I guess there are a lot of folks who wonder why I would jump “feet first” into the wedding and events industry years ago and later, involve my family.
We are a team of twins and spend a lot of time together with each other at event services, volunteer food drives and community services. Twins have very strong ties and compensating personalities that can make two halves one whole. My sisters daughter, Stephaney Mahaney was 15 years old when she became pregnant with our Little Pawners aka The Tiny Texas Twins, Maryssa and Makenna Mahaney. Texas Twins TV
Together, my sister and I along with our husbands have raised these twins as a team. We are a very close family- my son and his wife are photographers for both of my businesses. Robert and Stephanie Hafele have been here, there and everywhere documenting weddings, family reunions, birthday parties, baptisms, house blessings and more.
The Little Pawners have actively been involved in both of my businesses as flower girls, ring bearers and ushers for tips and “flips” of toys or video games. They love the glamour of a wedding and are the “life” of the party wherever we go. With two sets of twins- the fun never ends!
The Travels of these Texas Twins have had many unexpected twists and turns throughout our lives and I’m often the leader, the “bossy” one while my twin sister, Cindy Daniel is the funny one the hilarious sidekick who has a “Texas Twist” of humor for dang near any situation we find ourselves in. These situations are termed “incidents” by our families, we’ve had a million “incidents!”
I’m resilient and innovative because I’ve had to be. Throughout our lives, my twin and I have never had anyone (aside from our current husbands) to rely upon other than each other. Learning how to do everything myself was a necessity when I started Texas Twins Events years ago. My husband Matthew Wortham never lost his faith in me.
Recently, my saucy sidekick sister, Cindy Daniel has also started blogging and documenting her hilarious versions of the many “incidents” we’ve overcome along our journey to afford anyone regardless of their income a beautiful event. When you’re on a limited income- you “figure it out” because you have to ya all. When I married my husband at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens years ago, we had no idea there was a “fee.” I’ve never had a fancy wedding at a venue or church and one day plan to renew my vows with my twin sister Cindy Daniel and our husbands. It’s ironic that we give the gift of a beautiful ceremony to folks that we’ve never enjoyed ourselves, but that’s the kind of people we are! We rejoice in making our clients overjoyed at finding us and often throw in extras as a wedding gift to them.
Prior to selling my oversize home in Lakeside, Texas after struggling to keep it during the real estate crash that left my husband jobless for three years, I’ve spent a lifetime selling everything from luxury cars to high end jewelry and clothing as well as upscale patio furniture. I’ve learned many things and I’ve earned my former employers millions of dollars while struggling to earn enough to support my son and help my sister financially while she raised the tiny Texas Twins without the benefit of child support on top of having to quit her job in order to care for them. Yes, our lives have been a struggle to survive and we are both strong women because we have been forced to overcome so many things- we did this as a team by leaning on one another when the other was ready to give up or give in!
After selling my home, I told my husband that I was interested in starting a business to help others who didn’t have thousands of dollars for a wedding or event service- I was looking at the lower to middle class consumer just like us who wanted a lovely affair but, struggled to afford it.
My husband gave me “seed money” from the sale of our home to fund it because he believed that I could accomplish anything and was willing to work hard enough to make it work. He was right, four years later, Texas Twins Events evolved and by refurbishing antiques and selling them on my eBay storefront, Texas Twins Treasures, I began generating income to buy flowers and create my own inventory for families who couldn’t afford bouquets, boutenniers, Centerpieces or decorations as well as columns and camera equipment for my business. Businesses cost money to run and I’ve had to get pretty crafty to make mine successful!
Offering low cost services didn’t make me rich- in fact, the low cost fees often didn’t cover gasoline and expenses for traveling across Texas or often even film development. Once again, I would need to get “creative” and find a way to generate income to keep my businesses going while addressing the many requests for families who couldn’t even afford reduced rates for services. We bring the “beauty” and Texas Flair to every event!
Many folks contacting me “claimed” they couldn’t afford my low cost fee structures. I’m a saavy Entrepeneur who digs in deep to find the truth ie: if you can afford to rent a venue- you can afford to pay for our services! This isn’t my first rodeo and I’ve had a couple “opportunists” who “stiffed” myself and my team after paying their other vendors thinking they could effectively “get something for nothing” because I’m a “soft touch” or a “sucker.” I didn’t sacrifice and struggle for folks to take advantage of myself or my family so, I sued the Tardy Party Bride and The Big Mouthed Bridesmaid for Theft of Services. I’ve never suffered fools lightly and have no grey areas in my life or, my businesses!
