Terms of Service

1. Who We Are & the Religious Nature of Our Services

Marriage Shepherd, LLC (the "Ministry") is a Christian ministry that provides faith-based wedding officiant services, vow-renewal ceremonies, and premarital and marriage mentorship. Services are performed by a fully ordained or legally authorized minister or representative (the "Minister"), acting under ecclesiastical authority as an ordained Christian minister authorized under Section 2.202 of the Texas Family Code or under applicable church ordination authority.

All services are religious ministry services performed according to the Ministry's sincerely held Christian beliefs, Statement of Faith, and ecclesiastical standards. The Ministry exists to glorify God by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and helping couples prepare for and strengthen a lifelong covenant of marriage centered on Jesus Christ. Nothing on this website or in these Terms converts our services into secular commercial services.

The Minister acts solely as a Christian pastoral minister or ministry representative — not as a licensed counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker, attorney, financial advisor, wedding planner, event coordinator, venue manager, or governmental official. No licensed counseling, fiduciary, agency, employment, partnership, joint venture, or professional advisory relationship is created by these Terms, by an inquiry, or by any consultation.

2. Our Ministry Packages & Pricing

The Ministry offers the packages summarized below. This summary is for general reference only.

*Reference prices only — subject to change at any time without notice. See the pricing notice above. The $250 deposit for Always & Forever is applied toward, and is separate from, the total package price and is non-refundable as described in Section 8.

Every couple requesting wedding officiant services for a legal marriage ceremony must select the Always & Forever package, or provide proof of at least six (6) hours of completed marriage preparation from a faith-based resource approved in advance by the Minister in the Minister's sole discretion. Optional add-ons — an additional 60-minute mentoring session, a six-month check-in, or a one-year checkup — are available only if confirmed in writing and paid for as required, and are likewise subject to change at any time.

Travel within fifty (50) miles of Austin, Texas is included for the Always & Forever and Vow Renewals packages. Travel beyond fifty (50) miles, or any in-person meeting requiring travel for other packages, may be billed at reasonable, pre-approved cost.

3. No Guarantee; Your Responsibility

The Ministry provides faith-based mentorship, Biblical instruction, prayer, encouragement, and practical guidance — but does not guarantee any personal, relational, emotional, financial, spiritual, marital, compatibility, communication, conflict-resolution, reconciliation, divorce-prevention, or ceremony-related result. Marital health depends on many factors beyond the Ministry's knowledge or control, including each person's honesty, choices, character, communication, forgiveness, commitment, and effort. You accept full responsibility for your relationship, decisions, marriage, and ceremony.

4. Scheduling & Ceremony Details

You are responsible for timely scheduling and attending all mentorship sessions. Sessions may be in person or by video conference. Cancelling or rescheduling with less than forty-eight (48) hours' notice may result in the session being treated as completed or an additional scheduling fee unless waived in writing.

The Ministry provides premarital mentorship, marriage mentorship, wedding officiating, and vow-renewal ceremony services only — not wedding planning, event coordination, venue management, day-of coordination, or vendor management. All planning, logistics, vendors, and venue arrangements are solely your responsibility. If ceremony services are included, the Minister will wait up to sixty (60) minutes after the scheduled start time before postponement or cancellation terms apply.

You must ensure that any ceremony location is safe, lawful, accessible, and suitable for the Minister's participation. The Minister may decline, pause, relocate, or discontinue participation if conditions present a safety risk, unlawful condition, lack of required access, severe weather exposure, harassment, intoxication, or other circumstances that, in the Minister's reasonable judgment, make participation unsafe or inappropriate.

5. Texas Marriage License & Legal Eligibility

If legal marriage ceremony services are included (Always & Forever package), you are solely responsible for obtaining a valid Texas marriage license and satisfying all legal requirements — identification, fees, eligibility, capacity, no existing marriage, no prohibited relationship, and any waiting-period or waiver requirement.

