The special reason you should pick a new perfume for your wedding

Of all the things you need to plan for your wedding day, perfume seems like the last thing on the list. While it certainly shouldn't be at the top of your priorities, you shouldn't ignore it.

The fallback position that a lot of brides opt for is their usual scent, when it comes to wearing perfume on the day. This is totally fine, but there is a very special reason why you should wear a brand new perfume. I spoke to perfume expert Fiona Cooke, from Perfumenotes.ie, who told me that choosing a new perfume has a much longer lasting effect - one that I hadn't thought of. She says:

"As a general rule, go with something new. Scent is connected to your limbic brain, so it creates a 'smell memory' in your brain that can last forever – so that is why you can smell something five months or five years later, and it will immediately give you a jolt of a memory to that time, place or experience. Who doesn’t want that kind of serendipity attached to their most special day?"

She adds that it should then be brought out at special occasions:

"Create a special scent memory by finding a new perfume you love, wear it on that special day, and put it away in a dark box in a cupboard. Every time you take it out (wedding anniversary or a nice occasion), you will be pleasantly surprised at all the memories that come flooding back."

So, this only leaves one question - how do you find a new smell? Fiona says:

"Stick to the same fragrance family to be sure you will like it. Visit a fragrance counter and tell them what you normally like; any fragrance expert worth their salt in one of the big department stores will know if you are inclined towards florals, marine aquatics, woody, gourmand or oriental scents – find a new one that sits in your ‘fragrance family'."

It's something I never thought of before but something I will definitely be doing for my wedding.