Elmhurst · Villa Park · Lombard · Bensenville
An Elmhurst perfume bar built for the kitchen island
We bring a fully staffed perfume bar to Elmhurst homes and venues. Every guest blends a custom fragrance and bottles it to take home — and the new open-plan kitchens going up all over this town are the best room we work in.
What is an Elmhurst perfume bar?
An Elmhurst perfume bar is a hosted fragrance station brought to your home or venue, where each guest blends a custom eau de parfum from a scent library and bottles it to take home. It runs one to two hours as an open station, so guests take part when they want rather than sitting down together.
Glitters & Grace brings everything — the scent library, equipment, styling and hosts. An Elmhurst perfume bar starts at around $500, with no travel fee anywhere in DuPage County. Every fragrance is formulated by trained perfumers in our own Illinois lab.
Elmhurst has rebuilt a remarkable amount of its housing stock in the last fifteen years, and that has quietly changed what works as a party activity here.
The new builds share a shape: a very large kitchen island, an open sightline to the family room, and nowhere obvious to put a traditional seated activity. Consequently anything that requires everyone facing the same direction struggles.
A perfume bar suits that plan almost perfectly. It sets up on the island, guests circulate rather than sit, and the sightline that makes seated games awkward is exactly what makes a station work — people can see it and drift over.
Meanwhile for the larger events, Wilder Mansion and the park district rooms are minutes away, and we work in all of them.
Shower season starts in March.
Spring is the busiest stretch in Elmhurst, and Saturdays go furthest ahead. Therefore send us the date early and we will hold it while you plan.
Start here
Why an Elmhurst perfume bar works in an open-plan house
Open plan is wonderful for a party and difficult for an activity. There is no separate room to put something in, and anything with a facilitator standing at the front feels like a presentation.
A station solves that because it needs no attention at all. Guests come over when they want and go back to their conversation. Therefore the room never has to be called to order.
In addition, an island is the right height and the right size — about 12 x 6 feet is all we use, and a standard outlet. Because we bring our own coverings, nothing goes directly onto the stone.
Meanwhile if your island is doing food, we bring our own table and set up alongside.
"The kitchen island is the best surface we work on, and Elmhurst is full of them."Cheryl Gleason, Owner & Perfumer
Where we set up
Where an Elmhurst perfume bar sets up
One table is all we need. Meanwhile, we work to whatever your venue requires.
At home
Elmhurst · Villa Park · Lombard · Bensenville · Addison
A kitchen island or dining table is ideal, and we bring our own table if yours is spoken for by food. Because most Elmhurst homes have a driveway and a level entrance, load-in here is among the simplest anywhere we work.
We arrive about an hour early, style the bar completely, and pack out with the surface exactly as we found it.
- About 12 x 6 feet, an island or two tables, and a standard outlet
- Our own coverings, so nothing sits directly on stone
- Setup and full cleanup always included
At a venue
Wilder Mansion · Elmhurst park district rooms · Private venues
Elmhurst has unusually good public event space for a town its size, including Wilder Mansion and the park district rooms, plus private venues along the downtown blocks.
We issue certificates of insurance naming your venue at no charge and work to whatever the rental agreement requires. Therefore the room booking and the vendor booking move together.
- Certificates of insurance provided free
- We work to park district rental requirements
- No food service, so no F&B minimum applies
Booked a venue already?
Send us the address and any vendor requirements. Then we will confirm the load-in and send an itemized quote.
How it runs
How an Elmhurst perfume bar works
Four stages, about ninety minutes end to end. Nothing needs preparing in advance.
We set up
First, we arrive about an hour before you want to start and style the bar completely. Nobody has to be ready when we get there.
Choose a base
Then each guest picks a base style to build on. Signage suggests combinations, so nobody stares at a blank page.
Blend and test
Next, layer from the scent library, testing on paper and adjusting. Two to four minutes each, and guests can return.
Bottle it
Finally, fill and cap your own bottle and take it home the same day. Afterward we pack out completely.
Every perfume made is an eau de parfum at 50–60% fragrance material to perfumer's alcohol. In other words, it is a genuine concentration rather than a scented water, which is why it is still with you at the end of the evening.
