🪑 Wedding Table & Seating Calculator

Enter your expected guest count and how many seats each table holds to calculate how many tables you'll need for your reception.

Number of Guests

Seats per Table

How the table count is worked out

A division that always rounds up, since a part-full table is still a table:

tables      = guests / seats per table, rounded up
total seats = tables × seats per table
buffer      = total seats - guests

The defaults divide exactly: 120 guests at 8 a table is 15 tables, 120 seats and no spare. Most counts do not. Put 100 guests at 8 and you get 12.5, rounded to 13 tables, 104 seats and 4 spare - and those four are worth having.

What a seat count means in feet

The seats-per-table figure is yours to set, and the same table takes two very different numbers depending on how tight you are willing to run it:

Table	Comfortable	Squeezed
60" round	8	10
72" round	10	12
8 ft banquet	8	10

Comfortable is about 24 inches of table edge each. Ten at a 60" round gives 18.8 inches, which is elbow to elbow and leaves nowhere for a charger plate. Allow 100-120 sq ft per round table in the room once chairs and walkways are counted, so 15 tables want roughly 1,600 sq ft before the dance floor, bar or band.

The arithmetic treats guests as interchangeable, and a real seating plan does not. Couples, families and friendship groups do not divide into eights, so expect to run a table or two over what this returns.

Frequently asked questions

How many people fit at a 60 inch round table?

Eight comfortably, ten at a push. Ten works for a cake or coffee table but is tight for a plated dinner with wine glasses and a centrepiece.

How many tables do I need for 100 guests?

Thirteen at eight seats each, or ten at ten. Thirteen tables of eight give four spare seats, which is usually the better buy - the extra table costs one more linen and centrepiece, and a crowded room costs you the evening.

Should I include the head table and vendors?

Count the wedding party in your guest number if they sit at rounds, and leave them out if you are having a head or sweetheart table set separately. Photographers and the band eat, but rarely in the room.