La Grange · Western Springs · Brookfield · Riverside
A La Grange perfume bar that fits an older house
We bring a fully staffed perfume bar to La Grange homes and venues. Every guest blends a custom fragrance and bottles it to take home — and the whole thing fits a dining room built in 1915.
What is a La Grange perfume bar?
A La Grange 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. A La Grange perfume bar starts at around $500, with no travel fee anywhere in western Cook County. Every fragrance is formulated by trained perfumers in our own Illinois lab.
La Grange homes are mostly older and mostly smaller-roomed than the newer suburbs west of here, and that rules out a surprising number of party vendors.
A separate dining room rather than an open plan. A doorway you cannot get a wide table through. Radiators where you would want to put something. Consequently anything needing a large clear footprint simply does not work.
A perfume bar is compact by design. About 12 x 6 feet is all we use, several stations run without power, and the whole setup is carried in by hand. Therefore a Victorian dining room is a comfortable fit rather than a tight squeeze.
Meanwhile downtown La Grange has private rooms within a short walk for anything larger.
Tell us the room when you enquire.
A quick note about the dining room, the doorway and whether there is a driveway saves the whole conversation on the day.
Start here
Why a La Grange perfume bar suits a smaller room
A station works differently to a seated activity, and that difference matters most in a small room.
Because guests come to the table a few at a time rather than everyone sitting at once, the room never needs enough chairs or enough space for the whole party. Consequently twenty-five people fit comfortably in a room that would seat twelve.
In addition, the footprint is fixed and small. We bring our own tables at the size that suits your room rather than assuming a banquet setup.
Meanwhile nothing is heated, nothing is wet, and the whole thing carries in through a standard doorway.
"In La Grange the question is whether it fits the dining room. It does, because it was never large to begin with."Cheryl Gleason, Owner & Perfumer
Where we set up
Where a La Grange perfume bar sets up
One table is all we need. Meanwhile, we work to whatever your venue requires.
At home
La Grange · La Grange Park · Western Springs · Brookfield
A dining table is ideal, and we bring our own at a size that suits the room. Because most La Grange homes are older, tell us about the doorway, the front steps and whether there is a driveway when you book.
We arrive about an hour early, style the bar completely, and pack out with the room exactly as we found it.
- About 12 x 6 feet, and less if the room needs it
- Carried in by hand through a standard doorway
- Nothing heated, nothing wet, nothing that stains
At a venue
Downtown La Grange · Private rooms · Western Springs venues
Downtown La Grange has private rooms and small venues within a short walk of the station, which suits anything too large for a dining room.
We issue certificates of insurance naming your venue at no charge. Therefore the room and the vendor book at the same pace.
- Certificates of insurance provided free
- No food service, so no F&B minimum applies
- Small enough for rooms a larger vendor cannot use
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 a La Grange 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
La Grange 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. A La Grange dining room at this size is genuinely comfortable, not a squeeze.
One station, two hosts. The most common booking here, and still workable at home because guests come to the table in turns.
Two stations. Usually a downtown room rather than a house. Because one holds guests while the other moves them, nobody queues.
Multi-station, expanded team. Placed across the floor plan with staffing scaled to your run of show.
What should you budget?
La Grange 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 western Cook County. In addition, there are no service fees and no automatic gratuity.
Areas we serve
La Grange perfume bar service area
La Grange and the surrounding western Cook communities, on identical terms.
La Grange & La Grange Park
The village and the park district side. In practice our busiest western Cook pocket after Oak Park.
Western Springs
Directly west and covered identically. Meanwhile the housing stock asks for the same planning.
Brookfield & Riverside
East and covered on the same terms, all inside the no-travel-fee area.
Countryside & Indian Head Park
South, identical pricing and no surcharge.
Hinsdale & Clarendon Hills
West into DuPage, covered on the same terms.
Berwyn & North Riverside
East toward the city, same pricing throughout.
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 La Grange 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
La Grange perfume bar: common questions
How much is a La Grange 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 western Cook County.
Our dining room is small. Will it fit?
Almost certainly. We use about 12 x 6 feet and can work smaller, and we bring tables sized to your room rather than assuming a banquet setup. Therefore a Victorian dining room is a comfortable fit.
How many people fit in an older house?
More than you would expect. Because guests come to the table in turns rather than sitting all at once, twenty-five people work in a room that would seat twelve.
We have a narrow doorway and front steps. Is that a problem?
No. The whole setup is carried in by hand and comes through a standard doorway. Meanwhile a few front steps are fine if you mention them when you book.
Does it need power?
Not necessarily. A standard outlet is ideal, but several stations run without power at all, which helps in a room with radiators and few sockets.
Is it messy? Our floors are original.
No — nothing is heated, nothing is wet and nothing stains. Dry, contained, on a covered surface, and we pack out completely.
Which towns do you serve nearby?
La Grange, La Grange Park, Western Springs, Brookfield, Riverside, Countryside, Indian Head Park, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Berwyn and North Riverside, with no travel fee.
Do you provide a certificate of insurance?
Yes, naming your venue, at no charge. Downtown rooms here usually 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 weekday evenings are much easier to get.
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
We take a limited number of events per date. In practice March through June is the busiest stretch in La Grange, and Saturdays fill furthest ahead. Therefore secure the date before you finalize the rest.