More wedding woes came today for a bride who had given a second chance to a groom who lied. Three years ago, this couple was scheduled to marry in Dallas. Three years ago the groom was caught in an affair.

This year they were scheduled to marry in June. Apparently the groom has once again been “caught with his pants down.” More than that a pregnancy has resulted. Sigh.

Sometimes second chances are with the wrong person. Sometimes we invest too much time trying to make a relationship “work.” Sometimes we put all of our eggs in the same basket.

I read the text “he did it again and this one is pregnant” while on another call with Prairieland Detention Center. How do you respond to a text like that? Short answer is that you don’t. Texts like this warrant a phone call.

While trying to get off one call to place a call another call came in regarding Formby Unit. Formby is not processing paperwork until DRC and TDCJ give an all clear. Please do not file a formal complaint against a Unit during the prison wedding planning process. Each Unit and each Warden are different. Remain calm. Call me but don’t call the Unit or Warden or the DRC to file a complaint. It’s very rare that the need for a formal complaint would arise under the most extreme circumstances.

I’m going to once again reiterate that a paper ID is not an acceptable form of government issued ID. ICE, State, Federal and County REQUIRE a photo ID. If your drivers license has expired, get a new one or if you have a passport, use it instead.

After three more phone calls I finally called my bride. We are in a time crunch here. Quite frankly a second chance was really wasted on this player. Amazingly, I had an email from HIM that I wouldn’t see until later in the day. I will get to that later. My bride is beautiful, funny, intelligent, devoted and DESERVES better. You can’t find Mr Right if you are saddled with Mr Wrong. She’s now wasted 5 years of her life tied down to the wrong man.

This time she’s really had it. Thankfully they aren’t living together which only further complicates a separation. I quickly suggest using the venue since we cannot get a refund from the venue or other vendors for a family reunion or other event. An early birthday party perhaps? She’s thinking. “No one will refund me? I’ve paid for nearly everything myself.” I repeat myself “venues after a year of cancellations aren’t going to offer a refund during wedding season. I can negotiate for you but I can’t promise that any vendor would do a full refund the best we can hope for is a partial refund.”

This booking is a flip. My bride had initially booked through Texas Twins Events but was laid off from her position as an X-ray tech at Baylor Health Services. Because she was laid off, her finances after buying her first home were tight. She flipped into bartering and I’ve been planning her rescheduled wedding for months now. She doesn’t want her inherited antique furniture from her grandmother back and I don’t have it to give because I flipped it. A cancellation on a barter deal is tricky. I can’t hold items hoping there won’t be a hiccup down the road, cold feet or promiscuity of the bride or groom either. I’m not a mind reader. I do however often warn my brides and grooms if I can “smell a rat.”

The number of times I’ve tried to talk someone out of marrying shocks people. However, I’m old and a pretty good judge of character. Today while on a conference call headed to Huntsville, Cindy told a production executive “we are identical twins. We look alike but so does sugar and salt. Wendy is diplomatic and has a soft heart. I’m more focused on being straight up and blunt. Wendy is the buffer.”

How to be a buffer is a learned trait. Cindy will never learn it. She jumps right out there and belts out whatever is on her mind. I knew full well my twin sister would say “the tallest tree in the orchard has the most crooked roots.” She would be right too. My sisters iconic quotes are based on fact.

I don’t posses the talent of “coming up with a quote to fit ANY situation. Cindy is never at a loss for words.”

When uploading a possible barter proposition, please include a brief description and any additional information you might have. We are limiting large trades this season due to storage and slow sales in 2020 due to the pandemic.

A lot of people have contacted me asking “how we make any money by bartering?” I’d love to tell you that my days aren’t jam packed running FOUR businesses, being on staff at Belltower Chapel or on call for last rites or deathbed wedding ceremonies at BOTH Baylor and Harris Hospitals leaves me the “leisure time to advise strangers” on how to get into the flipping business but I don’t.

Bartering is RISKY. If you cannot afford to take a financial hit- don’t even consider bartering. Bartering is time consuming and refurbishing is expensive. Storage and moving items are additional expenses.

You must also have a selling outlet. If you don’t you will fail. Cindy and I have been flipping items for 30 years. We began flipping to earn additional income by shopping yard sales and thrift shops then having sales and later in 2000 by opening EBay stores. We earn far more money selling on eBay but your item needs to be sale ready if you want to earn a tidy profit.

Patience plays a role in the sellers game. Don’t believe what you see on TV. Not every flip is a success. Many times flips are flops. You take a hit rather than hittin a lick. This reality bites to a few folks contacting me trying to find an angle or a side hustle.

I’m very transparent as everyone knows so I share the good and the bad to enlighten you.

Catching up on the Villareal Family, Burt and Deanna are celebrating five years of marriage today and finally have the baby they wanted too. I will be baptizing their miracle child in a few weeks.

Divorces hit a spike during the pandemic. A serious spike. As you know I want nothing more than my couples to grow old together so the many shocking emails and phone calls from former clients telling Cindy and I that they “were calling it quits” were sad and alarming but stress affects all of us in different ways.

Moving forward, I want to give a shout out to all of our clients who became homeschool teachers the past year while juggling work and family. I know it hasn’t been easy for any of you. The twins went back to school but due to Covid we were unable to get Makenna into driving school so Cindy and I have been taking turns as driving instructors. The results are as usual what you might expect. Makenna knows it all and her MiMi’s need to stop yelling “slow down” or “turn the wheels” or “watch the curbs.” Ugh. Thankfully, Maryssa has no desire to learn how to drive because twins teaching both twins to drive at the same time would be more than we could bear.

I’ve had a few people ask “what happened to the bride that found out her fiancée was served with paternity papers?” It was in fact his child. The couple are in counseling and have yet to call off their July wedding.

Brandi who was planning to marry Raul who was scheduled to marry Valerie at TDCJ Ellis Unit is in rehab and pregnant. After two years of hoping that Brandi would get on track, this pregnancy deeply concerns me. She has no family and she has relapsed numerous times in two years. Valerie divorced Raul and is doing well and not interested in dating. She is focused on her job and side hustle of glamorous nails as well as working on a clothing line, Boss Babes.

The Coffield Unit Con Man somehow someway found himself exposed by a FB group while sweet talking not 2 but 5 different women with promises of marriage. Three of those women had contacted me to marry them to this “character.”

The best advice I can give anyone is to be cautious. Inmates have a lot of time on their hands. Sometimes they use this time to sweet talk women. Be aware that things aren’t always as they seem.

Moving forward I’m on the road all weekend again for another wedding season and like Cindy, looking forward to meeting all of you very soon.