VENDOR POLICIES
Any vendors who are contracted to work at Hilltop Guest Ranch must adhere to the set of standards and policies listed below. Set standards help ensure that our mutual client is experiencing top level service from all contracted vendors throughout their wedding weekend. Failure to comply with these policies will jeopardize any vendor’s ability to work at Hilltop again in the future and may also jeopardize the mutual client’s security deposit. We reserve the right to refuse access to any vendor who does not meet our standards or respect our policies.
general policies (for all vendors)
All vendors are highly encouraged to read through all of the below policies, as the information listed covers many vendor categories. It is each vendor’s responsibility to be educated on Hilltop policies PRIOR to working onsite.
Prior to wedding day:
All visits, deliveries, and pick ups MUST be scheduled and approved by Hilltop staff. Hilltop Guest Ranch is private property and we ask that you be respectful of the property and our guests.
Deliveries/installs may be made on the day of the event or the day prior (only with approval).
Picks ups/strikes may be made on the day of the event or the day following no later than 12:00pm (only with approval).
All rental companies MUST receive direct approval for their delivery/pick up windows from Hilltop staff and MUST submit the name and direct phone number of the crew lead prior to coming onsite.
All vendors must submit a COI for their business in advance of working onsite. This COI must include BOTH of our entities as additionally insured: Hill Top, LLC and Caravan Social, LLC.
If you are a bar service or a caterer serving alcohol, your COI MUST include liquor liability and you MUST submit certification of alcohol safety via TIPS, ServSafe, etc.
On wedding day:
We have a zero tolerance policy for smoking, alcohol, and drugs while you are working onsite. Any infraction of this policy will result in you, your company and anyone involved never being allowed to work here again. The parties involved will also be asked to leave the premises immediately.
Driving on our lawns is strictly prohibited. We work incredibly hard to maintain the grass and the extensive irrigation systems – driving on the lawns puts this in jeopardy for our guests next weekend.
Vendor parking will be in our parking pasture right next to the barn. If you have items to unload, please ask Hilltop staff where you can do so.
Screws, nails and staples are not to be used on our wood barn, or any of the structures on property. If you need assistance attaching something to one of our structures, please use twine, zip ties, monofilament or wire and attach to existing hardware.
Any lawn staking must be approved and overseen by Hilltop staff.
Alcohol must stop service by no later than 9:30pm - no exceptions.
Bar service is responsible for: breaking down all boxes, handling bar trash, and neatly compiling all remaining alcohol/beverages behind the barn
We take the 10:00pm county noise ordinance very seriously. All music/amplification and other vendor services are to end at this time. Breaking this rule will result in a fine to the client and the vendor not being welcomed back to work onsite.
DJ/Musicians may not under any circumstances continue services onsite past 10:00pm. If the guest asks, you may not play at the after party.
At the end of the evening, all rentals must be removed from the lawn areas and buildings and neatly stacked on the covered porch, unless prior approval has been received by Hilltop staff.
ALL vendors are required to remove their belongings the night-of by no later than 11:00pm, unless prior approval has been received directly by Hilltop staff. Any remaining items that are not approved to stay will be discarded.
Full breakdown of all rentals and decor installations is required night-of, unless prior direct approval has been received by Hilltop staff. If the load-out is expected to take longer than one hour (11:00pm), the vendor must receive approval to either stay later or to load out the following morning. We firmly enforce an 11:00pm load-out end time as part of our venue permit requirements.
It is the responsibility of the florist to remove any and all floral install no later than 11:00pm on the event day, unless prior direct approval has been received by Hilltop staff.
planner policies
Hilltop Guest Ranch requires all weddings to have a planner involved for AT LEAST partial planning services. We ask our clients to check with us before hiring a planner to make sure that they are permitted to work at Hilltop and meet the requirements to do so. A “day of” or “month of” coordinator does not fulfill our requirements. Guest contracts should be for partial planning or full service planning ONLY (with services starting no less than 6 months ahead of wedding day). This requirement is written into our Wedding Weekend Agreement. If your client’s contract does not meet this requirement, it is the planner’s responsibility to notify Hilltop staff immediately.
Hilltop also requires a planner to be contracted for any event outside of wedding day that exceeds 50 guests. If the planner is aware that the guest is planning a gathering of that size or more and the planner has not been contracted, it is the planner’s responsibility to notify Hilltop staff.
PLEASE REMEMBER: ALL FINAL DOCUMENTS ARE DUE TO HILLTOP 15 DAYS PRIOR TO THE EVENT.
This includes the full weekend timeline with load in/out schedules, final guest counts, vendor contact lists, and all event layouts.
Prior to working onsite each year, every planner must submit (or resubmit) a signed copy of our planner agreement. Once signed, please submit a scanned copy via email to Ashley@hilltopguestranh.com
catering policies
Wedding day catering is limited to a closed catering list that Greengate Ranch & Vineyard has provided to the guest. For those caterers on our catering list, it is their responsibility to inform ALL staff of our policies and to abide by our caterer agreement. All caterers are required to handle full breakdown of the event on the day of the event. Failure to comply with the policies on our written agreement will result in the caterer being removed for our catering list.
Prior to working onsite each year, every caterer must submit (or resubmit) a signed copy of our caterer agreement. Once signed, please submit a scanned copy via email to ashley@hilltopguestranch.com