Exuberance Signature for Irises Designs

By Jill Brooke

“Perfection is a disguise for insecurity,” says floral designer Ricardo Delgado, who with his wife Erin run the popular Irises Designs in California. After all, flowers need air to breathe which enhances their beauty.

He and Erin met in college studying art and started their shop in 2004.

There’s a free-flowing lovely arc to all their arrangements as though music is lilting through to add something special. In a way, he’s the Pavarotti of flowers.

Although their primary work had been creating dreamy weddings and events – filled with billowy peonies and big lush flowers and cherry blossoms- Covid has created an opportunity for smaller arrangements.

Lately, people also have been coming to them for sympathy flowers where people want to send something extra special since family members and friends can’t often be present to pay condolences. His arrangements excel at highs and lows, kind of like emotions, that branch out in different directions but have a cohesiveness.

The one-off arrangements are also a fun pursuit he says since he can “play with our imaginations and connections to art” vs. delivering the tastes of his “patrons in wedding design.” Of course, that’s what he loves about being a florist. Each client is a different adventure in design.

The husband/wife team are already gearing up for a big 2021 since people will not only be gathering to pay respects to loves lost, but also the many loves gained with weddings and love being celebrated with exuberance, passion and creativity.

Flowers are always the way to acknowledge emotions when words are not enough.

Jill Brooke is a former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazine. She is an author and the editorial director of FPD.