Wedding venue capacity calculator
Type in the length and width of the room to see how many guests it seats for the wedding breakfast, with a top table, a dance floor and a bar. A 20 × 14 m room seats about 120 at round tables of 8.
Guests by room size
| Room | Floor area | Seated comfortably | At a squeeze | Standing reception |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 × 10 m | 150 m² | 50 | 82 | 83 |
| 18 × 12 m | 216 m² | 83 | 120 | 123 |
| 20 × 12 m | 240 m² | 98 | 138 | 155 |
| 20 × 14 m | 280 m² | 120 | 163 | 182 |
| 25 × 15 m | 375 m² | 170 | 234 | 261 |
| 30 × 20 m | 600 m² | 306 | 402 | 420 |
Seated at 5ft rounds of 8 with a top table of 10, a dance floor sized for the guests, a DJ and one bar per 100 guests. “At a squeeze” is the most the room takes with every gap at its minimum. Standing is a drinks reception with the dance floor.
How to measure the room
Measure the part of the room you'll actually use, wall to wall. If the venue sends a floor plan, take the sizes from that. If it doesn't, a laser measure or a long tape on a viewing is fine; pacing it out is usually within a metre.
Leave out anything that's fixed and in the way: a stage you won't use, a bar counter built into one end, a fireplace that sticks out. If the room is L-shaped, measure the main part. The smaller arm is often perfect for the bar or a lounge, but don't count on it for tables.
What the number includes
These figures are roomier than the "1 m² per guest" you'll see quoted, and that's deliberate. A rule of 1 m² covers tables and chairs and nothing else. On the day you also need a top table, a dance floor with a walkway round it, a DJ, a bar with space for its queue, and paths for staff to bring out plates.
The calculator's room sizes are calibrated so the planner can lay every guest out without breaking its spacing rules:
- 1.5 m between tables, edge to edge. Below 1.2 m, chairs bump.
- About 0.55 m behind each table for a seated guest's chair.
- 1.2 m walkways, never under 0.9 m.
- 1.2 m clear in front of every door and fire exit.
- 0.3 m² of dance floor per guest and one bar per 100 guests.
So a room you're told "seats 150" may well seat 150 in rows of tables with no dance floor. Put a dance floor, a DJ and a bar in the same room and the figure can drop a long way. Ask the venue which layout their number is for.
What changes the answer
- Extras. The calculator starts with just the dance floor. Tick the extras to add a cake table, gifts table, photo booth and lounge: the 20 × 14 m room goes from 120 to about 106.
- Long tables. Trestles in rows suit long, narrow rooms and barns. In a squarer room they seat a few fewer than rounds.
- A band or a buffet. A band needs a proper stage area, and a buffet needs space for the queue. Each can take two or three tables' worth of floor.
- Pillars, beams and awkward shapes. A row of pillars down the middle can cost you a table on each side. So can a very narrow room, where tables can only go two abreast.
- Children and evening guests. Children still need a chair at the meal. Evening guests don't need a seat, but they do need standing room, so check the standing figure too.
See your own room laid out
A number is a good start, but a floor plan settles it. The button under the calculator opens the planner with a room the size you typed in, already filled with tables for your guests, plus a top table, dance floor and bar. Look at it in 3D, drag the tables round, and add doors, windows or pillars where your venue has them. If something doesn't fit, the planner flags it.
Check with the venue
Every room has a licensed capacity and its own fire rules, and those always come before any calculator. When you ask the venue, ask for the seated figure for a wedding breakfast with a dance floor, and where the fire exits are. Then send them your plan. They'll tell you quickly if the bar can't go where you've put it, or a door needs to stay clear.
Draw your venue in a few minutes. Click out the walls, type in their lengths, or trace over the floor plan the venue sent you. Then fill it with tables and see it in 3D.
Draw your venueQuestions
How many wedding guests can a 20 × 14 m room hold?
About 120 seated comfortably at round tables of 8, with a top table, a dance floor, a DJ and a bar, and up to about 163 at a squeeze. Add a cake table, gifts table and photo booth and the comfortable figure drops to about 106.
How much space do I need for 100 wedding guests?
About 257 m², a room of roughly 20 × 13 m, for a sit-down meal at round tables with a top table, a dance floor, a DJ, a bar, a cake table, gifts table and photo booth. At an absolute squeeze it can be done in about 194 m².
Why is this more than 1 m² per guest?
The 1 m² rule only covers tables and chairs. These figures also include the walkways between tables, the top table, a dance floor with room round it, the DJ and the bar, so the planner can actually lay every guest out.
Is this my venue's legal capacity?
No. It's a planning rule of thumb for how a room lays out. Your venue has a licensed capacity and fire rules for each room, and those always win. Ask for them before you book.
More free tools
- How big should a wedding dance floor be?Your guest count in, the floor size out. Or a floor size in, and how many it suits.
- Wedding table calculatorHow many tables, chairs and tablecloths for your guest count, at rounds or trestles.
- Marquee size calculatorThe marquee size for your guest count, in standard hire sizes, with room to dance.
- Table plan makerPaste your guest list and print an A to Z table plan for the door. Free, no sign-up.
More planning guides
- Wedding table plan templateTop table, round tables or long banquet rows: how to lay out and print a table plan your venue and caterer can work from.
- How big should a wedding dance floor be?A guest-count table of floor sizes, plus the spacing rules around it: tables, walkways and the bar.
- Wedding reception layout ideasSix real layouts, from a country barn to a sailcloth marquee, and when each one works best.