Here a few more pieces of information that hopefully will be helpful as you prepare for your event here!  Please note client responsibilities and make appropriate arrangements for staffing needs!  If you need assistance with any of these functions, we can provide staffing at an hourly or by function rate, with advance requests.

General - Setup Details

Tables and chairs for your event will be made available and initially set up in the barn.   We should have your desired table configuration for the head table and cake tables in advance.  Some clients choose a head table, while others choose a table for two (sweetheart table).  Others simply 'float' about the room and visit with guests during dinner. Certain furniture may not be moved, and we will advise you when discussing table arrangements with you.

We will provide and place linens on tables mid morning to early afternoon of the event, depending on the time of your event.  You are then ready to add your place settings and centerpiece decorations.  The place setting setup (putting the silverware and napkins on the table) is typically a function the caterer or other designated help you may have arranged performs.   We can provide hourly staff, with advance arrangements.

We suggest placing napkins and silverware setup on the inside tables, and wrapped silverware available for guests sitting outside on the porches and deck. The glasses are then placed at a drink station, which makes it easy for guests to select their beverage choice.  The plates are then placed on food service tables for easy use by guests.  The place settings we provide include water/tea glasses (or recyclable plastic cups), dinner plates, coffee cups and silverware.  We also have other place settings such as salad bowls and  will price based on needs.   You or your caterer provide the napkins and dessert plates.  Often clients like to use a color napkin to match their color scheme for the event.  Optional Barware packages:  Use of our wine glasses and other specialty glasses such as champagne flutes, Pilsners and Pint/Pub for beer, Hurricane, Old Fashioned/On the Rocks and Margarita glasses available  @$.40 per person.  We have recyclable plastic champagne glasses available for use at $.30 each or the real glass for $.40 each.  As with our place settings, we price the use of the barware per head, not actual number of glasses used.  Typically, a guest may actually use 2-3 wine glasses during the event, but only one glass/per head is charged.   Each specialty glass package is offered separately.  For example, if you want  the champagne glasses, wine glasses and Pilsner/Pub glasses, that would be three packages.  If you are not using our glasses and are serving mixed drinks or draft beer, please provide appropriate plastic cups for serving your drinks, or upon request, we will provide at cost. 

Tables are cleared with dirty dishes taken to the kitchen by your caterer or other people you designate, or our staff if you have arranged for that. The cleanup staff stays through the end of the event to complete clearing all dishes from the tables and putting bottles or cans into the recycling areas and trash into trash receptacles.  (That means a staff person needs to stay until the last guest has left).  If catering staff leaves before the reception ends, hourly staff charges will apply for cleanup if dishes/glasses/trash remain on the tables.  Generally this is the preferred choice of clients and the lowest cost option for the client as the caterers would need to charge to have several people available for clearing tables throughout the evening.   Once the caterer has cleared the plates and other food service items, they usually leave the remainder of the glassware/bottles/cans that are used later in the evening.  Since cleaning these at the end of the reception is a responsibility of the client, the clients generally prefer for Khimaira staff to  handle this function, and an hourly staff charge will apply. 

Linens should be left on the tables, and we will remove those right after the event. Candles should not be moved while hot as wax can spill easily onto tablecloths (and client may then incur additional linen charges). Caterers need to remove their trash from the kitchen when they leave.

Plastic lawn chairs for the ceremony will be placed in the area you choose.  You are then responsible for arranging chairs to suit your needs, and wiping them down if necessary.  Often times this is a service performed by the ushers or other attendants for the groom.  We have approximately 200 lawn chairs to use for the ceremony itself.   If you have a greater number of guests, you may want to rent additional chairs. Or, it may be reasonable for some guests to stand if the ceremony is brief. 

We provide a bar area for serving alcohol (can provide several stations for larger groups), and we have a variety of containers for chilling and serving the drinks.  Your bartender, caterer or other designated person, will be responsible for providing ice and setting up and maintaining the bar service.  We can provide containers for icing and serving from kegs, and you provide the ice and kegs.  We ask that you have a bartender if you have more than 25 guests.  The bartender will keep the drinks properly iced; keep the bar area cleared of trash and make sure clean glassware is available, and in general be there to serve your guests and make us aware if there are developing issues with intoxicated guests.  He/she will also open and pour wines and mix drinks as needed.   We have a number of folks available to serve as bartenders, and prefer to use these people as they are well trained and experienced in how things are done at our venue.

We have various decorations including many types of flower vases and candle holders that you may use.  You are responsible for providing any candles you may need.   We ask that you use tealights, which burn about the right amount of time for an event and are inexpensive and safest to use. There is no charge for using our decorations, but you are also responsible for cleaning items that you have been used, or we can provide staff at an hourly rate to do that for you.

To keep our prices very low, we offer our facilities and services so that the client can use their 'free labor' of friends and family to complete other details, when that is workable.  On the other hand, sometimes that is a hassle for the client, and she prefers to have us cover these details to eliminate those concerns.  If you need assistance with any of the items that are you responsible for, we are always happy to help.  Please make arrangements with us at least a week in advance, and we will have it covered (we will have an hourly employee available to cover your needs as they arise, which will be added to your final invoice).  This might include things such as the place setting setups on the tables; clearing tables; serving drinks; maintaining ice and glasses at self-serve bar;  setup of the lawn chairs for the ceremony; take down/clean up of decorations;  and general assistance with last minute details.

