With in-motion scenery and Oregon weather changes to contend with, finding the right photo background at an outdoor wedding can be a tall order. Portland bride Christina Workman decided to circumvent the potential for error at her wedding to Chad Stelling by covering more than 6 feet of a towering oak tree with dramatic, pillowy white flowers cascading from branch to root. Nora Sheils of Lake Oswego’s Bridal Bliss worked closely with floral designers at Portland’s Zest Floral and Event Design to strategize the execution, aiming for a photo and ceremony backdrop that was elaborate without distracting from the natural scenic background at Southeast Portland’s Waverley Country Club. Four hours of work and 500 white hydrangeas, white football mums, white roses, white spray roses and pale yellow garden roses later, Sheils says, “It was a bit difficult to work around the character of the tree, but it’s always so fun for us to have a new concept to make happen.” Logistics aside, what’s more romantic than saying “I do” beneath a floral arch?
