Maggie Fisher at the Plaza Wedding Chapel
August 30, 2017
Attorney Maggie Fisher recently opened her business to provide couples an elegant space for their special days.
By Mark ThomasMaggie Fisher has two jobs. She’s an attorney specializing in family and tax law and she owns the recently opened Plaza Wedding Chapel.
On a December trip to Las Vegas with her family, Fisher noticed a long and especially busy part of the Venetian, the hotel where she was staying.
“There were several wedding chapels and lots of happy brides and grooms walking by. A lightbulb clicked,” she said with a laugh. “I’d been wanting to do something more fun. Tax people and divorcing couples are not all that happy. I want to be around happy people.”
When she returned from vacation, she said, she began to crunch numbers.
“I’m a very math-oriented, organized kind of person. Planning is right up my alley.”
After doing the research, she decided she liked the idea of a space similar to what she saw in Vegas, but with décor that she found more tasteful. The typical Las Vegas chapels, she said, are heavy on the red velvet (and you can select a pink Cadillac option there).
To develop her vision, she reached out to Mary Carol Garrity of Nell Hill’s, a local professional decorator. “I wanted to work in a beautiful space,” Fisher said.
The Ward Parkway location she chose, on the south side of Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza, offers a stunning view of the green space along Brush Creek. Inside the chapel are elegant bench seating and furniture, and a prominent grand piano.
“I want this to have an elegant living-room feeling,” she said. “Like you’re getting married in someone’s house.”
Fisher provides a full menu of services and possible styles of weddings.
“You can use the space for an engagement, a second marriage or a smaller ceremony. You can elope. If you want to get married here on a Wednesday, you can. I can help find a photographer, or someone to play music – piano or harp.”
Fisher also is able to serve as the officiant. Carriage rides can be arranged, as well as valet parking for the guests.
The chapel is suited for cake or hors d’oeuvres after the ceremony, as well as champagne. But don’t bring the red wine – the carpet is white. Fisher notes that with all the great restaurants nearby, there are many options for continuing the celebration.
Fisher sees her chapel as part of the beginning of a “Wedding Row” of businesses. Two doors down is a bridal boutique. She is anticipating a tuxedo shop opening up in the space between the two. Several jewelry stores are nearby.
In the future, she hopes to hold a wedding fair with the other industry merchants on the Plaza. She credits Plaza management for being encouraging and helpful in the renovation of the space.
She finds the Mid-America Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (MAGLCC), the first chamber organization she has joined, to be a great resource. She particularly appreciates its monthly business networking events.
“The B2Bs are so cool! It’s getting to meet small business owners that have created something from their heart. They are all very, very nice,” Fisher says.
Her spare time is filled with reading romance novels (“of course!” she says), and she also enjoys taking her Bernese Mountain dog out for playful walks.
For information on booking the chapel, go to www.plazaweddingchapel.com.
