Oak Brook · Oakbrook Terrace · Burr Ridge · Elmhurst
An Oak Brook perfume bar your club will actually approve
We bring a fully staffed perfume bar to Oak Brook homes, clubs and hotels. Every guest blends a custom fragrance and bottles it to take home. Certificates of insurance issued free, on your venue’s timeline.
What is an Oak Brook perfume bar?
An Oak Brook 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 Oak Brook perfume bar starts at around $500, with no travel fee anywhere in DuPage or western Cook County. Every fragrance is formulated by trained perfumers in our own Illinois lab.
Oak Brook events have a gatekeeper that most suburbs do not. Before anyone asks what an activity costs, somebody asks whether the vendor is insured, when they are loading in, and who is signing for them.
That is the real hurdle here, and it is administrative rather than creative. A club will happily approve something unusual. It will not approve a vendor who cannot produce a certificate of insurance naming them by Thursday.
Consequently we treat the paperwork as part of the booking rather than an afterthought. Certificates are issued free, naming your venue, on their timeline. Meanwhile we coordinate load-in windows directly with the events team, so you are not relaying messages.
The activity itself is straightforward. One table, ninety minutes, and every guest leaves with a fragrance they blended.
Club and hotel dates need lead time.
Venue approval and certificates take a few days. Therefore send us the date early and we will handle the paperwork while you plan the rest.
Start here
Why an Oak Brook perfume bar clears venue approval easily
We do not serve food, so we never touch a food and beverage minimum. For a club, that removes the objection before it is raised.
In addition, the footprint is small — about 12 x 6 feet and a standard outlet, and several stations run without power at all. Meanwhile the activity is dry and contained, so there is nothing to spill on a carpet anyone cares about.
Because we work Oak Brook regularly, we already know how most of the local venues handle vendor load-in. Therefore the first conversation with your events coordinator is usually short.
"In Oak Brook the question is never whether guests will enjoy it. It is whether the paperwork is in on time."Cheryl Gleason, Owner & Perfumer
Where we set up
Where an Oak Brook perfume bar sets up
One table is all we need. Meanwhile, we work to whatever your venue requires.
At home
Oak Brook · Oakbrook Terrace · Burr Ridge · Hinsdale border
Oak Brook homes tend to have the space, so the setup usually sits comfortably in a dining room or great room without moving furniture. We bring our own tables if yours are spoken for.
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 DuPage County
At a venue
Private clubs · Oak Brook hotels · Corporate campuses
Oak Brook has an unusual concentration of private clubs and corporate meeting space for a village its size, plus the hotel cluster around the shopping centre.
We issue certificates of insurance naming your venue at no charge and coordinate load-in windows directly with their team. Therefore approval is rarely the thing that holds a booking up.
- Certificates of insurance provided free
- We work directly with your club or events coordinator
- 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 Oak Brook 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
Oak Brook 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. Everyone gets real time at the bar. For instance, a private dining room at a club works perfectly at this size.
One station, two hosts. The most common Oak Brook 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 suits a club ballroom.
Multi-station, expanded team. Placed deliberately across the floor plan with staffing scaled to your run of show.
What should you budget?
Oak Brook 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 or western Cook County. In addition, there are no service fees and no automatic gratuity.
Areas we serve
Oak Brook perfume bar service area
Oak Brook and the surrounding DuPage villages, on the same terms throughout.
Oak Brook
Private clubs, the hotel cluster and homes throughout the village. In practice, our busiest pocket in DuPage.
Oakbrook Terrace
Corporate meeting space and hotels. Therefore weekday evening bookings are common here.
Burr Ridge
Village Center events and private homes. Because the drive is short, load-in is straightforward.
Hinsdale & Clarendon Hills
Neighbouring villages we cover on identical terms. Meanwhile many hosts book across both.
Westmont & Downers Grove
Close enough that we often run two events in a weekend. All inside the no-travel-fee area.
Elmhurst & Villa Park
Northern DuPage, covered on the same terms. Consequently pricing does not change by village.
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 Oak Brook 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
Oak Brook perfume bar: common questions
How much is an Oak Brook 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 DuPage County.
Do you provide a certificate of insurance for our club?
Yes, naming your venue, at no charge and on their timeline. We also coordinate load-in windows and dock access directly with the events team. Therefore you are not relaying messages between us and them.
Will this affect our food and beverage minimum?
No — we do not serve food or drink of any kind. Consequently a perfume bar never counts against an F&B minimum, which is usually the first question a club asks.
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.
Is it messy? It is at the club.
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 completely.
Which areas around Oak Brook do you serve?
All of DuPage and western Cook County with no travel fee. That includes Oakbrook Terrace, Burr Ridge, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Westmont, Downers Grove, Elmhurst and Villa Park.
How far in advance should we book?
Six to eight weeks for most Saturdays, and further for club dates, because venue approval adds a step. In practice, May and December fill first.
Can you brand the bottles?
Yes, as an add-on. Custom labels carry a name, date, monogram or logo and are printed in advance. Therefore allow about four weeks when you book.
What occasions do people book it for?
Milestone birthdays, bridal and baby showers, club member events, corporate receptions and holiday parties. Meanwhile it also works for retirements and family gatherings.
What is 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. Full ingredient and allergen information is available in advance.
Oak Brook Saturdays book early
We take a limited number of events per date in each market. In practice, club and hotel Saturdays go furthest ahead, because the venue calendar fills before the vendor one does. Therefore secure the date before you finalize the rest.