Using Stemz as Inspiration

Stemz’ Priority Advance Order (PAO) Catalog isn’t just an easy way to see what’s expected to be available each week of the year– it’s also one of the simplest ways to shape a design direction and communicate it clearly to a client.

If you’ve ever needed a better way to build a mood board that feels seasonally inspired and rooted in a sense of place, time, and nature’s inherent color palette…or write a proposal that confidently includes what’s regionally growing…

Your Stemz dashboard can help with that– before you ever place an order.

Below is a practical way to use the PAO Catalog and Visual Summary as a proposal-building tool, from seasonal inspiration to a visual plan you can share with your client.

Use the PAO Catalog like a Design Library for your Upcoming Event

The PAO Catalog is one of our pride-and-joy tools at Stemz, and for good reason. It’s built to help you plan ahead with more clarity and inspiration.

Step 1: Simply enter your event’s needed receiving date to see all regionally grown ingredients anticipated to be available for that specific week of the year.

Step 2: Curate the seasonal selection with the color filter tool. This way, you can easily view… let’s say… peach, blush and white ingredients anticipated to be available on the 2nd week of April!

Bonus:Pricing and stem counts are available too. This access to helpful information for planning rough recipes and budgets is also clutch.

Step 3: After you select products to potentially include in your design, review the Visual Summary tool for a moodboard-esque view of your choices. Add or subtract ingredients to build the feeling and palette you’re looking for.

PAO Catalog Deep Dive

Here are a few highlights that are essential for our Floral Designers to know about the most beautiful library of blooms!

1. This tool consists of items that we anticipate having in strong supply (at least 10+ bunches) in a given week for the entire year… that’s right! you can get inspiration for events now and into the Fall!

Note: the PAO Catalog doesn’t reflect everything that will be available– it’s a curated list of products we’re confident will be in solid supply. That’s why it is always a good idea to check out Live Field Inventory (LFI), our last-minute online marketplace, the week before your event for any last minute needs.

2. These projections are updated from ongoing communication with our Farm Partners regarding their seasonal crop plans and monthly updates on the progress, so you feel confident in what you are communicating and showing to your clients.

**NEW feature:** Once an item’s anticipated supply is purchased for a given week, the item will appear “greyed out” and no longer available for adding to cart. This is another way we are ensuring anticipated availability of products is as accurate as possible.

3. Placing a Priority Advance Order to secure your core elements in your recipes is essential– not only for your success in sourcing your designs, but also because it allows the farmers to confidently grow these elements with love and care especially for you!

For Our Visual Learners Out There

We understand that most creatives need visuals not only to bring an idea to life, but also to communicate those visions in order to secure clients. That’s where the Stemz PAO Catalog and Visual Summary features really become helpful tools beyond being able to order floral products for designs.

Beautiful, high-quality photos from the Stemz Catalog make it easy to include in mood boards to help emphasize the overall color and textural vibes in conversations with clients. Seeing multiple desired floral images together through the Visual Summary, is a way to easily visualize how those ingredients would mesh with your overall design direction.

At Stemz, we know visuals are important– and we’re so happy to be a helpful tool in bringing your creative designs to life and supporting the growth of your business.

Note: When utilizing Stemz images on social media, Pinterest, or design decks, we simply ask for credit. Capturing great images takes time.

See below: Example moodboard from SaltJoy– aligning with regionally grown ingredient options.

Your Turn

The PAO Catalog is a game changer for how you can incorporate regional flowers into your design work from the beginning– both in availability information and in visual direction.

So as the Spring season is about to kick-off, we at Stemz encourage you to use the PAO Catalog as a helpful guide in planning for all your upcoming Spring events!