What Fits in Your Venue? A Furniture Capacity Guide

Most people booking furniture know their venue and roughly how many guests they're expecting, not how many chairs and tables that translates to. Use this as a starting estimate, then adjust for your actual floor plan.

Banqueting (round tables, seated dining)

• Allow roughly 1.5m² per seated guest including table and chair space
• A 5ft 6in round table seats 8-10 guests
• A 100m² room comfortably seats 60-70 guests banqueting style

Theatre style (rows of chairs, no tables)

• Allow roughly 0.7-0.9m² per guest
• A 100m² room seats 110-140 guests theatre style, depending on aisle width

Standing/reception style

• Allow roughly 0.5m² per guest for a comfortable standing crowd with poseur tables
• A 100m² room holds around 150-180 guests standing, fewer if there's a bar or stage taking up floor space

Working from a floor plan

These numbers assume an open, unobstructed room. Pillars, fixed bars, stages and fire exits all reduce usable space, so treat the estimate as a starting point and check your venue's own floor plan or ask your venue coordinator for their maximum capacity by layout.

Once you have a rough number, check live stock and pricing for your date, or get in touch for help matching furniture to your exact room.

Related guides

• Accessible seating layout guide
• Furniture Hire