The Special Formula

Ok, it's not really that special. But believe it or not, there is some rhyme and reason to how we select a tent type and size for an event. We call this The Special Formula, and it goes something like this:

• First, we consider the number of guests. Let's use 100 to make the math easy.
  
• If the event is a sit-down, then the guests need tables. At 10 guests per table, we now have 10 round tables (5' in diameter) for seating. We like to allot 100 square feet per guest table, so we're now at 1,000 square feet for our tent.
  
• Next, we factor in other items, such as buffet tables, bars, cake table, DJ table, etc. We allow for 150 square feet for bar and buffet tables, so if our event has two buffet tables and two bars, we're looking at another 600 sq. ft., which brings our total to 1,600 square feet.
  
• If that's everything we're having, then we'd be looking at something like a 40x40 pole tent. Here's what the layout could look like:
  

This size tent would be pretty perfect, and there's still a little bit of room if we wanted to squeeze in a DJ table.

But what happens if we want a dance floor? That makes things a little more complicated. Since it's likely that not all the guests will be hitting the dance floor at the same time, we tend to allow for space for about half the guests at a time. Of course, if your event requires otherwise, we can plan for all the guests to be dancing at once as well. But for our event, we'd be looking at a 12x16 area for the dance floor, which comes out to about 2 square feet per guest. (Since the dance floor panels are 4x4, the best we could do for this is a 192 square foot area.)

Here's how it would affect our layout:

We're faced with some pretty major changes here. The table behind the dance floor is for a DJ, since the two basically go hand in hand. Adding these two items pushed our tent size from a 40x40 to a 40x50, giving it 400 extra square feet (for a total tent area of 2,000 sq. ft.).

So, while the formula may not be that special, and is subject to vary quite a bit for individual cases, it gives us a pretty good starting point.


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