Policies

Once you’ve chosen your date and package, we will send over an estimate for your reservation that will include the total cost and details of everything included.

After that, you’ll get a contract and invoice from us. You’ll have 7 days to review and sign your contract and submit it along with your 1/3 reservation payment.

We require a $750 security deposit for your event at that time, as well, which we will send in a separate invoice.

We accept payment by credit card which you can pay directly from the invoice. We also accept payment by a certified check which can be mailed in. Unfortunately, we do not accept personal checks.

Winter Wood Farm requires Event Liability Insurance to be in place for your event no later than 30 days prior to your event.
This is solely to protect you in the event that something happens during your event that caused damage or injury.

We require limits of 1,000,000 general liability & 2,000,000 aggregate (these are the baseline limits on all policies of this nature). The policy will need to cover all the days spanning your venue reservation.

Winter Wood farm MUST be added to your policy as an additional insured. 
Certificates of insurance should be provided to Winter Wood Farm no later than 60 days from your event date. 

A Host Alcohol / Liquor Liability is also required. Even if you are not serving alcohol, this will help protect you from incidents related to alcohol consumption. It’s not unusual for guests to have alcohol stashed in their cars or to try and sneak it in. As a side note, if anyone at your event is seen drinking their own alcohol anywhere on the premises, we will notify you or someone else designated by you to ask the guest to remove the alcohol. That is a huge liability for you and for us.

There are also other additions to the policy that can be added optionally at additional cost to cover postponements/cancellations, jewelry, wedding attire, etc. You would need to obtain a quote for any of those additions separately.

We recommend that you direct any and all specific questions about event insurance to a qualified insurance agent. The information we offer is informational only, and only speaks to what we require as a venue.

You can choose to get your policy from your own insurance agent, or you can obtain one online from a event insurance provider. 

Here is a good article that talks all about event insurance: https://www.brides.com/best-wedding-insurance-4800550 and lists a few good online providers.

If you fail to get the insurance policy by the deadline, we will obtain it for you and send you an invoice that you will need to pay before your event. 

Once you’ve secured your event date, should you need to make any changes to the date or any part of your package, please reach out to us immediately.

We can change your date at no charge within one year, provided that we have another date available. If you want additions to your package we can accommodate that as well. We will send over an amendment to your contract and an invoice if there are any extra charges for package additions.

Please note that any changes would need to be made no later than 60 days prior to your event. After that time, we will be unable to make any changes to your contract or package.

Occasionally we may run a promotional offer on one of our packages.

We will typically offer those via our Wedding Wire page or on our Facebook page.

Instead, we have affordable package options a varying price points that could give you more flexibility in your budget.

We do offer a 10% discount if either one of the couple is active military personnel.

Event package payments are non-refundable.

If you must cancel less than 60 days prior to your event, your entire package fee may also be forfeit, and you will be required to pay any remaining balance in full. 

Your security deposit is refundable after your event provided there is no damage to the property and no additional or excessive clean up necessary.

Winter Wood Farm does not have and ABC license, and, therefore, cannot provide your alcohol. You are welcome to provide the alcohol for your event(s).

Winter Wood Farm requires a certified bartender is present to serve any and all alcoholic beverages.  In many cases, your chosen caterer can provide a certified bartender.
If you are serving any alcohol at your rehearsal dinner, this same policy applies.

If you provide your own alcohol, please know that once it is brought in, it is not for self-service, and must be served by a bartender. If you would like family and guests to drink during your set up or pre-ceremony, you must have bartender here for the entire time to serve it.

Your bridal party, family or guests are not permitted to bring in alcohol for private consumption.  

If there is “tailgating” in the parking area or if other people bring in alcohol, it will result in automatic forfeiture of your entire security deposit. 

North Carolina has a set of requirements as well. Generally, if you limit the alcohol to beer and wine, there are no requirements to obtain a State Permit.
However, a “Limited Special Occasion Permit” is required for fortified wine and spirituous (hard) liquor.

Information about the Limited Special Occasion Permit can be found here:
NC.gov Special Permits

Please note that there is a section at the bottom of page 2 of the permit application that requires Winter Wood Farm’s information and signature.
Winter Wood Farm can provide you with an application that has our information pre-filled.

You must provide Winter Wood Farm with a copy of the permit as you are subject to audit by the State.  Winter Wood Farm, additionally, requires a complete understanding of what alcohol you plan to provide. Please submit a copy of your completed Limited Special Occasion Permit to Winter Wood Farm no later than 60 days prior to your event. 

It can take some time to get the permit approved, so we recommend starting the process as soon as possible. 

Additionally, if you only plan to serve beer and wine, but end up bringing in liquor for shots or other cocktails without the permit, you will forfeit your entire security deposit. The permit is required by law if there is anything other than beer and wine being served. 

Winter Wood Farm requires  you obtain “Event Insurance” through your personal insurance agent or online at Event Helper.
If ANY alcohol is to be served (not just limited to fortified wine/spiritous liquor), Host Alcohol liability must be added to your policy.

Cash bars are not permitted as Winter Wood Farm does not a have a license to sell alcohol on the premises. 
This is in accordance with bylaws of the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

Winter Wood Farm reserves the right to refuse alcohol service to anyone who is severely intoxicated and/or causing damage, disruption or disturbance during your event. 

No one under 21 may consume alcohol under any circumstances and bartenders will require ID.