How many tables do I need?

How many tables do I need for 100, 120 or 150 guests?

The quick version, using 5ft round tables at eight per table — the size and spacing most venues default to:

Should I seat eight or ten to a table?

Ten is the number venues quote and eight is the number caterers prefer. Both are right, because they are answering different questions: ten is what physically fits, and eight is what leaves room for a wine glass, a bread plate and a served course arriving over your shoulder.

The practical answer for most weddings is eight to nine on a 5ft round. Going to ten saves you two or three tables, which is real money on linens and floor space, but every guest loses about an inch and a half of elbow room and the staff lose the gap they serve through.

How much space do the tables themselves take?

A 5ft round table with chairs occupies a circle roughly 10ft across once you include the chairs and the space to walk behind them. That is about 78 square feet per table before you add anything else. The calculator above uses 12 square feet per seated guest, which is the figure most venues plan against — and if you want to know whether your room actually holds that, the venue capacity calculator works it the other way round.