The human brain is wired to process and integrate information from our senses, and uses that to enhance our perception of an experience.
That’s why designing for the senses — sight, sound, smell — makes so much sense. It doesn’t have to cost a lot, or take up much of a planner’s time. It just requires looking at things through a different lens.
Take color, for example. Most planners think about color in relation to branding, but it can be used for so much more.
“Color is one of planners’ biggest secrets for controlling emotional responses, and adds to the mood and energy of any gathering,” said Dianne Devitt, president of Dianne Devitt, LLC and author of What Color is Your Event?
Following are 10 strategies for using color, scent, and sound to elevate your events.
1. Have Scent Set the Mood
Hotels painstakingly create signature scents for their lobbies, but often forget about their meeting rooms. Planners can step in with essential oils to enhance attendees’ attention and add a dimensional sensory element that takes the place of décor.
Different scents have different effects. Devitt recommends a sprig of rosemary at a place setting for keeping attendees alert and aware, and citrus disbursed through professional diffusers for building the energy in the room.
2. Make the Coffee Break An Experience of the Senses
What attendee won’t appreciate the scent of fried dough from a beignet station wafting into the meeting room right just before the break? Other baked goods with pleasing aromas include just-baked brownies, snickerdoodles, or cinnamon buns with vanilla icing. Rather than an unmanned coffee station, a barista grinding fresh coffee will also add a cozy scent to a meeting break.
3. Incorporate Tastings
Wine, chocolate, olive oil, honey, salt. An expert-led tasting or blind taste test with prizes encourages attendees to be in the moment, along with educating and building memories. Tastings are also great for creating bonds and strengthening communication among team members.
4. Let the Music Guide the Attendee Journey
Background music helps set the mood as attendees arrive and during transitions. For networking breaks, choose upbeat, energizing tunes to keep the momentum going. For more formal sessions, instrumental or ambient music can help maintain focus without being intrusive, while live music stirs up the energy at receptions and evening events.
5. Choose Colorful Gifts
One planner decided to choose tangerine for table settings during a Florida meeting, then switch to lemon yellow after lunch, turning over tablecloths and floral, and changing the uplighting. She chose table gifts for each half of the day, from round lip balms, to pens and day planners, in those colors, so attendees could remember that meeting they attended where the room switched colors.
6. Change Up the Color of Your Lighting
At the Financial and Insurance Conference Professionals 2025 Annual Conference at the Hilton Washington, event designers created a multicolored backdrop inspired by stained glass, then used colored lighting to set the mood.
Warm colors such as orange or yellow created a welcoming tone for a reception, while cooler shades like blue or green set the right atmosphere for dining or important speeches. Brighter colors like red or purple were used to convey impact. The result was spectacular.
7. Look to Luxury Brands for Inspiration
Luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Fendi are expert at creating unique, memorable, sensory-rich experiences that align with the brand’s DNA. Offering personalized aromatherapy scents or curated playlists based on a guest’s taste will spark an emotional connection to an event and build positive memories.
8. Don’t Forget the Furniture
According to the experts at Mayker Events, your choice of furnishings makes a world of difference. The colors and materials speak to your guests, subtly letting them know what kind of experience to expect from the moment they walk into a room. For example, if you’re looking to set a bold tone, choose clean lines and bright colors for your statement pieces.
9. Be Careful Not to Overdo It
When it comes to smell, some people are extremely sensitive; one way to find out is to include a question in your registration. If you are planning to include aromatherapy, use only natural oils, low dilution, and passive diffusion methods such as placing essential oils stones. Choose mild scents such as lavender or rosemary. If you have floral centerpieces, make sure that the scent of the flowers doesn’t overwhelm people’s ability to enjoy their food.
10. It Doesn’t Have to Cost a Lot
Many times, planners overlook using design elements like color, for example, because they think it’s expensive. “If RED company doesn’t have a budget, you can use bowls of apples as centerpieces,” said Devitt. “And you can use red in the invitations for a dramatic effect.”
