Camp Symbolas — Guest FAQ

No cell service and no wifi at the farm

Service gets spotty for the last stretch of the drive, but it isn't totally gone until you actually reach the farm. Once you're at Oz — nothing. Plan for it:

• Download offline maps for Point Arena / Manchester before you leave. Once you're up the coast, your GPS will not reload. In Google Maps: search "Oz Farm," tap the "…" menu → Download offline map.
• Screenshot the address and the directions as a backup.
• Download your music and podcasts for the drive — the last stretch has no streaming.
• Charging is fine — there are outlets around the farm, so you can keep your phone topped up. A power bank is still handy if you're camping.

📞 The emergency number

Give this to whoever's watching your kids, pets, or plants:

That's the farm line. If someone needs to reach you Thursday through Monday, that's how. Tell them ahead of time that your cell will be dead all weekend so nobody panics.

📵 A note about phones

We'd love for you to leave your phone behind and just be here with us.

We have professional photography throughout the entire weekend, so you don't need to document anything. It's covered. Put the phone in your cabin and go be present — that's the whole reason we picked a place with no service.

Not on silent in your lap, not for one quick shot. Phones away and eyes up. You can use them at the dinner and party following : ).

🚗 Getting here — please read before you drive

Take the coastal route. Do not take 101 to Boonville.

Google will sometimes offer you a route up 101 to Cloverdale or Boonville, then west on Highway 128 or Mountain View Road. It looks a few minutes faster. It is not worth it.

Those inland cutovers are tight, relentlessly switchbacked mountain roads — the kind that make passengers carsick and drivers white-knuckled, especially in the dark.

Take Highway 1 up the coast instead. It's the "long" way by about 10 minutes and it's dramatically easier driving.

What the coastal drive is actually like

• There are some genuine cliff sections early on (roughly the Marin/Sonoma coast stretch), with the ocean dropping away on your left. Take it slow — there are turnouts, use them.
• After that, most of it is rolling, mostly-straight coastal countryside. You can see the ocean but you're set back from it. Pastures, cows, big sky.

🎯 The final turn — this is the part people miss

It's not far — under five minutes off the highway — but it's dark and easy to blow past, so start watching your odometer when you make the turn.

If you're driving at night

• Deer are everywhere at dusk and after dark. So are foxes, raccoons, and the occasional cow. Slow down.
• Watch your odometer for that 1.7 mile mark — the Oz Farms sign is much harder to spot in the dark.

🌙 Arriving after 11 PM? Tell us first.

If you'll be getting to the farm after 11 PM on Thursday or Friday, please let us know ahead of time so we can make sure someone's expecting you and you're not wandering a dark farm looking for your bed. Let us know early in the day.

⛽ Gas and charging — top off before you come

• ⛽ Gas is SOUTH. The nearest stations are in Gualala, south of Point Arena on Highway 1. If you're coming up from the Bay, you'll drive right through it — fill up there. Don't count on finding fuel closer, especially late at night.
• 🔌 Driving a Tesla or EV? The nearest Supercharger is in Fort Bragg, about 45 minutes NORTH — the opposite direction from everything else. Charge to full before you drive to Oz. There is no charging at the farm, and you do not want to discover this on Sunday with the whole coast between you and home.

🚙 Sharing a car up to Oz Farm

This is the long drive up to the farm, days before the wedding. Getting to the ceremony itself and home again on Saturday night is a separate arrangement.

If you asked for a ride, or offered one, we're matching people up right now. You'll get a text introducing you to the other party, with their number — from there you two coordinate directly on timing and the pickup spot.

• Matches are per journey, so you might ride up with one car and home with another. We'll say who's who.
• Drivers — we match you with people setting off near you, so it's as little detour as we can manage.
• If your travel changes, tell us as soon as you can. We're pairing on final numbers now, and a change this late can leave someone without a seat.

🚐 Getting to the ceremony, and getting home

For everyone sleeping off the farm on ceremony night. If you're staying at Oz, you can skip this — your bed is a walk from the dance floor.

There are zero Ubers, Lyfts or taxis in Point Arena, and no cell service at the farm to call one with. So both legs are arranged in advance — nothing is left to sort out on the night.

Getting there — we're arranging ride shares

For the trip to the ceremony we're pairing people up into cars. We'll match you with someone driving out to the farm and text you both so you can sort the pickup between you.

If you haven't told us how you're getting there yet, do it now — the later it gets, the harder it is to find you a seat.

Getting home — the late shuttle

Wharf Master's Inn (785 Port Rd, Point Arena) is the main stop — it's where most of the off-site crew is staying, about 15 minutes from the farm. Staying somewhere else? Wharf Master's and stops on the way there have priority, so a place further out may mean a short wait.

