Working It Out: How to calculate event capacity for your venue!
Know Your Venue
When you become a host on Native Spaces, knowing your space is everything and that includes being able to calculate the correct guest capacity for your venue. From avoiding overcrowding at entrance and exit points to allowing your guests to network comfortably, calculating event capacity is essential to making sure everything runs smoothly on the big day.
In addition to making sure your guests have enough room to mingle, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s also crucial to ensure that your event venue has enough space to offer additional physical distancing measures. To keep your guests safe, you might need to consider changing the internal layout of your venue or blocking off seats to allow guests to remain a meter apart as required.
As a host, we know that you want to make the most of all your usable space whilst complying with health and safety regulations, so we’ve put together some easy guidelines to help you determine event capacity. Read on to discover more about the best way to calculate guest capacity and the maximum number of people you can welcome to your venue when hosting events
Usable Space
As a general rule, when hosting both private and corporate events you will want to allow between 2 - 4 square meters of usable space per person. But the amount of usable space actually needed also depends on the type of event you’re hosting, as each event comes with its own unique set of requirements. Do not forget to include inside and outside spaces in your calculation.
But anything is possible on Native Spaces. Of course, if you have a large space but feel more comfortable hosting fewer people, you can decide to ignore the different calculation rules and share your space with a smaller number of guests.
Depending on the type of event being held in your space, you may need to adapt the layout of your venue. For a sit-down event such as a wedding or a formal dinner, you will need to accommodate dining tables and chairs while leaving enough space for guests to move around the room during the day.
For corporate events and meetings, you might need to provide a conference-style layout with rows of chairs and/or tables for working sessions while networking events such as cocktail parties are usually standing room only to allow guests to move around and socialise throughout the evening.
In addition to guest seating, corporate events such as conferences and meetings may also need extra space for a podium plus audio/video equipment for presentations. Private events like parties and weddings usually require extra room to set up entertainment facilities such as a dance floor, DJ booth or bar. 00 To help you get a feel for determining usable space within your venue, the following formula shows how you can take these requirements into account when calculating capacity
Our best tip to boost your listing and help potential organizers to project themselves is not only to calculate and know the capacity of your space but also to take good picture of your listed space.
Calculating Capacity:
To work out your optimal guest capacity, simply start by measuring the length and width of your venue. Then multiply the length by the width to calculate the total area in square metres. Once you have the total area of your space, all you need to do is then divide it by 2 or 4 to calculate the maximum number of people allowed.
How to calculate :
If the length of your venue is 20 meters and the width is 15 meters, the total area of your space is 300 meters (20 x 15 = 300) To calculate the maximum number of guests you can host using the 4 square metre rule, all you have to do is divide your total space by 4 In this case, 300 ÷ 4 = 75, so you know that the event capacity for your venue is up to 75 guests
Discover a few spaces available on Native Spaces
Have a look at our selection of villas with different space capacity it can help you estimate how many guest you want to host.
Magnificent Loft
Situated in the center for Nice and a few step away from the sea this 160m2 loft is finished in chic white with glamorous decorative touches from all over the world. Bathed in an abundance of natural light, the open-plan loft has multiple living spaces all of which can host 15 people. This is a great exemple of not using any calculation rule and prefering to welcome fewer guests even though there is a lot of space available.
Stunning Villa
Set in the very center of Cannes this stunning villa will be an ultra-luxurious venue for a photo shoot or film. This beautiful contemporary villa of 300m2 offers great amenities and panoramic views of the sea. The main living area has large volumes and lots of light and can host 80 people.
Spectacular Chateau
This spectacular chateau of 360m2 taking into account the outside and inside. It is set between the vineyards and forests in Provence. Designed for entertaining, renting the domaine offers your guests a traditional event venue. Featuring a large outdoor and harvest room for gala , that can host up to 400 guests.
If you have any questions or need help to calculate the guest capacity for your venue, Native Spaces is here to help. Simply get in touch with us for more information about hosting events in Cannes and across the French Riviera today.