Today I responded to another request from someone thinking that I owned a Pawn Shop- I don’t. The “Pawning Planners” actually pawn our services in exchange for bartered items. I then take the item and refurbish it prior to listing the item for sale at Texas Twins Treasures.
Since I’m often asked “how this whole business got started?” My son’s wedding years ago taught me that many families struggle to afford a beautiful event and after selling our Dream Home, I used my share of the proceeds to start Low Cost Wedding & Event Services- Texas Twins Events.
It didn’t take long to realize that many of my prospective clients couldn’t even afford the 60-75% discounts on wedding officiants or photography and especially wedding consulting. Since I have been operating an eBay store since 2009, I decided to learn how to refurbish items and effectively swap, flip or trade for items of value when families had no money.
Occasionally, we get wedding dresses that are borrowed by numerous brides who cannot afford one by previous clients that understand my mission and more importantly- our story.
We have two sets of twins which is why many of my sites have “twins” in the name. Cindy and I are both twins and Maryssa and Makenna Mahaney are often called “The Little Pawners.” The little twins often trade for tips or flips to “work” as flower girls, ring bearers and ushers at our events for The Pawning Planners and Texas Twins Events. They’ve been in over two hundred weddings since they were 6 years old and enjoy the beauty and excitement of being involved in the weddings.
From karate studios, to cargo planes and hot air balloons, to backyards and barns- we’ve had some really unique wedding and event “venues.”
My entire family work with me to give the gift of a Dream Event and due to requests- I’ve added my son Robert Hafele and stepdaughter Ann Alexander on as wedding officiants to meet the growing needs of my diverse client base.
Occasionally, we have families with no money to book through Texas Twins Events and no trade to submit to The Pawning Planners. To overcome the issue, I created Pawning Planners Apparel featuring saucy #Cindyisms that my twin sister comes up with on a daily basis.
From one sided tees to colorful front and #Cindyism backs- our line comes in numerous colors and can be custom created if you’ve seen a #Cindyism on Twitter, FB, or Instagram that you fell in love with.
Helping families with no friends or families to lean on for an event came easy for me since Cindy and I never had the luxury of help (financial or otherwise) when we married. We did it all on our own at the JP or a park to save money and didn’t have a wedding dress so we wore whatever we could afford.
To understand why I went to such great lengths to help strangers- you would need to understand that I’ve been down and out myself during times of struggle and understand the plight of the working class. My family does too and that’s why we all banded together and I created an inventory to loan clients that is often used at 80% of our events. My photography team ensure that you have photos to remember your special day and my sister keeps everyone entertained while I officiate at religious events.
Stephanie Hafele Loading Up Loaned Centerpieces From Me For An Event
We Are LBGTQ Friendly
Overcoming every obstacle that clients had took dedication and a huge chunk of money to build up an inventory to loan but, I saw the problems they faced and more inpirtantly, found a way to effectively “fill the gap” by creating bouquets & boutenniers or whatever else was needed that they couldn’t afford.
Using unique upholstery fabrics and mixing them is one of my Texas Twins Treasures secrets because everyone wants something they’ve never seen before. I use a contrast welt, band and often a reversible cushion.
I’m incredibly picky regarding the end result and have been known to tear something apart and start all over again due to my OCD tendencies.
Perfecting a Dream Event often takes a team because we never know what will be needed on location. By being prepared and having enough manpower on hand, we have helped over 600 families that would have never had the opportunity if I hadn’t jumped in and changed the wedding and events industry one barter at a time from Fort Worth, Texas.
While I agree that it’s a unique and diverse concept- it’s a concept that has worked for many families and given me unique and creative content for all of my websites since I often write about our events, clients and adventures.
Blogging was my website manager, Michael Brylinski’s idea and who knew that although intimidated, I could jump right in and find something to talk about everyday or every other day that people found interesting enough to read?
From painting and staining to refurbishing trades and orchestrating events here, there and everywhere- my journey to help others has given my family and I new friends and new adventures on our unique journey.
Wendy M Wortham