What it costs

Not free, but we're keeping it as fair as we can — there'll be a suggested donation per rider once the van company gives us final numbers. Tips for the drivers are always welcome. 💛

How to sort your ride

It's on your own guest page — the personal link we texted you. Look for "Need a ride on ceremony night?" and it takes about 30 seconds. "Not sure yet" is a fine answer: we pencil you in either way so there's a seat.

🌡️ Weather — bring a layer, seriously

Point Arena stays cool year-round. During the day, with the sun out, it feels warm and lovely. Then in the evening the ocean mist settles into the valley and it gets genuinely cold.

A light sweater or a shawl is enough for this time of year — but you need to actually have one with you. Keep one in your car, or hang one in the community house so it's there for every evening event.

The one exception: Saturday night's dance party is indoors once the sun goes down, so you won't need much warmth for that one.

Typical late-August range here: 50s at night, 60s–70s during the day. Sunset on Saturday is around 7:45 PM.

👗 Dress code — quick reference

We know it's late and some of you are already traveling, so no pressure if you can't dress up.

👗 Dress code, day by day — the details

Thursday — Kick Off (5–8 PM)

Casual. Whatever you drove in.

🛁 THE HOT TUB IS ON. We'll have a wood-fired hot tub going Thursday and Friday nights. Bring your swimsuit, a towel, and something to walk back to your cabin in — a robe, a big hoodie, slides or flip flops. Sitting in hot water under that many stars is one of the best things about this place.

Friday — Canadian Tuxedo (all day into Cena Decorativa, 5–10 PM)

Denim on denim. Overalls. Farm vibes. Lean in — it's the most fun anyone has getting dressed all weekend.

Shoes matter Friday. We're playing yard games and hanging out in the grass all afternoon, so wear something you can actually move in. No heels — they sink straight into soft ground.

Hot tub is running again Friday night.

Saturday — Semi-Formal (Ceremony 4 PM, reception through 11 PM)

Semi-formal. If you want a reference point, The Knot's semi-formal guide is a good one.

About shoes — please read this part: You'll be walking through redwoods and on dirt paths to get to and from the ceremony. Platform heels, wedges, or flats are your best bet. Stilettos will be a nightmare. And beyond the walking — we want you comfortable enough to be dancing all night.

📵 NO PHONES ARE ALLOWED DURING THE CEREMONY. See the section above.

Saturday After Party — Festival Attire (midnight)

Bring a festival-inspired outfit to change into. Sequins, faux fur, mesh, lights, whatever your heart wants. This is the one where people go all out.

Where to stash your change of clothes: the bathhouse at the community house. There are cubbies and places to hang your things, so drop your afterparty outfit off earlier in the day (Saturday morning is a good time) and it'll be hanging there waiting for you at midnight. Label it if you're worried — there will be a lot of sequins in there.

It's after midnight and the fog is in, so faux fur and anything cozy is doing double duty here.

Sunday — Garden Party (Oma's Garden Graze, 10:30 AM–12:30 PM)

Garden party dress. Florals, linen, sundresses, a nice short-sleeve button-up.

Again: no thin heels. We are in an actual garden, on actual dirt.

If you're staying on the farm through the afternoon (1–6 PM: swimming, games, grilling, mobile sauna), also bring:

• If you're not flying in: swimwear and a towel for the sauna and the creek
• A casual change of clothes for the evening BBQ

Monday — Checkout by 3 PM

Whatever you're driving home in.

🙌 Volunteers needed!

Come find us Thursday or Friday to sign up for volunteer positions throughout the weekend. We need help with things like event set up and ice runs! Any amount of help is appreciated.

💆 Massage sign-ups

Bea Becker is joining us to offer Lomi Lomi massage — and yes, you can book a slot.

Lomi Lomi Nui is a Hawaiian bodywork tradition — a flowing, whole-body, deeply relaxing style that's much more about rhythm and release than pressure points. Bea trained under Sarah Hütt and has been practicing for years. You can read more about her work at beabecker.de/lomi-lomi (her site is in German — your browser will translate it in one click).

Bea will be here at the wedding with us, so you can book her on the farm. If you have never had a Lomi Lomi, this is the trip to try it.

💵 $35 for 30 minutes

Two ways to pay, whichever is easier:

• Venmo @Symbria-Coultas — ideally when you book, so it's done
• Cash — bring it with you and hand it over at your session

If you're bringing cash, get it before you come. There's no ATM situation out here worth relying on, and you won't have service to Venmo once you're on the farm — so whichever way you go, sort it out before you arrive.

When you can book

Where: the Water Tower Cabin on the farm.

🎤 Friday night: the open mic — this is when toasts happen

Friday night at Cena Decorativa we're hosting an open mic, and this is the moment for it.

