On your wedding day it's always all about the bride, but sometimes it's not just about the bride. At Paisley Umbrella some of our wedding experts are about more than just the bride. For instance, our custom parfum creators, BLeND, offer so much more than just custom bridal fragences. They have worked with whole wedding parties to create custom parfums for each bridesmaids and they've even done couple's scents!
We sat down with BLeND's Susan Sexton and Dottie Cesario to discuss their passion for parfum.
Q: How did you begin creating custom fragrances? Tell us about your journey into the world of scent.
Susan Sexton: I began studying aromatherapy in 2000 and I found I had a natural ability for designing green scents. It was an old knowledge that didn't have to be learned, and a true passion. About the same time, I met Dottie, my business partner in Tampa, and we were journeying (literally) in the South of France with our guys. We happened upon a "Make your own Parfum" class at Galimard, the oldest parfumerie in France (1747). We loved it! It was so different. And we became a distributor.
We return to Grasse each year for private study with our "Nose" or "Nez" - an expert in parfum. Perfecting the mysterious art of parfum has made us quite the rage in Atlanta because everyone loves creating their own Celebrity Line of Fragrance.
Q: Why create your own signature line of fragrance?
Dottie Cesario: Because it's about YOU! It's a true luxury experience and something really different to do for yourself, your fiance and your bridal party. Scent is the most powerful of our five senses in helping us recall memory. And isn't that what you want for your wedding day, the ability to recall every special moment? The results are amazing! Since you conspire with us in choosing each note of your parfum, it perfectly suits your own unique chemistry. No one else in the world has your signature fragrance, and it enhances your personal style by creating an individual aura. It's a lot of fun, too. It is..."je ne sais qoi."
Q: Who is the ideal BLeND bride?
DC: She is a leader and a maverick, a confident, creative girl who celebrates her individuality. She's intelligent, curious and fashionable, and likes to make her own personal statement. Let us not forget...sensual: She loves to smell good! Our ideal bride brings in her groom to create a signature couple's scent and shows her love and appreciation by gifting her attendants with a mini parfum session of their own!
Q: Why do people fall in love with BLeND?
DC: It is such a different experience, and it's true French perfume...the GOOD stuff! The story of the flowers and how they give their lives to make perfume is really beautiful and romantic...it echoes the wedding story. Men love it because it gives them an idea for a unique gift that she doesn't already have, or it gets them off the hook! When you give a custom gift you're telling the receiver that they are special. Everybody appreciates it because: You become a celebrity at BLeND when you design your own fragrance.
Q: What is your favorite BLeND scent?
SS: It's called Ayla, and it's a classic, romantic BIG perfume, or floral-floral.At the base it begins with hints of exotic sandalwood and sultry green amber, and it moves on to a classic heart of jasmine-rose (think Chanel #5) and it crescendos with top notes of wild lavender from the South of France. C'est formidable!
Of course, we've recently made some new, sheer modern scents that are challenging the classics!
Paisley Umbrella bride, Avery, married her groom, Jeff, on June 13.
