Fun Fact: Wilde Lover was the very first Wilde Folk perfume. The year was 2019, and I was anxiously planning my wedding. Let it be noted, I was never that girl that spent my childhood dreaming up what my wedding would look like. The closest I got to it was imagining that I would get married at this beautiful barn that our family friends owned in Northern Michigan. A few string lights, close family and friends and we'd call it a day. So when the time came that I needed to start planning my wedding, I became immediately overwhelmed by the attention and planning. So much so that I was leaning more and more towards elopement. The idea of hundreds of people staring at me going down an aisle... what my nightmares are made of!!
However my sweet husband, Maxwell, was wanting something a little more traditional when it came to our big day. He wanted to celebrate this momentous occasion with groomsmen and dancing. So naturally, we came to a compromise - a destination wedding (with a private ceremony) on a little farm outside of Boulder, Colorado.
Leading up to the wedding I was on the struggle bus. I remember never feeling more stressed out in my life (now looking back at it, I'm like oh girl that was child's play compared to what life has thrown at you these last few years - but let's just go with the stressed out bride storyline for now).
Due to my anxiety, and the loss of my Dad, I did NOT want to walk down the aisle. Every time I thought of walking down the aisle without my dad made me cry. And yes, I had a stepdad who was more than happy to proudly walk me down the aisle, but I just wasn't ready for that at the time. So we pivoted.
We decided to do a private ceremony, with immediate family, and bridesmaids/groomsmen. We didn't even allow significant others at this ceremony.... I know, we were a bit cut throat. But it got so complicated. If we invited this person to the ceremony, then we would need to invite that person. And if that person came, this person would get their feelings hurt not being invited to the ceremony. Needless to say, we received a lot of "feedback" for doing things differently. And I don't blame them. When I look back I definitely would've done some things differently, but one thing I would still prioritize - a tool to continuously help me feel aligned to my overall goal. Which was to feel grounded, naturally beautiful, and effortlessly feminine.
At the time, my favorite essential oils were jasmine & vetiver. I loved the juxtaposition both of these oils had. One was deeply feminine and sultry, and the other was rooted in masculinity, earthiness and musk. Whenever I smelled these 2, I was immediately brought back to the energy I wanted to carry on throughout the day. Radiantly confident, effortlessly feminine and grounded beyond belief. So, I got myself a little roller bottle and created my very first plant-based perfume. I even made sure to throw in some crystals into my wedding day potion, as I wanted to bring in a little magic of blue lace agate (for clear communication), rose quartz (for self love), crystal quartz (manifesting magic), citrine (for happy, sunshine-y energy) and tiger's eye (for courage).
I had worked with essential oils before, mainly during my multi level marketing days and yoga teacher training sessions, but everything I made with essential oils had been about necessity. Aromatherapy. Wellness. Healing. Perfume became something else entirely. It was a way of creating something simply for beauty’s sake. A way to adorn myself with a intentional fragrance that honored my body and spirit, and reminded me of the person I wanted to be.
You see...perfume isn’t something we need to survive - it’s a luxury. A ritual of adornment & self-care. For the first time, I found myself creating something not to heal or to fix, but to feel. To feel beautiful. To feel confident. To gift myself something purely for the sake of beauty.
And that is how Wilde Lover came into fruition. A reminder that even in seasons of stress and change, we have the power to create rituals that make us feel whole, beautiful, and wildly ourselves.
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