If you want to give a toast, Friday night is your window. We won't have time for toasts on Saturday, so anything you've been working on belongs here.

We also welcome skits, poems, songs, or any other performance you'd like to bring. Truly anything. The weirder the better.

• Reach out to us ahead of time if you have something in mind so we can plan around it
• We'll also pass around a sign-up sheet that night, so you can decide in the moment
• We'll have speakers and a mic set up — you don't need to bring gear, just yourself
• Bring an instrument if you're driving. Please.

🧭 Saturday: Choose Your Own Adventure

Sunrise–3 PM. A list of things we love in the area.

This coast is spectacular and most people have never seen it.

Pick one thing. Maybe two. Don't try to cram it all in — you have a long, wonderful night ahead of you and the best version of Saturday is the one where you're not rushing back to change. Anything you miss, you can do Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.

🍎 Food — what to bring, and the one meal you're on your own for

We're feeding you. Meals are covered across the weekend, so snacks are really all you need to bring — something for the drive, something for between meals, whatever keeps you civil.

🐿️ Tent campers and glampers — this one matters

Do not leave food in your tent. Raccoons, mice, ravens, and everything else out here will find it, and they will absolutely wreck a tent to get to a bag of trail mix.

Leave any snacks you bring in the community house. Every time. Even the sealed stuff. Especially the sealed stuff.

Stocking up on the way in

If you want to save money, stop in the SF area to stock up ahead of time.

• S&B Market — 19400 Hwy 1, Manchester · (707) 882-2805 · open daily 8 AM–7 PM. This is the closest market to the farm, just a few minutes away. Easiest stop for anything you forgot.
• Arena Market & Café — 185 Main St, Point Arena · (707) 882-3663 · Mon–Sat 7 AM–7 PM. Organic groceries, better selection.
• Point Arena Hotel Liquor Store — 190 Main St · (707) 882-2179 · open till 10 PM Fri & Sat, if you want to bring something to share.

🎒 What to pack

The essentials

• Headlamp or flashlight — this is not optional. It gets *dark* dark out here and you will be walking between the community house and your cabin at night.
• Sunscreen — the coastal overcast burns you without warning
• A warm layer (sweater, shawl, hoodie) for every evening
• Reusable water bottle
• If you're not flying in: a swimsuit and a towel — hot tub Thu/Fri, sauna + creek Sunday
• Sturdy closed-toe shoes for walking the property and the paths
• Outfits for all five days, per the dress code
• Any medications you take — the nearest pharmacy is a long way off

Strongly recommended

• A towel for the hot tub, sauna, and creek — cabin and glamping folks get one towel provided, but a second one for wet stuff is smart. Campers, bring your own.
• Bug spray — mosquitoes at dusk near the water, plus it helps with ticks
• Long pants and socks if you plan to walk off the mowed paths
• Snacks — see the food section. Campers and glampers: these live in the community house, not your tent.
• Cash — for your massage if you're not Venmo-ing, plus tips and the honor-system farmstands around town. Get it before you come.
• An instrument, if you're driving — there's an open mic Friday night and we want you in it. Bring extra shakers, drums, and other sharing instruments if you have space.
• A sheet and/or towel for your massage, if you booked one — we're short on linens
• Slides or flip flops for the hot tub/shower walk
• A robe or oversized hoodie for the hot tub walk back

If you're camping

• Tent, sleeping pad, pillow
• A sleeping bag rated 0–30°F. It gets genuinely cold in the valley at night — but if you sleep hot you could likely get by with a summer bag.
• Your own towel
• Camp chair

If you're glamping

Cozy bedding, sheets, towel, and a charging station are all provided — just bring yourself.

If you're in a cabin

Cozy bedding and a towel are provided — you don't need to bring either. Come as you are.

Cabins have a wood stove and an outhouse. Firewood, kindling, and directions for lighting the stove for warmth are provided. If you're having a hard time lighting it, ask a guest from West Virginia or Colorado.

🎁 Gifts

There's no registry, and there's no gift list. That's on purpose.

This whole week is meant to be a thank you — to everyone who has helped us become the partners we are today. You showing up, driving all that way, and spending five days with us on a farm with no cell service is the gift. We're not being polite about that.

If you insist on gifting us something, please consider chipping in to help cover the cost of food — either one, via Venmo to @Symbria-Coultas:

• 🍲 The food budget for the week. We're feeding everyone for five days. Whatever you can throw at that goes straight into the pot, literally.
• 👶 Our nanny bill — so we can have a weekend alone after the wedding. It's been over a year. If you know, you know.

Truly, either is more useful to us than anything on a registry. And if neither is in the cards right now, please don't give it another thought — just come.