Match it to your room
Elmhurst perfume bar sizing, by guest count
Headcount changes the right answer more than budget does. So here is how we would scope it.
One station, one host. An island at this size gives everyone real time at the bar without the room feeling crowded.
One station, two hosts. The most common Elmhurst booking, and the usual size for a shower or a fortieth.
Two stations. Because one holds guests while the other moves them, a mansion room never queues at a single table.
Multi-station, expanded team. Placed across the floor plan with staffing scaled to your run of show.
What should you budget?
Elmhurst perfume bar bookings start at around $500. From there, pricing scales with guest count, station count, staffing and time on site. Meanwhile custom labels and additional branding are itemized separately, so nothing appears as a surprise on the invoice.
There is no travel fee anywhere in DuPage County. In addition, there are no service fees and no automatic gratuity.
Areas we serve
Elmhurst perfume bar service area
Elmhurst and the surrounding DuPage communities, on identical terms.
Elmhurst
The whole city, north and south of the tracks. In practice one of our busiest DuPage bookings.
Villa Park & Lombard
Directly west and covered identically. Meanwhile many hosts book across all three.
Bensenville & Addison
North and covered on the same terms, all inside the no-travel-fee area.
Oakbrook Terrace & Oak Brook
South, with club and hotel options a few minutes away.
Berkeley & Hillside
East into western Cook, identical pricing and no surcharge.
Wood Dale & Itasca
Further north, covered on the same terms.
Why Glitters & Grace
A trained perfumer, not a rented table
Cheryl Gleason has been building perfume bars and formulating fragrance for over a decade. She is a trained perfumer and a cosmetic and skincare formulator. Furthermore, every accord and formula we bring to Elmhurst was composed in her own lab in New Lenox, Illinois.
That matters for practical reasons. For example, a guest will ask what is in the bottle, and our hosts can answer. Someone will mention a sensitivity, and we have full disclosures ready. Finally, the host will ask what happens if everyone arrives at once — and we have already staffed for it.
We work with absolutes, CO2 extracts and essential oils rather than the pre-blended fragrance oils sold for candles and soap. As a result, what your guests make actually wears like a fragrance.
Before you ask
Elmhurst perfume bar: common questions
How much is an Elmhurst perfume bar?
From around $500. Pricing scales with guest count, station count, staffing and time on site. Materials, take-home bottles, hosts, styling, setup and cleanup are included, with no travel fee in DuPage County.
Can you set up on a kitchen island?
Yes, and it is our favourite surface. The height and size are right, and we bring our own coverings so nothing sits directly on the stone. Meanwhile if the island is doing food, we bring a table and set up alongside.
Does it work in an open-plan house?
Better than a seated activity does. Because a station needs no attention, guests drift over and go back to their conversation. Therefore the room never has to be called to order.
Do you work at Wilder Mansion or the park district rooms?
Yes. We issue certificates of insurance naming the venue and work to whatever the rental agreement requires. Consequently the room and the vendor can be booked in parallel.
How much space do you need?
About 12 x 6 feet and a standard outlet. That is an island, or two 6-foot tables which we can bring.
Is it messy? Our counters are new.
No — it is the tidiest thing we do, and nothing goes directly onto your surface. Dry, contained, and covered first.
Which areas do you serve nearby?
Elmhurst, Villa Park, Lombard, Bensenville, Addison, Oakbrook Terrace, Oak Brook, Berkeley, Hillside, Wood Dale and Itasca, with no travel fee.
Do you provide a certificate of insurance?
Yes, naming your venue, at no charge. Park district rentals almost always ask for one, so we issue it as standard.
How far in advance should we book?
Six to eight weeks for most Saturdays, and further for March through June. In practice shower season fills earliest.
What is actually in the perfume?
Absolutes, CO2 extracts and essential oils — the materials of fine fragrance, composed in our own lab. Full ingredient and allergen information is available in advance.
Spring Saturdays go first in Elmhurst
We take a limited number of events per date. In practice March through June is the busiest stretch here, and Wilder Mansion books its own calendar well ahead of that. Therefore secure both together.