• A Texas marriage ceremony generally may not occur during the seventy-two (72) hours after license issuance, unless an exception or waiver applies.
• A Texas marriage license expires if the ceremony is not conducted within ninety (90) days after issuance.
• The Minister must record required information and return the license to the issuing county clerk no later than the thirtieth (30th) day after the ceremony.

You must deliver the original, valid, unexpired license to the Minister before the ceremony. The Minister will not conduct a legal marriage ceremony without a valid license in hand and will not backdate, postdate, or falsify license information. The Vow Renewals package is for vow renewals only; because vow renewals do not create a new legal marriage, the Ministry does not request, complete, sign, or return a marriage license for that package.

6. Religious Liberty & Pastoral Discretion

The Minister retains sole pastoral discretion over whether to officiate or participate in any legal marriage ceremony, vow-renewal ceremony, mentorship session, or related service, and over the religious content, order, message, prayers, Scripture readings, vows, and ceremonial elements. The Minister will not be required to perform, include, or participate in any ceremony or ceremony element that conflicts with the Ministry's sincerely held religious beliefs, Statement of Faith, or ecclesiastical standards.

Nothing in these Terms, or in any final written Agreement, limits the Ministry's ecclesiastical authority, church autonomy, religious decision-making, or constitutional, statutory, or common-law protections for religious exercise and expression.

7. Right to Decline, Pause, Relocate, or Discontinue Services

In addition to Section 6, the Minister may decline, pause, relocate, or discontinue any mentorship session, rehearsal, ceremony, or related service if: a required participant appears impaired or unable to freely and knowingly consent; any person engages in threatening, abusive, harassing, or unsafe conduct; the Couple materially misrepresents information relevant to services or legal eligibility to marry; proceeding would require the Minister to violate the law; or venue or location conditions make participation unsafe, unlawful, inaccessible, or inappropriate.

8. Payment, Cancellation & Refunds

A ceremony reservation deposit and the Prepare/Enrich Registration Fee, where applicable, are non-refundable. For ceremony packages, the remaining balance is due fourteen (14) days before the ceremony; if not received, the Ministry may treat the Agreement as canceled by the Couple. Returned or disputed payments are subject to a $35 administrative fee.

Cancelling more than sixty (60) days before the ceremony results in a refund of amounts actually paid, less the non-refundable deposit, registration fee, value of completed sessions or add-ons, and documented expenses. Cancelling sixty (60) days or fewer before the ceremony generally makes all amounts paid non-refundable, except as the Ministry may elect in its discretion or as required by law. A ceremony may be rescheduled once, without an additional deposit, to a new date within twelve (12) months, subject to the Minister's availability.

Nothing in these Terms limits, waives, or disclaims any right, remedy, defense, or procedural protection that may not be limited, waived, or disclaimed under applicable law, including the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices — Consumer Protection Act.

9. Minister Unavailability & Force Majeure

If the Minister becomes unable to perform a ceremony due to illness, injury, family emergency, or other serious or unforeseen cause, the Ministry will make reasonable efforts to arrange an acceptable substitute ordained minister. If no substitute is available, the Ministry will refund the portion of fees paid for officiating or ceremony services (including the reservation deposit), excluding fees for mentorship, registration, and add-ons already rendered, and documented expenses. Except where prohibited by law, this refund is the sole remedy for Minister unavailability.

Neither party is liable for failure or delay caused by events beyond reasonable control — acts of God, severe weather, public-health emergencies, governmental orders, civil unrest, or similar events. The parties will cooperate in good faith to reschedule, and no additional deposit is required for the first rescheduling due to force majeure.

10. Assumption of Risk; Professional Referrals

Engaging the Minister for faith-based pastoral marriage care and ceremony services is voluntary. The Minister acts solely in a religious and ministerial capacity, guided by sincerely held Christian beliefs and Biblical principles. You are encouraged to review the final written Agreement in full and seek independent legal advice before signing it.

