{Fragrance of the Heart}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
Planning a wedding is more than just organizing people, places and things! It's a life changing rite-of-passage of your deeper self, an opportunity to discover something of your inner most essence and share that with your beloved.

No wonder that through the ages, fragrance and essential oils—the extracted essence of aromatic plants—were part of a bride's wedding preparations. Using aromatherapy was a way to assist the bride to tap into her own inner essence and bring the magic of nature into the celebration! A bride would be “anointed” with fragrant, soothing essential oils—so she was then wearing the heart of a flower.

Aromatherapists tell us that the inherent beauty and harmony of nature is exemplified in essential oils. They say that using natural fragrance encourages the link between the right and left sides of the brain, connecting how we feel to how we think.

Aromatherapy consultants Joan Clark and Michael Scholes teach that this is the first step to linking the body and mind, the heart and brain, even creating a balance between the female and male energies.

“It is through these realizations,” the experts explain, “that we start to heal our hearts, learn how to communicate our innermost feelings and to express compassion and the ultimate lesson—the ability to forgive.”    

Ahhh. Discovering the fragrance of the heart through essential oils.What a wonderful way to plan a wedding....a perfect way to be the bride you want to be....a loving way to begin a spiritual partnership!

Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia

ps: The aromatherapy series continues next week...keep sending your ideas and “fragrant” suggestions!

[Photograph: Courtesy of Little Winter Bride]

{Dreamy Lavender Bride}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
You know that getting rest -- like a good night's sleep -- is important during the busy time of wedding planning, yes? Here are some "dreamy suggestions" for using lavender essential oil from aromatherapy consultant friends of mine:

•    To support a restful sleep, put some flower petals in a pretty dish on your night table and sprinkle a few drops of lavender essential oil on the petals for a soothing way to enter your dreams. (Perhaps use petals that are fading from a special bouquet of flowers you received!)

•    Scent your bed linens with lavender for a relaxing sleep.

•    Do you use an eye mask for sleeping? Put a few drops of lavender essential oil on the mask (on the side away from your eyes) to support a peaceful night’s rest.

Taking care of yourself is the most important item to have on your "wedding planning to-do list" -- don't leave yourself out!! Have various relaxation practices (light exercise; meditative breaks; walks in nature; burn lavender scented candles while reading; breathe deeply and slowly) be part of your daily routine. Be creative, be gentle, be natural (use aromatherapy fragrances, not artificial stuff*), be aware that real beauty comes from the inside, and be a dreamy bride....

Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia

ps:*Mountain Rose Herbs is one of my favorite essential oil sources because of their commitment to quality certified organic products!
pps: More from the series of "aromatherapy, brides and weddings" continues next Wednesday! Tune in...

[Photograph: Kristin Spencer]

{The Language of Flowers}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
Brides and the language of flowers have a romantic and mystical history. Through the ages, romantics assigned meaning to flowers and herbs according to their innate nature—and a language was created!

Bridal folklore tells of maidens entwining creamy white, aromatic orange blossoms into a bridal wreath for their hair, to ensure fertility; or carrying a bunch of sweet smelling white lilacs, representing innocence; or tucking fragrant herbs into their bouquets, rosemary for remembrance and dill, believed to provoke lust. (And both herbs were often eaten for their supposed powers!)

Queen Victoria carried a nosegay of snowdrops, representing friendship (they were her beloved Albert’s favorite flower); and Princess Grace, after much thought, selected lilies-of-the-valley for her wedding bouquet, one of the many delicate flowers meaning purity.

Former Brides magazine editor-in-chief, Barbara Tober, tells us that the sentimental Victorians of the 19th century had a custom of arranging a bouquet of flowers and herbs “to spell out the groom’s name (baby’s breath, irises, limonium, and lilies for B-I-L-L.”) The little book, The Language of Flowers, is a reproduction of a Victorian’s floral inspiration that will help you create your own romantic language in flowers!

However, don’t wait for your wedding day. Be inspired, with or without flowers, to speak a language of love and tenderness right this very moment!

Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia

ps: To continue enjoying this series of "brides, weddings, aromatherapy" posts, join us here next Wednesday! (And by-the-way, if you’ve missed any posts, the series began on November 3, 2010.)

[Photograph: Matt Hakola]

{Tune Into Your Body}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
Do you want to know a great way to let go of the tensions that build up while juggling your life during your busy wedding planning time?  Dance! Just get up and move your body...

When you have a little alone time, turn down the lights, light aromatherapy candles or burn incense, and get your kundalini energy flowing!

Play lush, sensual music that you can feel in your body. (Here's a tip to start: With your eyes open or closed, and without moving your head, look down to the right...that will get you tuned into your body...then begin moving your hips…)


Feel the music in your body? Allow yourself to let go into the kinesthetic experience of it all! Breathe in the natural fragrances of your aromatherapy candles .... and let their scents delight! Create a sensuous, moving meditation—in sweet surrender, finding the pleasure of your own company. (Other times, invite your partner to join you!)

This will relax and invigorate....refresh and stimulate! It will cook up your creative and intuitive energies....plus it's just fun. Keep the love flowing....

Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia

ps: Since you're enjoying this "aromatherapy, brides, and weddings" series...it will continue in the NEW YEAR! See you then....

[Photograph: Marianne Taylor, London]

{Truly Divine!}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
As you are choosing flowers for your wedding, remember that the sense of smell is considered “the most ancient and magical sense, acting as a sort of sensual medium between heaven and earth,” according to author Christopher Bamford. “A scent or perfume was thought to express the inner essence or spiritual nature of a thing.”  Therefore using fragrant flowers for your wedding is like sharing something truly divine!

Use your wedding planning time to express your inner essence. When you feel yourself getting stressed or when your “to do” list keeps getting longer, pause…

• Now take several slow, deep breaths ... easy, slowly breathe until you find your center.
• Imagine roots from the bottoms of your feet sinking deep into the Earth, grounding you.
• And now in every gesture and expression you offer to others, give the most generous and grateful version of you. 

That’s your inner essence! Don't be stingy with it...spritz everyone you meet today with something divine! A little bit of you....

Love. Listen. Let go...
...with love from Cornelia

ps: This series of "aromatherapy, brides, and weddings" continues next week...it'll be divine!

[Photography: Daniel Sheenan]

{Unpetaling Poetry}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
Reading poetry can be relaxing and romantic and sensory. For your own private, quiet time: cozy in with a cup of hot tea and comfy pjs...light some aromatherapy candles and breathe deeply...and as you're feeling your body slow down and relax, read something from The Love Poems of Rumi or Gift from the Sea...and allow the words to sink deeply into your soul. Breathe that feeling in....

Sometimes invite your partner into this relaxing reverie for an intimate moment. Taking slow, deep, soothing breaths together, imagine the breath filling your heart...and when you feel your heart expanding full of love, read this poem by Juan Ramon Jimenez:

I unpetalled you, like a rose,
to see your soul,
and I didn’t see it.
But everything around
—horizons of land and seas—,
everything, out to the infinite,
was filled with a fragrance,
enormous and alive.

Enough said....

Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia

ps: Next Wednesday the "aromatherapy, brides, and weddings" series continues....see you there!

[Photograph: Marla Aufmuth]