Milwaukee · Waukesha · Ozaukee · The Lake Geneva corridor
A Milwaukee perfume bar, for the six months you're indoors
We bring a fully staffed perfume bar to your home or venue anywhere in greater Milwaukee. Every guest blends a custom fragrance and bottles it to take home. No travel fee, and no need to wait for June.
What is a Milwaukee perfume bar?
A Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee perfume bar starts at around $500 and there is no travel fee anywhere in the metro or along the Illinois–Wisconsin corridor. Every fragrance is formulated by trained perfumers in our own lab.
Milwaukee's event calendar has a shape that nowhere else we work quite shares. Roughly six months of the year, everything happens outside — and the other six, everyone is looking for something to do indoors that is not another bar.
That second half is where a perfume bar earns its place. Because it is entirely indoor, entirely seated and needs nothing more than a table, February is as workable as July.
Meanwhile the summer problem is the opposite one. Between Summerfest, the State Fair and a compressed wedding season, good dates go early and everyone is competing for the same weekends. Consequently we book Milwaukee Saturdays further ahead than any other market we serve.
In short, the question here is less whether and more when. Send us a date and we will tell you honestly what is left.
Summer Saturdays go first.
May through September fills months ahead in Milwaukee. However, winter dates are usually available with far shorter notice.
Start here
Why a Milwaukee perfume bar suits the indoor half of the year
Every market has a winter. Milwaukee's is longer, and it changes what a host needs from an activity.
A perfume bar is dry, contained and needs no power at most setups. Therefore it works in a Shorewood dining room, a Third Ward loft or a Brookfield clubhouse without anyone rearranging anything. In addition, nothing about it depends on the weather or on getting people outside.
It also solves the guest-list problem that Milwaukee gatherings tend to have. Because family here often spans three generations in one room, an activity that works for a grandmother and a twenty-five-year-old is unusually useful. For example, the older guests reliably take longer over it than the younger ones.
Finally, everyone leaves with something. As a result, it replaces the favor budget at the same time.
"In Milwaukee, half the year the best thing you can offer people is a reason to stay at the table."Cheryl Gleason, Owner & Perfumer
Where we set up
Where a Milwaukee perfume bar sets up
One table is all we need. Meanwhile, we work to whatever your venue requires.
At home
Shorewood · Whitefish Bay · Wauwatosa · Bay View · Mequon
A dining table or kitchen island is enough, and we bring our own table if yours is spoken for. Because the older housing stock here often has a step or two at the door, tell us about the approach when you book and we will plan the load-in.
We arrive about an hour early, style the bar completely, and pack out with the table as we found it. Consequently the host does nothing except point us at a surface.
- About 12 x 6 feet, two 6-foot tables and a standard outlet
- Setup and full cleanup always included
- No travel fee anywhere in the metro
At a venue
Third Ward · Downtown hotels · Waukesha and Ozaukee clubs
Milwaukee has an unusual density of characterful event space — converted warehouses in the Historic Third Ward, downtown hotel function rooms, and member clubs through Waukesha and Ozaukee counties.
We issue certificates of insurance naming your venue at no charge, and we coordinate load-in windows and dock access directly with their team. Therefore you are not relaying messages between us.
- Certificates of insurance provided free
- We work directly with your planner or venue coordinator
- Several stations run without power at all
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 Milwaukee 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
Milwaukee perfume bar sizing, by guest count
Headcount changes the right answer more than budget does. So here is how we would scope a Milwaukee booking.
One station, one host. Everyone gets real time at the bar. For instance, a Shorewood dining room or a small private dining room works perfectly at this size.
One station, two hosts. The most common Milwaukee booking. Meanwhile the line keeps moving and nobody waits more than a few minutes.
Two stations. Because one holds guests while the other moves them, the room never bottlenecks. Consequently this is what we recommend for a Third Ward loft event.
Multi-station, expanded team. Placed deliberately across the floor plan with staffing scaled to your run of show. Therefore traffic spreads rather than queues.
What should you budget?
Milwaukee 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 greater Milwaukee or along the Illinois–Wisconsin corridor. In addition, there are no service fees and no automatic gratuity.
Areas we serve
Milwaukee perfume bar service area
Milwaukee County and out through Waukesha, Ozaukee, Racine and the Lake Geneva corridor.
East Side & North Shore
Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Fox Point, Bayside and Glendale. Older homes, and often a step or two at the door.
Downtown & Third Ward
Converted lofts, hotel function rooms and gallery space. Consequently we plan around dock access and freight lifts.
Bay View & the South Side
Smaller homes, tighter rooms. Therefore the compact setup matters more here than anywhere in the metro.
Wauwatosa & Elm Grove
Village events, clubs and private homes. In practice, one of our busiest pockets in the whole market.
Ozaukee & Waukesha
Mequon, Cedarburg, Brookfield, Delafield and Oconomowoc. All inside our no-travel-fee area.
The Lake Geneva corridor
Second homes and resort weekends between Chicago and Milwaukee. Because we run this corridor regularly, dates here are easier than people expect.
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 Milwaukee was composed in her own lab.
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
Milwaukee perfume bar: common questions
How much is a Milwaukee 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 all included. Moreover, there is no travel fee anywhere in greater Milwaukee, no service fee and no automatic gratuity.
Do you charge a travel fee to come to Milwaukee?
No. Milwaukee is one of our three core markets, so there is no travel fee anywhere in the metro or along the Illinois–Wisconsin corridor. In addition, we cover Waukesha, Ozaukee and Racine counties on the same terms.
Which Milwaukee areas do you serve?
All of greater Milwaukee. That includes the East Side, Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Bay View, Wauwatosa, Elm Grove, Brookfield, Mequon, Cedarburg, Delafield, Oconomowoc and the Lake Geneva corridor. Therefore most of southeastern Wisconsin sits inside our no-travel-fee area.
Can you do this in winter?
Yes, and winter is when it earns its keep here. A perfume bar is entirely indoor, dry and contained, and needs nothing more than a table. Consequently February works as well as July. In practice, winter dates are also far easier to get.
How far in advance should we book?
Six to eight weeks for most Saturdays, and considerably further for May through September. Because Milwaukee's warm season is short, summer weekends compete with weddings, Summerfest and the State Fair. However, winter dates are often available with a few weeks' notice.
How much space do you need?
About 12 x 6 feet, two 6-foot tables and a standard outlet. Several stations run without power at all. Furthermore, we bring our own tables if yours are spoken for, and a kitchen island works fine.
Do you provide a certificate of insurance?
Yes, naming your venue, at no charge. We also coordinate load-in windows and dock access directly with the venue team. Therefore you are not relaying messages between us and them.
Is it messy? It's at our house.
No — it is the tidiest thing we do. Perfume blending is dry and contained, using pipettes, small beakers and paper testing strips on a covered surface. Afterward we pack out with the table exactly as we found it.
What's actually in the perfume?
Absolutes, CO2 extracts and essential oils — the materials of fine fragrance rather than the pre-blended oils sold for candles and soap. Everything is composed in our own lab, and full ingredient and allergen information is available in advance.
What occasions do people book it for?
Bridal and baby showers, bachelorette weekends, milestone birthdays, corporate events and holiday parties. Meanwhile it also works for girls nights, retirements and family gatherings. In short, anything where a room of mixed ages needs something to do together.
Milwaukee summer dates go early
We take a limited number of events per date in each market. After all, a fully staffed, fully styled station cannot be in two rooms at once. In practice, May through September books months ahead here. Therefore secure the date before you finalize the rest.