The Minister may recommend licensed counseling, medical, legal, financial, or other professional assistance where the Minister believes it may be beneficial. Any such referral is pastoral only — not a diagnosis, professional opinion, guarantee, or requirement. You are solely responsible for choosing, evaluating, accepting, or declining any professional provider or advice.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Minister, the Ministry, and the Ministry's officers, directors, members, managers, employees, volunteers, agents, and representatives are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, exemplary, punitive, special, emotional-distress, or other non-direct damages arising from or relating to services. Except where prohibited by law, if the Ministry is finally determined to have materially breached an Agreement, the sole remedy is a refund of fees actually paid, and total liability will not exceed the fees actually paid.

The Ministry is not responsible for venue rental fees, reception expenses, catering, photography, videography, florists, entertainment, wedding planners, decorations, attire, transportation, lodging, honeymoon expenses, vendor deposits, or other wedding- or event-related costs. All third-party vendor agreements are solely between you and those vendors.

12. Release & Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release, discharge, and hold harmless the Minister, the Ministry, and its officers, directors, members, managers, employees, volunteers, agents, and representatives from claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, or causes of action arising from services, except as expressly provided in the final Agreement. This release does not apply to liability that cannot be released under Texas law, including gross negligence or intentional misconduct.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Ministry from third-party claims arising from acts or omissions of you, your family, guests, or wedding party; vendors or contractors you engage; your breach or material misrepresentation (including legal eligibility to marry); or conditions at a venue you select. This indemnity does not apply where a claim is caused by the negligence, gross negligence, or intentional misconduct of the Minister or Ministry.

13. Confidentiality, Privacy, Media & Intellectual Property

Information shared during mentorship is treated as confidential pastoral communication and will not be used or disclosed except with your consent, where required by law (including mandatory abuse/neglect reporting), or as reasonably necessary to defend against a claim. You agree to likewise respect the confidentiality of the mentorship process.

With your separate written consent in the final Agreement, the Ministry may use photographs, video excerpts, first names, and testimonials from your ceremony or mentorship experience for its website, social media, and promotional materials. That consent is optional, not required for services, and may be revoked prospectively by written notice.

All ceremony outlines, scripts, ministry guides, and other original materials prepared by the Ministry remain its intellectual property and may not be reproduced or used commercially without written authorization. Prepare/Enrich® materials are the copyrighted property of Life Innovations, Inc. You may photograph and record your own ceremony for personal, non-commercial use, subject to venue rules.

14. Dispute Resolution, Governing Law & Venue

The parties will first try to resolve disputes through good-faith communication consistent with Biblical principles, then through Christian mediation with a mutually agreed Christian mediator. If mediation is unsuccessful, disputes arising from a final Agreement or the Ministry's services are resolved exclusively through confidential, binding Christian arbitration before a mutually agreed Christian arbitrator, under the Texas Arbitration Act and, where applicable, the Federal Arbitration Act. Signing a final Agreement means giving up the right to go to court except to confirm or enforce an arbitration award.

These Terms and any final Agreement are governed by Texas law. Hays County, Texas is the exclusive venue for mediation, arbitration, and any permitted court proceeding. Nothing here limits any right, remedy, or procedural protection that cannot be limited or waived under applicable law, including the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices — Consumer Protection Act.

15. General Terms

A final Agreement may not be assigned without the Ministry's written consent and may be amended only by a written instrument signed by all parties. No oral statements, sermons, teachings, website content, brochures, social media content, emails, texts, or conversations — including this page — modify or expand any final Agreement unless included in a signed written amendment. The Ministry does not provide, arrange, or maintain event, wedding, liability, or cancellation insurance; you are responsible for deciding whether to obtain your own.

The Ministry may update this Terms of Service page, including package descriptions and reference pricing, at any time without prior notice. The version posted on this website at the time you submit an inquiry is provided for reference only and does not bind the Ministry to any price, package, or term not restated in your final signed Agreement.

16. Questions About These Terms

If you have questions about this Terms of Service page, our packages, current pricing, or the process for entering into a written Agreement, please contact Marriage Shepherd, LLC directly before making any payment or relying on any statement made outside of a fully executed written Agreement.

This Terms of Service page is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. This page should be reviewed by an attorney licensed in Texas before publication.