Welcome!

Dear Engaged Couples,

Welcome aboard the first blog entry in the history of my company! I am your travel guide through the journey of wedding planning and I look forward to the trip with you.

As an infrequent reader of others’ blogs, you might find mine a bit different. I have never seen the point of what I refer to as “Yearbook Signing” where the blog is filled with “fluff” i.e. all that syrupy glossing of how wonderful every element of a wedding had been and how every vendor was so incredible.

I have an aversion to anything cliché’ and thus you won’t hear me use the adjective “amazing” unless it’s tongue-in-cheek. (I perceive that word to be the most over-used adjective in the English language in many years.)

But I do listen to my mother who admonishes, “If you can’t say something nice, say nothing at all.” So….if something or someone is truly stellar, I’ll mean it and I’ll tell you. If I omit mentioning a particular vendor, it probably wasn’t an oversite.

To bring you guys up to speed with “Who IS Michael Nolte?” I don’t want to repeat things you can read in the “About Us” page. I will tell you that what people say they find refreshing is that I am candid in my advice and my suggestions are based not on whim but years of directing weddings. I intend to post an entry for you once a week and I invite your comments as we discover new elements of wedding planning that I think can help you.

You will also note that my posts will be couple centered as opposed to bride focused. Maybe it’s because I’m a guy, but having helped over 1,000 couples by now, I have seen the difference between the truly “engaged” groom and the “spectator” groom. It always makes for a better wedding as both partners know the thought and effort that went into each decision. Likewise, every salon I’ve built (now six) has been male friendly in it’s décor and design. I want fiancés and dads to feel equally comfortable as my guests.

I have now authored three books and one of them is called “Stylish Weddings.” I wrote it with my friend, Mary Carol Garrity, the founder of Nell Hill’s. That wonderland of a store is my neighbor at Briarcliff Village. Mary Carol wrote the parts about palettes and concepts and I wrote the pages that dealt with the nuts and bolts of wedding planning. There is the “How To before you say ‘I Do,” and “Checklist for wedding planning” as well as tips you’ll never find in Martha Stewart or Emily Post.

The first weekend of November found me in Cancun, addressing wedding planners there and doing a book signing. I was functioning in my role for N.B.S. as the Director of Wedding Planning Services for the U.S. We have a very active branch of Hispanic coordinators where they learn the business in the classroom. Upon graduation they are eligible to come hear me speak and have a photo op. This conference was covered by the local media and the photos will be framed in their offices of the luxury resorts that hire these planners to handle not just destination weddings, but also those of the locals.

I love Cancun and this was my 16^th trip there. Though more humid than I liked, it was an incentive to stop working full speed and enjoy the beach and the pools during the hours I wasn’t on presenting. Following the conference for the coordinators, I joined other National Bridal Service store owners for our annual management retreat.

These days were energy restoring as not only is it like a family reunion with friends from all over the country but it’s affirming to “talk shop” in an environment where everyone understands the vernacular and carries some of the same concerns.