🗺️ Cabin & camping map

Coming soon! We'll send out a map with assigned cabins and camping areas. Stay tuned.

You'll also get a map when you arrive showing where each event is happening, plus bathrooms and lodging — so you'll know where to go without needing your phone.

👶 Can I bring my kids?

Please do — we can't wait to see them. There will be lots of fun activities for them to enjoy throughout the weekend.

One exception: children will NOT be allowed at the afterparty. Plan accordingly for Saturday at midnight.

🐕 Can I bring my dog?

Reach out to us ahead of time to discuss. We can only have a limited number of dogs on the farm, so we need to know in advance — please don't just show up with one.

There will be NO DOGS AT THE CEREMONY. Dogs at the dinner and the reception party are fine.

🕒 What time can I arrive Thursday?

3 PM is the earliest you can arrive.

We'll be hanging out in the community house from around 6 PM onward — come say hi and we'll help you figure out where to go.

We'll be serving homemade soup with veggies from the garden, plus sandwiches, so come make yourself a plate.

The hot tub will be available to unwind in after your travels.

Arriving after 11 PM? Let us know ahead of time — see the driving section.

🅿️ Where do I park?

There's a parking lot as soon as you get to the bottom of the hill at the farm, on your left-hand side.

Just be sure not to block any roadways. Emergency vehicles and farm equipment need to get through.

🧭 How do I find anything?

A map will be handed out when you arrive showing where each event is happening, where the bathrooms are, and where lodging is. You won't have to guess — and you won't be able to Google it.

🍷 Is there a bar, or should I bring my own?

We'll have wine, beer, and cider, plus a couple of basic cocktails. You're covered.

If you're craving something specific, feel free to contribute a bottle to the bar. Bring it, add it, share it.

🚿 What's the shower and bathroom situation?

There is one bathhouse on site with:

• Two showers
• Two joined bathtubs
• Two flushing toilets

We'll put out a sign-up sheet for the showers and tubs so it doesn't get overcrowded — please use it.

There's also an additional outdoor shower — see the map for its location.

🔥 Fire rules — this one is serious

It's late August in California and the fire risk out here is extreme. No campfires, no fire pits, no candles left burning, no exceptions for "just a small one." If you smoke, be extremely careful and fully extinguish — ask us where's safe.

📸 What about photos?

After the wedding we'll send everyone a link to our professional photos — you don't need to worry about capturing anything yourself.

That same email will include a link where you can upload any photos you took. We would genuinely love to see them, especially the ones from angles we'll never have. Since there's no service at the farm, you'll be uploading once you're home anyway — so just take what you take, and send it our way later.

Reminder: no phones during the ceremony. Everything else is fair game.

🏆 The Symbolas Games — how do teams work?

Teams are assigned ahead of time for everyone who marked that they're attending. You don't need to do anything.

Check your name tag for your team name. That's your crew. Find them, and may the best team win.

🌿 Ticks and poison oak — both are real out here

Poison oak

Learn the shape before you come: three leaflets on each stem, the middle one on a slightly longer stalk, edges scalloped or wavy. In late August it's often turning red or bronze rather than green, which fools people. It grows as a low shrub and as a vine climbing trees, and it's common right along trail edges and in the brush near the creek.

• Stay on the paths and don't grab at branches for balance
• Every part of the plant causes the rash, including bare stems in winter — and smoke from burning it is dangerous, which is another reason for the no-fires rule
• If you brush against it: wash the area with dish soap and cool water as soon as you can. The oil transfers, so wash your clothes and anything else that touched it separately
• The rash usually shows up 12–48 hours later, so you won't know in the moment

Ticks

They're in tall grass and brush, and they climb.

• Wear long pants and socks if you're heading off the mowed paths, and light colors make them easier to spot
• Do a tick check every night — behind knees, waistband, hairline, armpits, groin. Get a partner to check your back
• If you find one attached: pull it straight out with fine tweezers, grip as close to the skin as possible, steady pressure. Don't twist, don't burn it, don't smother it in anything
• Save it in a bag or take a photo, note the date, and see a doctor if you get a rash or feel flu-ish in the following weeks

None of this should scare you off the trails — just check yourself at the end of the day and you'll be fine.

🏥 If someone gets hurt or sick

Remember there's no cell service at the farm. If something happens, find one of us or an Oz Farm staff member first — the farm line is (707) 882-3046, and someone will need to drive toward town to get a signal. For first aid, come find us or anyone staffed at the wedding.

For a real emergency, drive to the ER. Don't wait.

Bring your own medications — the nearest pharmacy is not close, and refills out here are a whole ordeal.

☎️ Contact

Questions before the wedding — text or call us!

Emergencies during the weekend, or for anyone trying to reach you:

On the farm we won't have cell service. Find any Oz employee for questions.