You’ve Got Questions, We’ve Got Honest Answers
Please read through our extensive list of Frequently Asked Questions below
Financial & Contract Questions
-
Venue Fee for 2024 events is $5900 and the fee for 2025 events is $6400.
See our transparent rental rates, with details on inclusions, here.
-
No. Many venues have minimums because they make a 10 - 15% commission from the caterer based on how much you spend on food and drinks during your event. We choose NOT to make a commission because we want your food and beverage options to be as fancy or affordable as your budget allows, and therefore we don't have a food and beverage, or guest count, minimum. We encourage all couples and event hosts to ask this important question to all venues you are considering.
-
For a 2024 or 2025 event, when the contract is signed and to continue holding the date, we require a $2100 (2024) or $2200 (2025) first payment. The second payment of $1900 (2024) or $2100 (2025) is required 3 to 9 months in advance. The final balance is required 30 days prior to the event. The specific calendar dates for payments will be included in your contract. Please include the last names of the hosts and the event date in the memo line if you are mailing a check. A credit card number will be held on file for any damages to the facility or grounds. Tax (Unincorporated Boulder County only) is applied to each payment. For more information on booking, contract, and payment plan, please click here.
-
Cash, Check, Money Order. These payments and signed contract can be mailed to our secure PO box.
Facility & Logistics Questions
-
We are limited to 99 attendees at your event, per Boulder County Land Use Code.
-
Due to space constraints, and sincere concern for providing a weather-safe event to our clients, we are not able to host onsite ceremonies. We have several creative solutions, including a partnership with the fabulous [historic Ryssby Church] located just one mile away, and the [historic Old Mill Park] located a few miles away in Southwest Longmont, and we are committed to helping you engage with local churches, places of worship, and nearby ceremony locations to help arrange this important and sacred part of your wedding day. We are happy to work with couples concerning how to make an incredible “rain or shine” plan for all aspects of your wedding day including ceremony and reception. We price our package with acknowledgement and understanding that you will have to make arrangements for a ceremony site.
-
At Dry Creek Farm we host only ONE wedding or event each weekend to ensure that each host or couple's event is special and receives our full attention.
-
Even though we are located in rural Boulder County, we are less than 3 miles away from several nice hotels located in Southwest Longmont and Gunbarrel. Click here for a list of local hotels that are “Uber” close! Our ideal location gives you the best of all worlds, including only a 15-minute drive time from Boulder.
-
Our onsite parking lot generously provides parking for 68 cars or trucks plus 4 additional handicapped parking spaces located close to the venue entrance. Parking lot attendants are present at the beginning of every event so guests are parked in an orderly fashion and all vehicles can exit freely and safely at any time. Vendor and service vehicles have their own, additional dedicated parking area, located next to the food and beverage tent. Our emergency evacuation plan includes an alternate exit from the property, in case the primary venue entrance is obstructed.
-
Dry Creek Farm is located close to the foothills and we understand how weather can change quickly and unpredictably. It is important to help you feel confident about any variables that could affect the success of your event. Our summertime events (hopefully no snow!) will happen, rain or shine. In case of inclement weather, all food and drink service, dining tables, dance floor, bridal/host comfort tent, and restrooms are protected from weather. Your event will go on and it will be awesome.
-
Like most in Boulder County, we are hyper-fearful of wildfires at Dry Creek Farm. Fireworks are not permitted, including sparklers. We do not permit ANY open flames including candles, fire pits, etc. Smoking is permitted, outside of the event tents, only in our dedicated open-air smoking area which has benches for sitting. All butts must be disposed of in the receptacles located in the smoking area. Our fire safety plan will be enforced by staff throughout the event.
-
No vehicles can be left overnight. Please advise your guests of this policy. The gates will be locked at 10 pm and as we are also a working farm, the gates remain locked at other times to keep the livestock and dogs in! We appreciate your understanding.
