Should You Light a Scented Candle With Dinner? Here's How Not to Ruin Your Menu With an Incompatible Fragrance

Take it from me, home fragrances are rarely, if ever, meant to stand on their own. Instead of simply serving up a cocktail of scents, they are meant to act in tandem with your decor, and in the case of a dinner party, your menu, too. But this is often left to be an afterthought.

Leaning into home fragrance trends can help, however, it isn't enough. In order to have the best scented candles to complement your menu and the overall ambiance of the evening, there are some intentional considerations to be made.

Curious to master the art of curating just the right fragrances for a dinner that's met with many pleased mmms and aahs, these are the insider secrets into the best scents to light and the ones that are better left off the table.

What to Consider When Choosing Scented Candles for a Dinner?

When selecting candles for a dinner party, Amanda Morgan, fragrance expert and managing director at Diptyque, tells me that the key is to intersperse notes that harmonize with the menu and can emphasize the dinner experience. This helps you go beyond just making your home smell good by complementing the meal itself.

"Anything too far from the menu creation can potentially interfere with what you're serving," she explains. "My favorite botanical families would be with natural notes that smell edible."

And she finds that this guideline for picking scented candles transitions through the year. "For example, in winter months when serving a warming menu, notes like cinnamon or hazelnut can enhance the spicy flavors of the menu," she advises.

Marissa Mosseri, co-founder at Set The Mood, also finds that when hosting a dinner party, the goal is to enhance the meal, not compete with it.

"The right scent sets the mood, creates a cozy atmosphere, and elevates the dining experience," she adds. "Your dinner company should feel comforted by the scent within minutes of being in the space, making the overall experience feel cohesive and memorable."

Scented Candles to Complement a Dinner

Firstly, to cut the air and refresh the room without interfering with the flavors on the plate, Marissa recommends relying on soft citrus notes. "Lighter scents like lemon, bergamot, and orange are a great choice," she assures.

Amanda also finds citrus infusions to be ideal for dinner. "Verbena, like the Verveine Scented Candle from Diptyque, is an invigorating, herbaceous option with the smell of crushed lemon verbena leaves," she says. "I also suggest using scented candles with gentle fruity fragrances, like fig and quince, to enhance the atmosphere and work well with desserts."

If you're meticulous with your moodscaping and you'd prefer to switch scents through the night, Marissa says that herbaceous scents are a beautiful choice.

"Consider candles with fresh herb features like thyme, rosemary, and basil," she says. "And if you're wondering what fragrances to bring out for dessert, anything with warm vanilla will be a fan-favorite that's far from heavy."

Fragrances to Avoid at a Dinner

Now that we have discussed the best scented candles to pick for a dinner, it's only right that we move on to the fragrances you're better off avoiding in this space on such an occasion.

"It’s best to steer clear of strong or heavy fragrances that could overpower your dishes or distract from the overall dining atmosphere. I would avoid strong white flowers, or anything too different from the menu," says Amanda.

"It’s always best to think of home fragrance as a way to enhance notes or flavors within your menu. The combinations are endless, allowing an element of real personalization within any dining experience."

Amanda also advises against using heady florals to scentscape at dinner, particularly calling out gardenia and tuberose. "I would also disqualify scented candles with notes of heavy musk or patchouli," she warns.

"And most of all, I recommend leaving out overly sweet gourmand notes like chocolate and caramel. This is because they will compete with dessert rather than cap the night off on a sweet note in both fragrance and flavor."

Although these rules are specific to fragrancing your dining room by night, there are some general scents to avoid in your home, too. And once you learn the notes that are infamous for overwhelming the air, you'll notice a significant difference in the way your home feels when you scent the right way.