Room capacity calculator

How to use it

A venue's capacity is usually the most it can hold standing, or seated with nothing else in the room. This calculator sets your room the way it'll really be on the day, with the dance floor, the bar and the walkways, and counts the tables that fit.

1. Type the room. Wall to wall, from the venue's floor plan.
2. Pick your tables. The venue's or the rental company's sizes.
3. Add the dance floor and the rest. The DJ, the bar, the cake table.
4. Type your guest count. See whether you fit, and what would change it.

Reading the numbers

Tables are measured with their chairs pushed back, about 84 cm (2¾ ft) from the table's edge, the way the seating plan's room check measures them. The spacing is the gap between those chairs, and tables keep 40 cm off the walls.

The dance floor is 2.25 sq ft a guest, built from 3 ft panels and at least 9 ft a side, with a 4 ft walkway round it and round everything else in the room. For 100 guests that's 15 × 15 ft; how big a dance floor you need has the full table. Without a guest count, the floor is sized for the guests the room seats.

The quick rule is 10 to 12 sq ft a seated guest. It's a fair start for an empty room, but it says more fit than really do once there's a dance floor, a bar and space to walk between them, which is why the calculator counts tables instead. Your venue's floor plan, and its fire limit, are the final word.

Your room is kept in this browser, so it's still here when you come back on the same device. Clearing your browser's data clears it too.

What happens when you save

Your room comes with you into a free Linenfold account. With Complete, it becomes your seating plan's room: the size, every table placed at its real size, the dance floor and everything else, ready for you to seat your guests and move things by hand. On the free plan your room waits until you add Complete.

1. Create a free account. No card needed.
2. Your room comes along. Kept with your wedding, safe from a cleared browser.
3. Into your seating plan. With Complete: the room, the tables and the dance floor, placed.

Questions couples ask

How many guests fit in a room?

The quick rule is 10 to 12 sq ft a seated guest, but that's before the dance floor, the bar and the walkways. The calculator counts the tables that really fit, chairs and all, so its answer is the one a venue's floor plan would give.

How many tables fit in a room?

It depends on the table size and the space between them. Type your room, pick your tables, and the calculator packs them in a grid and shows other ways to set the room.

What size dance floor do I need?

About 2.25 sq ft a guest, built from 3 ft panels. For 100 guests that's 15 × 15 ft. Leave a 4 ft walkway round it.

How much space should there be between tables?

Snug is chairs back to back, about 5½ ft between tables. Standard is about 7 ft, room for servers to pass. Roomy is about 8½ ft, for wheelchairs, buffets and mingling.

Can I use it for the ceremony?

It's for the reception. For rows of chairs, allow about 6 sq ft a guest with a 4 ft aisle.

My room isn't a rectangle. What do I do?

Type the largest rectangle you'll set tables in, and add the rest as Something else, or leave it out. Your venue's floor plan is the final word.

Is my room saved?

In this browser, until you clear it. Keep it in a free account to have it anywhere.

Want the rest of the toolkit? Browse the free wedding planning tools.