VIP Events in Chicago: Make Fragrance the Guest of Honor
VIP events in Chicago live or die on the details. A short guest list means every person notices everything: the room, the welcome, the gift they carry home. A perfume bar gives your guests something personal to make with a perfumer's team beside them.
Here is how I think about fragrance for a smaller, high-touch evening, and which of our experiences fits each kind of celebration.
- Perfumer-led
- Perfume and cologne bars
- Made in our New Lenox lab
- From $500
Why fragrance suits a VIP guest list
Most VIP gifts are lovely and forgettable. A scent is different. Guests choose it, smell it on their own skin and wear it for weeks. Every spray brings them back to your evening.
It also gives a room of important people something easy to share. Guests compare blends, ask each other's opinion and laugh at the scents they did not expect to love. That is the kind of conversation a host hopes for.
For a small guest list, choose a blending bar. Guests have time to linger, and the experience feels made for them.
Three fragrance experiences for VIP events in Chicago
Perfume and cologne bars. Our Full Perfume Bar offers 120+ fragrances, including a family of signature scents for guests who would rather not start from scratch. The Mini bar offers 60+ materials. Both are true blending bars, and we can lean the selection feminine, masculine or both, so it works as a cologne bar too. Every guest leaves with an eau de parfum, a perfume-strength spray.
Perfume workshops. For a very small group, a guided fragrance workshop goes deeper. Guests learn how notes and accords work, then create their own perfume. It is education and indulgence in equal parts.
One-to-one consultations. For a guest of honor or a top client, a private fragrance consultation is the most personal gift we offer. It is $650, and the formula is recorded so the scent can be remade.
Occasions that fit a fragrance bar
Holiday parties. We lean the bar toward the season, with warm spice, pine and sparkling citrus. Guests blend a scent that feels like December.
New Year's Eve. Bold, glamorous blends match the energy of the countdown, and the bottle becomes a souvenir of the night.
Milestone birthdays. Give friends the gift of self-expression. They will wear their perfume long after the candles are out.
Bridal showers and client dinners. A bride can design a scent while her guests make their own. A company can thank its best clients with something far more personal than a gift card.
The details VIP guests notice
We blend with absolutes, CO2 extracts and essential oils. In plain words, these are the concentrated natural extracts perfumers use, and guests can smell the quality.
Each bar can sit on a table, our luxury counter or one of our candy carts, styled in your palette, with linens and customized signage available as add-ons. Bottles come in 15 ml or 20 ml and carry the Glitters and Grace label. Custom labels with a name, date or logo are a paid add-on, printed in advance and ordered at booking.
Our team arrives one hour before start time, hosts every guest with care, then packs out and cleans up. You stay with your guests the whole night.
Planning your evening
Send your date, venue and rough guest count. We reply within two business days with an itemized proposal, with no charge and no obligation. Adult and corporate events start at $500, quoted per event.
Holiday and New Year's dates fill fast, so plan early. Most Saturdays need six to eight weeks, and December needs longer. If your date is sooner, reach out anyway. We have a large team of hosts and can often fit you in on short notice.
Glitters and Grace was founded by Cheryl Gleason, a trained perfumer and cosmetic and skincare formulator. Every perfume, lip color and skincare base is made by hand in our New Lenox lab. Meet the founder.
VIP event questions
Is there a minimum guest count?
No. We serve events from 5 to 5,000 guests, and smaller VIP lists are some of our favorites.
Can you serve men and women?
Yes. We lean the scent selection feminine, masculine or unisex to suit your guests.
Can guests reorder their blend?
Formulas are not recorded at event bars. A one-to-one consultation records the formula so it can be remade.
How far ahead should we book a December event?
Longer than the usual six to eight weeks, because December fills first. If your date is sooner, reach out anyway. We can often fit you in on short notice.
Where do you serve?
Chicagoland, greater Milwaukee and the Indianapolis metro, with no travel fee within those areas.
Plan a VIP fragrance evening
Tell us about your guests and your date. We will reply within two business days with an itemized proposal.
perfume@glittersandgrace.com · 815.418.6740
With Grace,
Cheryl Gleason · Owner, Perfumer & Creative Director
Prefer to text? 815.418.6740 · or email us
