When it came to love-making, Napoleon, that short plump bundle of masculinity, knew that it all started in the head. And as far as he was concerned you couldn't get a better start than by smelling sweet. He himself used almost one bottle of eau de cologne per day. As for Josephine?

Brides in India have been known to be massaged with scented oils for weeks prior to the wedding day. By the time the D Day arrived, their bodies were literally impregnated with fragrance.

Men and women for centuries have been making themselves desirable by appealing to the nose. Early Romans thought nothing of perfuming themselves two or three times a day so that they would always be nice to be near.

Unlike the current custom, which encourages people to acquire a taste for a particular perfume, making it their signature so to speak, in the past people were much more adventurous, using a different perfume for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it was to match their mood, other times to match the time of day. Something light at the break of day. Something a little stronger at lunch time. And by night time, it was no holds barred.

Manufacturers of perfumes are fully aware of the potency of the sense of smell when it comes to the meeting of two intimate bodies. Constantly on the lookout for the unique, they will go to extremes to titillate. One of the most expensive perfumes in the world is made in a little-known town in the gulf country of Oman. It comprises over one hundred essences and oils and reproduces the smell of lily of the valley from which no natural extract can be obtained.

The romantic Omanis know how the sense of smell recreates memory. It is not unusual for a husband to wear a necklace in a form of a brush infused with his wife's perfume. Those who are not into ornamentation use the tassel of their dress for the same purpose.

While for years it's been the practice of women to dot perfume on the pulse points of their bodies, the more aware bride and groom will also use perfume on those points of the body which have the closest contact with the clothes, such as trouser belt, leg elastic and camisole straps.

And instead of a slather of "Obsession" for her and "Eau Sauvage" for him, both will use a different perfume for different parts of the body. So, anywhere they wonder, anywhere they roam, their nose will quiver with anticipation.

Vlady, an Australian Civil Marriage Celebrant, is an author of "The Complete Book of Australian Weddings", "The Small Organsiation Handbook", and an ebook, "Honeymoon! A Sizzle or a Fizzle?".