-
Boulder County Land Use Code requires that all of our events must end, meaning lights out and property vacated, by 10 pm. Unfortunately, there are no exceptions to the ordinance and we are committed to keeping it and staying on good terms with our neighbors [see good neighbor policies here]. In order to help guests with the transition and migration off the property, we require all amplified sound and alcohol service to end by 9:15 pm. For more information on all of our Good Neighbor Policies, please click here.
-
Most DJs are self-contained and bring all of their own sound equipment. Being an open-air venue, and not having expertise in audio equipment and technology, we need to leave this area up to the experts, and you. We provide a DJ sound booth and many electrical connections that allow your DJ, our you, to plug in equipment that is brought in for your event. Please note that all amplified sound is carefully measured and monitored throughout the event in order to mitigate impacts on our neighbors.
-
We are a working farm with locked gates! For that reason, all deliveries must happen during the standard rental period on the day of the event. For pick-up, we provide a 2 hour window the day after the event. Please advise your vendors of this policy.
-
Our dining tent layout features 16-foot long banquet tables, accommodating 8 people per side. This farm style, open design promotes open conversations and free form movement between tables. We also feature an 8 ft. bridal party/host table (seats 2-4 people) that is visible from all areas of the tent and is at the head of the dance floor. All dining tables allow all guests a stunning view of the mountains while seated. We have wooden, restaurant style, baby chairs for our youngest guests. This carefully planned layout easily accommodates 99 attendees.
-
Dry Creek Farm staff will handle all standard clean up and trash removal throughout and following the event. If couples or hosts choose to decorate the venue, these items can be collected the day of the event (must be complete before 10 pm) or can come back the next day, during the two-hour pick-up window provided.
-
We have some lovely mountain views and backgrounds including old growth trees and a large barn. All guests must stay within the fenced, and privacy screened, confines of the venue area. This is for the safety of all guests as we are a working farm.
-
With our focus on affordability and accessibility to our venue, we think it makes sense to maintain some basic decor items that you can borrow, for free, for your event. We call it our Something Borrowed Decor Collection. Our inventory of decor items is always growing and presently includes white table cloths, white chair covers, matching table runners and chair sashes (colors available are black, silver, burgundy, gold and burlap), glass vases, basic floral garlands, black lanterns and flameless candles, etc. Once you book your event, we will provide an inventory list of all available decor items for your use, so you don’t have go out and buy these expensive items.
-
We allow limited attachment to the tent walls and fabric curtains; as long as no holes are not placed in the walls. We have areas where hooks are already placed that you are welcome to use for any additional decorations. We do not allow anything to be hung from the tent ceiling structure poles as they are designed to only support the tent and our lighting fixtures. We are happy to discuss all decorating ideas and work toward positive solutions.
-
Nice, clean restrooms are very important for the comfort of our all guests and a stress-free event. We provide a luxury restroom trailer with flush toilets (including a urinal for the gentlemen), sinks, air conditioning, lights, and electricity. There are two restrooms; one for the gentlemen and one for the ladies. Our restrooms are close to the event tents and right next to the bridal/host comfort tent. We precision clean and service our restrooms before every event.
Planning & Scheduling Questions
-
Due to Boulder County Land Use Code, we are allowed a very limited number of events per year. All of our events take place in the months of June, July or August. Please see the available dates information. We limit ourselves to only one event per weekend so we can give all couples or hosts the full attention, and time, they deserve.
-
We are a working farm with locked gates! For that reason, all deliveries must happen during the standard rental period on the day of the event. For pick-up, we provide a 2 hour window the day after the event. Please advise your vendors of this policy.
-
To reserve a date, [check our available dates page] email us at drycreekfarmlongmont@gmail.com informing us that you are ready to book ABC date, if it is still available. We suggest you email us stating you are ready to book your preferred date and then include a backup date in case your preferred date is unavailable. Prior to booking a date, we hope you are able to come out in person to visit the farm. You can request a tour (or a Facetime tour if you live out of the area) on our tour request page, but an in-person tour is not required prior to booking a date. Dates are reserved on a first requested basis. Whomever has requested to start the contract process from us by email first for a specific date will be first in line. Please see our virtual tour video [here].
