Wedding tent size calculator

Tent size by guest count

These are the calculator's picks from standard rental sizes, for a seated dinner on 60" rounds of 8 with a head table for 10, a dance floor with a walkway around it, a DJ, one bar per 100 guests, and cake, gift and photo booth tables.

“Recommended” is the smallest standard size with enough floor. For a seated dinner with a head table it has to be at least 30 ft wide. “Standing / cocktail” has high tables, a dance floor and a bar, but no dinner seating.

What fits in common tent sizes

Seated figures below include a dance floor, a bar, a head table, a DJ and the cake and gift tables. That's why they're lower than a rental company's chart.

• 20 × 40 ft is too narrow for a seated dinner with a head table. It works as a catering or bar tent, or for ceremony rows of about 100 chairs.
• 30 × 60 ft seats about 50 comfortably, up to about 83 at a squeeze.
• 40 × 60 ft seats about 83 comfortably, up to about 120 at a squeeze.
• 40 × 80 ft seats about 120 comfortably, up to about 163 at a squeeze.
• 40 × 100 ft seats about 163 comfortably, up to about 213 at a squeeze.
• 60 × 90 ft seats about 234 comfortably, up to about 314 at a squeeze.

“At a squeeze” means every table at the minimum gap with no slack. It can be done, but servers and guests will be edging sideways all night.

Why rental charts say more

Tent companies usually quote 10 to 12 sq ft per guest for round tables. By that count a 40 × 60 ft tent seats 200 or more. That figure is the tables and chairs alone, wall to wall.

A wedding also needs a dance floor and room to get on and off it, a bar with space for a line, a head table, a DJ or band, and walkways wide enough for servers carrying plates. This calculator is set up so the planner can actually lay all of that out, so it comes out roomier. When a chart says a 40 × 60 seats 150, read it as 150 at tables with nothing else in the tent.

What changes the size

• A buffet or a live band. Both take real floor. With a buffet and a band, a 40 × 80 ft tent seats about 98 instead of 120.
• Pole or frame tent. Pole tents (including sailcloth) have center poles and are usually cheaper, but the poles land where they land, so a table or the dance floor has to work around them. Frame tents have no center poles, so every square foot is usable, and they can go on a patio or driveway.
• Sidewalls and a weather plan. If rain or cold is possible, you'll want sidewalls ready to go up, and maybe heaters or fans. Heaters need clear space around them.
• A catering tent. Caterers usually want a separate tent behind the main one for prep and dish return. Ask them what size they need and keep it out of your guest count.
• A lounge, a dessert table or a photo booth. Add them in the planner and see whether the tent still works.
• The ceremony under the same tent. Possible, but you'll need a turnaround between the ceremony and dinner while guests are elsewhere.

Check with the tent company

Before you book, send the rental company your guest count and a floor plan, and ask:

• Where the poles fall, and whether that lines up with your tables and dance floor.
• How much flat lawn they need around the tent for stakes, or whether it needs weights on a hard surface.
• Whether your town needs a tent permit, and what the fire code means for exits, lighting and heaters.
• What flooring, lighting and power come with it, and where the generator goes.

Inside the tent, plan on about 5 ft between tables edge to edge (below 4 ft, chairs bump), walkways of about 4 ft and never under 3 ft, and about 4 ft clear in front of every exit. These are planning rules of thumb. The tent company's layout, your permit and the fire code come first.