Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Moise. Them and their team share their story with us below:
After serving the community in Houston with all thing’s weddings and parties, Karen’s friends came to her and began asking her if she could help them and do their daughters’ weddings. At the time, couples were getting married the more traditional way for instance in a church and then a reception at an event hall or country club. Then couples started realizing they wanted an experience for their weddings and so many of the couples began looking in the hill country for wedding venues. And yet, the only options were rustic barns and limited capacity. So, the need was established that we needed more elegant venues to host weddings. That’s how Ma Maison was born!
Karen began researching wedding venues in the central Texas area and realized it was important that the surrounding would be just as important as the actual venue. So, the search was on to find the perfect property. One that possessed the vision of the French countryside. Karen’s family heritage is French so that is where the idea was born to create a French countryside wedding venue in the heart of the Texas Hill Country.
Once Karen found the perfect plot of land in the Texas Hill Country, planning began to develop for Ma Maison which means fittingly means “My Home” in French. After breaking ground in 2012, it was less than a year later that Ma Maison hosted its first wedding in February 2013. To date, Mai Maison has hosted over 700 weddings. Each wedding, unique and beautiful due to the fact that Ma Maison has multiple ceremony sites including the Great Hall, the Grove, the Lac View, the Green Cathedral, and our newest 2020 addition The Chapel. Ma Maison offers the flexibility of hosting weddings all indoors, outdoors or any combination a couple may prefer.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I can honestly say that starting a brand-new business from scratch, especially a family business, is not for the faint of heart, however; we did a tremendous amount of research and market analysis and truly believe this research and work done ahead of time on our business plan benefited us from the normal pitfalls that a new business would have encountered. Now, with that being said, Covid threw us for a loop just like it has for the entire world! But we have survived and thrived and are moving forward and are excited to say that weddings are coming back at a vengeance.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Well…that’s a deep subject. By day l am the Nurse Manager for the Fetal Care Program at Dells Children’s specializing in complicated pregnancies that require extra care and sometimes surgery performed on the baby prior to birth. I have been an L & D nurse for 36 years and the last 15 years, have specialized in fetal surgery with my husband, Dr. Ken Moise, and PA Daughter Erin Moise – yet again another family business. I am also a certified wedding coordinator and officiant. How are they related you may ask? Both roles serve our families during two of the most important times of their life. Marriage and birth. And ironically, Karen has had several Ma Maison brides that turned into moms and patients of hers. Karen’s specialty is the role she takes in caring for these families whether it’s being the birthing doula or the wedding day doula! You probably guessed that I’m most proud of my family and the love and support they have given me throughout the years.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
The next 5 years, Karen is hoping to retire from nursing once again and have the ability to devote more time to the wedding business and her growing family. I see the wedding industry flourishing in the next 5 – 10 years because people have postponed their lives for last the last 2 years and are definitely ready to start celebrating. We are seeing a trend (prior to the Pandemic) that weddings guests count was in 200 – 400 range and those have now gone down to 100 – 200 allowing for more of an intimate celebration. We have begun creating micro wedding packages for couples allowing them more intimate weddings with close family and friends. Another business we recently launched is a new search engine website called We Do Weddings. (www.we-doweddings.com) This website matches couples and wedding venues to find their perfect venue and perfect wedding date. The site allows couples to search with multiple parameters but the best being the venue calendar availability!
Contact Info:
- Email: Karen@themamaison.com
- Website: https://themamaison.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themamaison/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/themamaison?lang=en
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ma-maison-dripping-springs-3
- Other: www.we-doweddings.com
Image Credits
Sweet Memories
The Moise Family
Andy + Carrie
Anastasia Strate
Complete Entertainment
Jessica Scott