-
We are a working farm. We kindly request that all tours are by appointment only. On-site tours are only available in the months of June, July, or August as that is the time our facility is setup. We disassemble our tents and pack everything away, between Labor Day and Memorial Day. [Please request a tour here]. Please see our virtual tour videos [here]. A private Discovery Meeting with the venue owner, Zoom or in-person, is also welcomed.
-
Dry Creek Farm provides white table cloths for all dining and service tables, white chair covers for our comfy padded banquet chairs, and coordinated chair sashes and table runners (5 colors to choose from). Also, because of our commitment to environmental sustainability, we provide 100% compostable dinner plates, cake plates, cutlery, bar and drink cups, and trash can liners. Hosts are welcome to rent, and arrange for, China or ceramic plates, glasses, metal silverware, linen napkins, etc. We provide a 2 hour window, the day after your event, for rental and décor pick-up.
-
Cancellations are extremely rare. Because we have so few events at Dry Creek Farm, we want to make sure each available date is booked and serves a couple or host. As soon as a date does become available, we promptly post it on our website [here]. Additionally, we will accept and maintain a cancellation list. If a date becomes available, we will send out a broadcast email to all folks who are on the list, and interested in that date. We will then work through a “first come-first served” method to fill the date, based on the order of responses to that email.
-
You will have access to the venue at the time listed on your contract, not earlier. We will arrange your onsite time(s) to accommodate setup and decorating. We generously allow 7 hours (can be broken up) of onsite time between the hours of 10 am and 10 pm, on the day of your event. If you would like more time to decorate, we offer Friday evening access (only those booked for a Saturday event) for rehearsal dinner, decorating, and hanging out with 25 or fewer people. Click here for more information about our Friday night add-on option.
-
If you're trying to compare venues "apples to apples" we feel like this is a tricky question. Our answer is No. We think it’s possible for the job duties of a "day-of wedding coordinator" to mean something different to you than it does to us, and the last thing we want is miscommunication. However, we do have a Dry Creek Farm team member here before you arrive onsite who is readily accessible throughout the duration of your event. This member of the Dry Creek Farm team is there to help you however they can (be an extra set of hands decorating, answer questions from your vendors and direct them as necessary, and direct our parking lot attendants, etc.) Their goal is to do everything possible to help your day go smoothly and ensure your event is as stress-free as possible! However, we still don't consider any of our team members as a day-of wedding coordinator.
-
You may choose to get to know us during a private tour (in-season) or a one-on-one Discovery Meeting (off-season) [please request private tour or Discovery Meeting here], or an Open House (in-season) event. Open house dates can be found [here].
-
For weddings, we suggest you plan on starting the reception by 4-5 pm, after the ceremony takes place in the afternoon, at an alternate site. For ceremony site suggestions, click here. During our summer events, sunset occurs between 7:30 and 8:30 pm. When skies are clear, our sunsets over the mountains, and our unobstructed views, are absolutely stunning!
Catering & Bar Service Questions
-
We desire to be as flexible as possible, so you can tailor your event to your budget and taste. For caterers, we do ask you to use one of our [preferred vendors] as they have been pre-screened to meet our Boulder County Land Use “Majority Food Ingredients” requirement for farm events. Please see explanation of this requirement, [here].
-
For bar service, if any alcohol is served, we require that you hire a licensed bar tender or service as we do not carry a site liquor license. For your convenience, you can refer to our [preferred vendor list] for bartenders. Other than these two service providers, you can use, or not use, any other vendors, as you desire. For your bartender, we provide a beautiful wood bar, additional table area behind the bar, a large round beverage station, and a private caterer/bartender preparation area, in the food and beverage service tent. Please note that we require alcohol service to cease by 9:15 pm with all guests vacating the premises by 10 pm.
-
In our experience, it's most efficient and most cost effective for couples or event host to work directly with the caterer and other vendors. Simply book your big day with Dry Creek Farm and reach out to the caterers of your choosing to schedule a tasting and get the ball rolling! Contact info for our preferred caterers [on this page].