Reservation Terms

These terms govern your rental of The Kit from Forever Stories, LLC DBA Shutter & Sound, a Maryland limited liability company with its office at 3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 213, Baltimore, Maryland 21211 (“the studio,” “we”). By completing checkout you agree to be bound by these terms in their entirety. If anything below is unclear, email us before you place an order — we'd rather have the conversation up front.

1 · When a reservation is confirmed

Your reservation is locked the moment your payment is captured and we email you a confirmation. Until then no dates are held. If you don't receive a confirmation email within five minutes of checkout, contact the studio before assuming the order went through.

2 · Cancellation schedule

• 30+ days before your wedding date: full refund.
• 15–29 days: 50% refund.
• 14 days or fewer: no refund. The kit is reserved for your specific dates and we typically can't backfill on short notice.
• If the studio cancels for any reason on our end (gear damage from a previous renter, shipping failure, equipment loss): 100% refund plus a 20% good-faith credit toward a future booking.

3 · Date changes

• 14+ days notice and inventory available: free reschedule.
• 7–13 days notice: $50 reschedule fee.
• Less than 7 days: treated as a cancellation under the schedule above, plus a new booking.

4 · Shipping & delivery

We ship UPS Ground, with the lead time set per destination so the kit arrives a comfortable 1–2 days before your wedding. Most East-Coast addresses ship 4–5 business days out; cross-country addresses typically ship 6–8 business days out. We decide the exact ship date when your order is confirmed and email you the tracking number. Studio responsibility ends at the “delivered” carrier scan.

Service area: contiguous United States only. We ship to the lower 48 states. We don't currently ship to Hawaii, Alaska, U.S. territories, APO/FPO/DPO military addresses, or international destinations (Canada, Mexico, anywhere else). This is a battery-shipping regulation thing — we'd love to broaden one day.

Why Ground? The Kit ships with lithium-ion camera batteries. Air shipping of consumer lithium batteries requires hazmat paperwork and a state-of-charge limit that would mean you receive partially-drained batteries — not great for a wedding. UPS Ground has no such restriction, so you get fully-charged batteries every time.

• If UPS fails to deliver on time despite our on-time ship: we overnight a replacement at our cost (when feasible) or refund the order under our cancellation tiers.
• If a delivery failure is caused by a wrong address you provided: you pay actual reshipping cost (typically $35–$75). A second wrong-address attempt becomes a cancellation under our 50%-refund tier.

5 · Test on arrival — required within 24 hours

You must unbox and functionally test the kit within 24 hours of delivery. Power on every camera, mount every lens, fire every microphone, confirm record/playback on every recorder. If anything is wrong, email the studio immediately so we can ship a replacement.

If you discover an issue on your wedding day that should have been caught in the 24-hour test window, our remediation is limited. We may offer a good-faith credit toward a future rental, but a full refund of the wedding-day rental is not on the table once you've had the gear for over 24 hours without reporting a problem.

6 · Return — when it must be scanned into UPS

The kit must be scanned into UPS by 11:59 PM local time on the return dateprinted on your order. The carrier scan is the source of truth, not when you claim to have dropped it off. Use the prepaid return label we included.

There's a one-day grace period. Late fees start on the second calendar day past your return date. See the Late Returns policyfor the full schedule.

7 · Your obligations during the rental

• Keep the kit in your reasonable possession at all times. Do not leave it in unattended vehicles. Theft from a parked car is not covered, with or without the damage waiver.
• Do not sub-rent, lend, or transfer the kit to anyone outside your immediate event team.
• Operate the gear in accordance with the manufacturer's normal use and the catalog spec. The quick-start guide we email with your tracking number covers the essentials.
• Return every item listed on the pack list inside your box. Missing accessories are charged at flat replacement rates per the Loss & Damage policy.

8 · Transferability

Reservations are non-transferable to a different event or order-holder without studio approval. Both partners' names are on file via the partner name we collect at checkout — either of you can act as the order-holder.

9 · What we guarantee · what we don't

We guarantee:

• Gear arrives functional and matches the spec described in the catalog.
• The kit is professionally maintained between rentals.
• Honest, prompt support if anything goes wrong with the equipment.

We do not guarantee:

• The quality of your footage. We rent equipment, not expertise.
• Cosmetic perfection. Light cage scratches, slight rubber wear on lens grips, and similar are normal on professional rental stock.
• Performance outside the catalog spec (e.g., using a non-weather-sealed lens in a rainstorm).

10 · Limitation of liability

Forever Stories, LLC DBA Shutter & Sound's total liability for any rental — including gear malfunction, late delivery, or media-card failure — is limited to the amount paid for that rental. We are not liable for consequential damages including loss of footage, loss of audio, missed shots, or any inability to fulfill your wedding-day expectations from the rented equipment. We strongly recommend you (a) test gear within 24 hours of arrival, (b) record to redundant media whenever possible, and (c) carry your own coverage insurance for irreplaceable events.

11 · Assumption of risk

Photography and videography equipment is fragile, valuable, and subject to wear in real-world use. By accepting delivery of the kit, you assume the risk of customary use and agree to operate the equipment with the care of a reasonably prudent professional. Memory cards, batteries, and similar consumables are wear items and are not subject to damage protection.

12 · Force majeure

Neither party is liable for non-performance caused by events outside reasonable control — natural disasters, government action, postponement of the wedding due to public emergency, or carrier-side delivery failure. In such cases the studio will work in good faith to reschedule, refund, or credit toward a future booking.

13 · Authorization to charge

You authorize the studio to charge the payment method on file for any of the following, in addition to the order total:

1. Damage charges as defined in the Damage Waiver Terms— full cost without waiver, up to the $250 deductible with waiver for covered events, and full cost for excluded events.
2. Late return fees per the Late Returns policy.
3. Replacement cost of any item not returned.
4. Expedited reshipping if your late return prevents a subsequent customer's booking, billed at the studio's actual UPS cost.
5. Reshipping fees if you provide an incorrect address or refuse delivery.
6. Cleaning fees of $50 (minor) to $200 (major) when equipment is returned in a condition requiring restoration.

Before any of these charges is applied, you will receive an email itemizing the charge with photos (where applicable) and a five-business-day dispute window. Charges of $500 or more require a second admin approval inside our portal.

14 · Disputes

Most disputes are resolved by emailing the studio inbox within the 5-business-day window noted on any charge email. If a dispute cannot be resolved by good-faith conversation, both parties agree to attempt mediation before any litigation.

15 · Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Each order is frozen at the version in effect on the day you placed it (your order page shows your version). Updated terms apply only to new orders.