Every year my husband turns into Clark Griswald from November through January trying to “make the holidays perfect!” Matthew Wortham’s zest for the best looking lights on the street or the jazziest Christmas tree keep him running to Lowe’s or Home Depot nearly every weekend looking for “better and brighter lights.” His reasons for “trying to get Christmas perfect” are based partly on his own childhood of holiday disasters with an alcoholic mother who had “prim and proper” parents that expected him to struggle through long dinners with servants while watching his mother get drunk. His father would wait until Matthew’s eighteenth birthday to file for divorce from a wife that he “couldn’t fix.”
My husband is actually pretty funny and has a quick whit although few people realize it. Matthew is quiet and observant around strangers or clients who visit our home discussing their upcoming event and the perfect host who disappears quietly to another room after offering a cola, beer or wine to visitors so he can enjoy NASCAR, Golf or anything on ESPN. We have a good time together and lots of laughs! As we approach another chaotic holiday season of making the twins Christmas “a little brighter,” shopping with my husband who is constantly looking for a new Christmas lighting idea can be entertaining.
We have very little time together due to my schedule with Texas Twins Events, Texas Twins Treasures and The Pawning Planners taking a large portion of my time and I spend far more time with my twin sister than I do my husband which is why we try to make “quality time” together a priority. This year he’s decided to take 5 Mondays off to spend more time with me shopping and perfecting his “ideal holiday season.” Matthew is rarely in family photos because he’s taking the photos and we are all looking forward to having Alex Blais home for the holidays on leave from the Navy. For the past few years, Leigh Ann or Alex were stationed in other states during Christmas and celebrated the holidays alone.
My dog Foxy Wortham loves the holidays more than anyone else because he is consistently “getting lucky” with an unexpected treat either falling on the floor or being handed to him by one of my grandnieces. Foxy is nearly twelve years old and still acts like he’s three and has been the center of attention at my home aka WorthamWorld for the twins since they were born. When Madyson came along two years ago, I worried if he would accept her as he had the twins since he was getting older but Foxy loves all three of my grandnieces and looks forward to all of their visits. I haven’t seen Alex since our last visit to California over a year ago and know he’s really looking forward to our annual visit to Six Flags for Holiday In The Park.
My niece (Alex’s Wife), Leigh Ann is making a list of activities for Alex and baby Madyson that I’m certain will keep him pretty busy while he’s in Texas on leave. This year will be a lot of fun with our “Latest Little Pawner” Madyson who is now old enough to enjoy the season but isn’t too fond of Santa lol.
Our mini me twins, Maryssa and Makenna Mahaney are now “too old” for dressing up much to my sisters dismay but young Maddy has closets full of tutus and holiday outfits for years to come since Cindy loved dressing the twins up so much every year.
Winter is usually my window of refurbishing trades and bartering heavy tapestry fabrics for my flips at Texas Twins Treasures but due to the unexpected number of Texas Prison Weddings on my schedule, my workroom is (as usual according to my husband), bursting at the seams. Working deliveries into our schedules along with all of our other bookings is literally a “juggling act” since Prison Weddings are scheduled on weekdays from Monday-Friday and weekends are booked for weddings, birthday parties and other events. Finding the time to deliver items or pick up trades is an ongoing issue.
When I expanded our services on Texas Twins Events to include Texas Department Of Criminal Justice wedding Officiant services after being asked to undergo the process last April for Misty Faraday, I had no idea that there were very few Officiants authorized to perform these Inmate Weddings.Although it wasn’t something that I had planned to offer as a permanent service, due to the overwhelming number of requests, I perform 10-20 Prison Weddings a month which keeps me fairly busy on weekdays and is the primary reason that we currently have several items in various stages of the refurbishing process waiting to be listed at Texas Twins Treasures. I answer a lot of questions regarding Prison Weddings and bartered event services but bartering wasn’t sometging that I had planned on when starting Texas Twins Events either.
My “dive” into the events industry has had a few twists and turns from my original concept but expanding and rebranding is the reason that Texas Twins Events continues to grow. Prison Weddings, Bartering, Branding and expanding were a journey of sorts and I “rolled with the unexpected” by accommodating requests and finding ways for those with little or no money to pay for them by merging Texas Twins Events & Texas Twins Treasures to create The Pawning Planners.
My entire family work with me to give the gift of a Dream Event to our clients and make everything work by bringing their own set of talents to our Texas Twins Events Team. We have five Officiants on staff to handle religious services and ceremonies as well as two photography teams, a bilingual translator, Event coordinator or planning services, floral designs and even estate liquidations services and Rent Parties. I have rarely said no “off the bat” to any creative Request because I’m open minded but officiating in a nudist Colony was one occasion that was one of those times.
Bartering can be tricky too for me because we do not take livestock, firearms, gasoline, ammunition or moonshine either. If you are bartering in lieu of paying for services, we require an Appraisal Appointment in order to evaluate whether or not bartering will work for both parties and to view your item in person. All too often, prospective clients “think” their item is worth far more than it actually is but “fair market value” of the item is based entirely on the condition of the item.
I’ve been in sales all of my life and work with my twin sister to get you a fair trade price on your item but keep in mind that I have expenses involved to flip a trade that include upholstery and labor so bear in mind that if I say no to your trade, you can pay for services through Texas Twins Events or barter services by “trading” services you may offer.
If your event requires rental equipment, the fees associated with renting items for your event must be paid or bartered two weeks prior to the event.
My Texas Twins Events Team want your event to be as special as you are but we can’t take every trade and hope you understand why. 80’s furniture has no market value and I won’t invest in reupholstering furniture if the expense outweighs the value of the item.
Photography packages offered at Texas Twins Events are far below our competitors so please bear in mind that if you can afford a venue, you can afford to pay for photography packages.
Holiday fees are listed because (like anyone else) we would prefer to enjoy the holidays with our families.
Comments by Wendy Wortham