I decided to “blend” Texas Twins Events and Texas Twins Treasures to create The Pawning Planners. Taking trades to refurbish and sell to cover the expenses of website maintenance, advertising, fuel costs and continue to add to my inventory used 90-95% of the time on loan to give families the gift of beautiful flowers or use my cake platters, champagne buckets, etcetera.
I’ve spent hundreds of hours handcrafting chair bows, bouquets and more but the items used to create these floral designs by Wendy aren’t free- I have to buy the supplies and then spend hours creating the designs.
There are many expenses involved in running these businesses and, I write the checks around here. For years my family aka Texas Twins Events/Pawning Planners Team have worked for free and at some point all of us would like to earn a living helping others. My family helping me is how we are able to set up and tear down my inventory, take beautiful photos and accomplish the tasks at hand required to “pull off” a Dream Event.
Refurbishing items isn’t inexpensive when it comes to home furnishings. The condition of ALL of the pieces I’ve transformed would shock you- broken and often missing a leg or back- I see beyond the “current state” of whatever I’m looking at and see the “possibilities.” Cindy specializes in “quick flips” that require little to be ready for sale. Refurbishing furniture is expensive and time consuming but, it’s a labor or love for me and every piece of furniture at WorthamWorld was (at one time) a forgotten piece that I transformed into a “Texas Twins Treasure.” I can’t tell you how many times my sister had tried to “talk me out of” acquiring a piece based on its current condition- it happens all the time but, I have an extensive history in high end products and I know what sells. I seek unique items and work from the feet up to bring its former beauty back with funky and eclectic choices of high end silk loomed heavy upholstery weight fabrics. I never skimp on quality!
The fabrics and the stain are yet another expense for me to take on and the refurbishing of antiques is my specialty (along with floral designs and the officiant/minister end of this business). I “turn trash into treasure!”
Within two weeks of putting up the website for Texas Twins Events, my phone was ringing from networks seeking a twin or family owned business. The problem was that I had just started the business and therefore had not yet built my client base for weddings and event services because I was starting at the bottom, I’ve had to earn my reputation and “build my brand.” The timing just wasn’t right and, now we’ve come to a place where the timing is?.
While I own and operate all of my businesses solely, my family is heavily involved in many aspects of these businesses which is why I call them the Texas Twins Events Team. We are a “team of twins.” I’m the ring leader, the boss lady, the fearless leader. Cindy is second in command with the rest of the team following suit. Rarely do we involve our husbands unless there is a problem we cannot overcome due to construction, a forgotten item in the work room or car trouble etc with one of our suv’s. Our husbands prefer to watch tv and visit with each other while we are running around doing Dream Events.
Over the last two years, I have established my businesses by blogging, personal appearances and Dream Events for families along with my family running here, there and everywhere with me. Our adventures have often been funny and occasionally are heart warming because the families we’ve helped would never have been able to find anyone else to help them at low cost or no cost.
Our favorite clients are the struggling consumers because we relate to them and we undersyand the struggle to give the gift of a beautiful wedding or event service. How? Because my son married while my husband was unemployed. Later, my niece married while my brother in law was unemployed which put Cindy and I in a “creative” sink or swim situation. Cindy and her #Cindyism Slang often accurately describe the struggles we endured giving the gift of a beautiful wedding to our children as #RedneckReality or #HillbillyHowTo’s. When you don’t have a lot of money- you’ve got to “figure it out!” We did and that was when my idea to address the needs of others “came to me” my calling to help others was from my own personal experiences.
Since I’m rarely asked why I chose this industry- I’m telling you. After struggling to give my son a beautiful wedding and later my niece, I realized there were other families facing the same challenges that I had, that my sister had and I was determined to “bridge that gap!” Hundreds of happy families later- I’ve succeeded and continue to donate floral arrangements to area funeral homes so families can enjoy a beautiful memorial for a loved one.
With my rowdy bunch of “wedding warriors” we are changing the wedding and events industry “one family at a time from Fort Worth, Texas!”
Dont asks me why- ask yourself why not? Today’s consumer is struggling to make ends meet. Creating a business based on families rather than earnings may sound strange to a few of you but, I live my life along with my family dedicated to our community and addressing the needs of others. Our belief is that by helping others we will inspire these families to get involved and reach back themselves. After all, we are all in this together!
We aren’t that different, we are the friends we’ve never met, the mothers we never had, the neighbors we’ve never known- we are the Pawning Planners! We realize how difficult finding the money to afford a beautiful event is and we are here to help! To submit your trade go to the home page on this site and click “Submit a Trade.” If you are seeking a list of my reduced rate services, visit Texas Twins Events
Wendy M Wortham
Comments by Wendy Wortham