classic Vegas chapel wedding!
Angela Sanders has been writing for the popular perfume blog Now Smell This since 2006. The Lanvin Murders, her mystery novel featuring a vintage clothing store owner, will debut in June 2014.
The Golden Girls of Camuto: clockwise from left 1 // 2 // 3 // 4
I don’t normally post giveaways on my site (saving most wedding contests and freebies for Little Vegas Wedding’s sister site, Wedding Day Giveaways, you should follow it!) but I love Vince Camuto shoes, and thought some of you might like to know about their Pair Made in Heaven contest!
Vince Camuto has partnered with The Knot to give away a pair of shoes for the bride, their bridesmaids or groomsmen, issues of The Knot magazine and a bottle of Vince Camuto’s “Femme” fragrance.
To qualify, click the image above or here and follow Vince Camuto on Pinterest and re-pin any images from the Vince Camuto and The Knot page to your own Pinterest board. The lucky winner will be selected at random. Contest closes April 21 2014. Open to residents of the United States, full rules here.
