Love After Lockup? Why Texas Prison Wedding (TDCJ) Officiant Fees Are Based On Distance From My Location…
Nearly everyday I review a request for an approved Texas Prison Officiant i.e. Me. I’m the only Approved Officiant and although we have 5 Officiants on staff, the only one who can legally officiate inside a Prison in Texas.
Most Texas Prisons are a minimum of 2 hours one way from my location in West Fort Worth. My fees are based entirely on time and distance to and from the unit along with 30 minutes inside the unit (Minimum Security Unit) or up to 1 1/2 hours inside the unit (Maximum Security).
There are very few authorized Officiants in the entire state so choosing one you can trust to be there early and ready to work is essential to making your Prison Wedding dream come true. I have never been late or missed a scheduled event in my entire life and I’m too old to start now. Prison Weddings require hiring a reliable Officiant so do your homework. I’m on top of google search engines and because of this, often the first person anyone contacts.
Prison Wedding Officiant Fees MUST BE PAID two weeks PRIOR to your Wedding. My reason for this is distance and a few folks who assumed that not paying their balance when I arrived at the unit was okay-it wasn’t and I left after advising the warden of the issue. When I’m traveling a great distance and trusting you to take care of your end of the bargain, at some point I have to realize that not everyone is honest about their finances or their intentions when hiring either me or anyone else on my staff. The fact is that we offer services that require payment like any other event vendor so telling me or anyone on my staff you don’t have any money isn’t going to fly anymore. I’ve had 7 years of “I will mail you a check or I forgot my wallet or I’ve paid everyone else and don’t have the money to pay you.” Frankly, it’s happened so many times that I have stopped trusting people to honor their obligations and began REQUIRING clients to pay their balance up front. It alleviates a lot of stress for myself and my staff from running around trying to get paid on location too.
If you have to reschedule your Prison Wedding, it will be worked into my schedule. We do NOT offer refunds on services. Why? Because we could have been booking another client and didn’t because you were on the books.
If your fiancée is being transferred to another Texas Prison when you book services, PLEASE let me know the other Prison so I can look up the location at the time of your booking.
Rev Wendy M Wortham