venue planning

Venue Capacity: How to Calculate Max Occupancy by Square Footage (2026)

Venue Capacity: How to Calculate Max Occupancy by Square Footage (2026) To find a venue's capacity, divide the usable floor area by the space each guest needs: about 6 sq ft per person for theater-style rows, 8 sq ft for a standing cocktail reception, and 10–12 sq ft for a seated banquet dinner. A 2,000 sq ft room therefore holds roughly 333 guests in theater rows, 250 at a cocktail reception, or 166 at a banquet dinner — before you deduct the usual 15% for aisles, bars, and a stage. The fastest way to turn your room dimensions into a real guest count is to calculate your venue's capacity(/tools/venue-capacity-calculator) by layout in one step. I have laid out floor plans for events ranging from a 60-person rehearsal dinner to a 280-guest gala, and the lesson that cost me the most stress was simple: an empty room always looks bigger than...