Since this is an outdoor setting, the majority of the facility cleanup and setup needs to take place the day of or the day before the event. Please keep this in mind.  We  vacuum the barn; wash down the floor; clean/dust the furniture; remove spider webs (which seem to return as soon as we turn our backs!); clean and sanitize bathrooms; wash dishes and glasses for your use; and a myriad of other work details. With birds and "critters" coming in the barn at will, this last minute work schedule is necessary.  It is important that we know the times you may want to come to drop off items, have a rehearsal, take pictures,  or or other reasons.  We will do our best to work around your schedule, but please understand our needs as well.  It can be very hard if we are planning to finish last minute mowing on Saturday morning to have the grounds looking good for your ceremony and pictures, and then at the last minute we find you want to come take pictures early in the day or even the day before!  That means we will not have the grounds ready for your picture taking!  

Please remember that events end by midnight.  This means guests need to leave by then. Compared to most venues, we are very generous by allowing guests to bring supplies, decorate and offer rehearsal time the day before the wedding (when our wedding schedule allows), and we have currently no restrictions on how early in the day the event can begin (setup time will depend upon whether or not we have an event scheduled the day before).  However, closing time is important to note, and your guests and  vendors need to know this as well.

Also, when the day before is available for decorating, please remember that this is not intended to be a day of activities for guests.  Because of the heavy workload the day before an event, we will be actively in the barn and working on final cleanup.  We appreciate your cooperation and understanding of this.  We will not have the time and additional staff to cleanup from 'family get togethers' that typically include food and drink.   Please limit your work to decorating.  Then you can spend time with friends and families at some of the lovely B&Bs and cabins available for your rentals for the weekend!

How much food/drink do I need?

This site has some helpful information for calculating these needs.  We have freezer space to store ice, depending upon your needs.  You may need to keep some ice in coolers if you have more than 150 guests or require larger than usual amounts of ice.

Unwanted 'Guests'!

The combination of a summertime outdoor event with food will mean flies will probably join us at some point!  We work hard to keep things clean to significantly reduce flies, but alcohol, sweet drinks and food act like a magnet!  We can often place fans strategically to help keep them from food, but this isn't always possible when hot chafing dishes need to have canned heat in place.  We use fly predators and natural based fly control products.  We also sometimes use low tech and non toxic fly swatters!   We do our best to keep them from becoming annoying for guests.  It helps tremendously if you do not bring food prior to your event time, and also schedule your event later in the evening.  Flies are most active during the heat of the day.  So, if food is sitting out during the afternoons, the flies are actively going to find it...and then stay for supper!  If we wait until later evening for events and food service, we can effectively avoid 95% of any fly activity.

You and your guests can help reduce fly numbers by simply taking care with spilling food and drinks.  We have containers for leftover beer and other drinks, and ask that guests not pour drinks on the ground, as this significantly increases fly attraction.  Also...remember to use the very good strategy  to have  your events later in the evening!  Please see our recommended times on our FAQ page.  The flies are much less active as the temperature cools in the evening hours.

With our large bird population (especially the barn swallows), mosquitoes generally aren't a problem for us.  We usually have a few bottles of insect repellent in the bathrooms, and guests are welcome to use them. Or, you can bring your own to have available should there be anyone who is really sensitive.

Guest Information

We strongly suggest you advise guests to wear comfortable clothing, including shoes for walking in the gardens!  It can be difficult to walk with high heels, especially if it has recently rained!  Remember that this is an outdoor setting, and encourage your guests to dress for their comfort.  Heavy perfumes should be avoided as this can attract unwanted advances from insects!   

Please tell your guests that they should not plan arrive more than 30 minutes early for the event, and 15-20 minutes is recommended.  We need to have parking attendants in place, and this is a reasonable maximum time to have them stationed. 

Also, please advise your guests that we recycle and have appropriate containers for items including glass/plastic/aluminum/cardboard-paper and food waste.

For summer weddings, do consider providing hand fans for your guests!   We can help you customize them for your event, or you can purchase our basic fans with Khimaira Farm logo.  They help with the heat, and also any of those pesky insects who want to join us for the events!

Consider bringing umbrellas for the wedding party if rain is in the forecast!  We do have a limited number of matching umbrellas for wedding parties if there's a sprinkle and they want to stay covered.

Parking

We have parking available in nearby fields, but strongly encourage carpooling whenever possible.  If we have heavy rains just prior to the event, we need to take care with parking in some of the grass areas, so if you can help reduce the number of vehicles, that is greatly appreciated. We strongly recommend shuttle services to and from local hotels.  It makes it very convenient for your guests, helps reduce parking needs at the farm, and helps give you peace of mind for guests who have been drinking.

Children

We always welcome children at our events, but please inform your guests that they will need to provide supervision.  For safety, guests (including children) are not allowed in  buildings or animal housing areas, other than designated areas, such as the Event Barn and adjoining gardens and garden structures.  For your protection and liability, guests should keep a close eye on children at all times.  We can provide qualified child care services, with advance arrangements.  We have a children's 'kid barn' with  toys and play area for children, but for liability purposes, it is only made available if our trained child care providers are utilized. 

Quick Overview:

RESPONSIBILITIES…WHO DOES WHAT?

In general, Khimaira is providing the facility and will perform functions relating to maintenance and availability. The Renter (Client) will perform functions (and/or assign as needed) that relate to the needs of the specific event.

Such as:

 *Client responsibilities can be assigned to labor hired by Khimaira on behalf of client, if client so arranges in advance.

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