How to Choose Your Wedding Cologne

You’re almost ready for showtime! One of the last things you’ll do before heading to the altar is spray yourself with a few spritzes of cologne. So, what scent will you be using? Instead of heading to your local Shoppers Drug Mart and picking up a can of Axe Body Spray, put a little TLC in to selecting the right one.

Here’s how to choose your wedding cologne.

Know what you like
Before setting foot in a shop you should have an idea of the kind of scents you love. You don’t need to know specific ingredients, but having a scent family in mind is a good idea (i.e.: sweet, spicy, fresh, smoky). This will help you narrow your search, saving you from smelling hundreds and hundreds of colognes.

Test it out
Cologne can smell completely different in the bottle than it does on your skin, so don’t forget to give it a trial run. Stores often offer samples so that you can test out a fragrance before committing to an entire bottle. If you can’t get your hands on a pint-sized bottle, spray your desired scent on your skin and let it linger for a while. This way you’ll know what it actually smells like on you.

Bring your best man
After sniffing forty different colognes you may go a bit nose blind, so you may need some help. Bringing along your best man or friend will give you a second pair of nostrils to help differentiate the yeses from the nos. Pro tip: make sure they have similar taste to you before asking them for assistance. If they love musky scents and you love clean smelling colognes, you may never agree.

Get inspired by your theme
If you’re really lost, use your wedding theme to help guide you. Having your wedding in a dark, romantic restaurant? You may want to go with a deep, spicy scent. Or, maybe you’re headed out to the country to say your “I dos” in a barn? Consider something on the fresher side might suit you well. If this approach doesn’t work for you, NBD, just go with something that you love.

Aim to please your partner
Now, it’s important that you love how you smell on your wedding day, but it’s (possibly) even more important that your partner loves how you smell - so keep their tastes in mind when choosing your cologne. If they’ve told you they absolutely adore when you wear a certain scent, that may be the winner.

Don’t forget about fragrance strength
We’ve all experienced sitting next to an overly perfumed individual on a bus or in a waiting room, so you know how unpleasant it can be. To avoid being that guy on your own wedding day, ask a salesperson how concentrated your chosen scent is. That way you’ll know whether you’ll need one spritz or seven before you step up to the altar.

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