What to Rent for 50, 100, 150, or 200 Guests

Every rental quote we send starts the same way: how many guests, what's the event shape, where's the venue? The guest count sets the skeleton — tent size, chair count, table count — and everything else gets layered on top. This is the by-headcount breakdown we use internally. Four guest counts, four complete rental lists. Plus the things we routinely tell couples they don't need to rent despite what the wedding forums say.

01The short answer

What we actually install on a wedding package — and what you add. 50 guests: Covered $1,236 = 20×40, 7 × 5ft rounds, 55 fanbacks. 100 guests: Covered $1,614 = 20×60, 13 rounds, 110 fanbacks. 150 guests: Covered $2,414 = 30×60, 19 rounds, 165 fanbacks. Delivery $175–$350 round trip. Place settings stay with the caterer. We do not rent a 40×80 — 200 guests is two marquees or a different shop.

The pattern: chairs scale with the 10% spare (55 / 110 / 165). Tables round up at 8 per 5ft. Bars and dance floor are add-ons, not in Covered. One 12×12 floor is the usual 100-guest add; 16×16 is the 150-guest dance-heavy add.

0250 guests — the intimate wedding list

At 50 guests, dinner plus any circulation wants the 20×40 we put on Covered 50-guest — not a 20×20. A 20×20 is cocktail or a kids' table. Instant-book list vs typical add-ons:

• 1 × 20×40 marquee (Covered) — 20×20 only if nobody sits for dinner
• 55 fanback chairs (package default) or Chiavari at $8.50 if you upgrade
• 7 × 5ft round tables (8 seats — the package count). A sweetheart 8ft is an add, not a substitute for rounding up.
• Linens quoted with the tables (120 inch on the rounds). Place settings sit with the caterer — we do not rent china.
• Bistro lights $45/day, or they ride inside Garden Premium
• Dance floor optional: 8×8 (~20 dancers) if you dance; skip it if the patio is the floor
• No heater in July/August; one or two at $100/day in April–May or Sept–Oct

Micro-weddings under 40 guests have their own rental rhythm — tighter seating, smaller tent, often no dance floor — and we're happy to quote that down to a two-hour ceremony-only footprint if that's what you need.

03100 guests — the most common wedding size

100-guest weddings are our busiest bucket. Most of our Lower Mainland weekend work lives here. Instant-book Covered 100-guest is a 20×60, 13 rounds, 110 fanbacks ($1,614) — not a 20×40. Default add-on list:

• 1 × 20×60 marquee (dinner + modest floor). A 20×40 is the 50-guest tent; do not squeeze 100 dinner + a 12×12 onto 800 sq ft.
• 110 fanback or upgrade Chiavari
• 13 × 5ft rounds
• 3 × 6ft banquet tables for bar, gifts, DJ
• 2 cocktail tables for cocktail hour
• Linens for all tables + 110 cloth napkins
• 1 bar + 1 bar back + ice wells
• 12×12 dance floor (optional at this size)
• String lights: bistro $45/day (in Garden Premium). We do not rent uplighting as a SKU.
• Sidewalls $50/day — windward sides, not four walls by default
• Heater $100/day in shoulder seasons — not in Covered

03bBuffet vs. plated dinner at 100 guests — the tent size answer

"What size tent do I need for 100 guests buffet style?" is one of the most common sizing questions we get. Both plated and buffet 100-guest dinners get the 20×60 we put on Covered 100-guest ($1,260 à la carte / $1,614 packaged). A 20×40 can work for plated-only with no floor and no buffet line — we still will not sell that as the 100-guest package.

A buffet station — two 8ft banquet tables in line, with serving room behind and queueing room in front — needs roughly 8×16 ft of clear floor space, or about 130 sq ft. Add a second buffet station (which you should at 100 guests, to keep service times under 25 minutes) and you're consuming 250–300 sq ft of tent floor that a plated wedding doesn't use. That's 25% of an 800-sq-ft tent gone before any guests sit down.

The square-footage math for 100 guests buffet vs. plated:

• 100 guests, plated, no dance floor: 1,200 sq ft (12 sq ft/guest) → 20×60 marquee. Comfortable.
• 100 guests, plated, with 12×12 dance floor: 1,500 sq ft → 20×60. Do not put this under a 20×40.
• 100 guests, buffet, no dance floor: 1,500 sq ft (15 sq ft/guest, accounting for station footprint and circulation) → 20×60 marquee minimum.
• 100 guests, buffet, with dance floor: 1,800 sq ft (18 sq ft/guest) → 20×60 with tight layout or 30×60 with comfort.

The other reason buffet eats more tent: traffic patterns. Plated guests sit and stay; buffet guests get up, queue, plate, and return — twice if you serve dessert from the buffet too. Tables need 4 ft of aisle clearance instead of 3 ft. Multiply that across a 100-guest tent and you've added another 100+ sq ft of circulation requirement.

Practical buffet-100 rental list (in addition to the standard 100-guest list above):

• 2 × 8ft banquet tables per buffet station × 2 stations = 4 × 8ft banquets dedicated to food
• 1 × 8ft banquet for cake / dessert station
• Wider table spacing — 4 ft minimum aisle vs. 3 ft for plated
• Step up to 20×60 marquee from 20×40 (the line item that drives the cost difference)
• 2 cocktail tables in the buffet queueing zone for guests who want to set down a drink mid-line

For full square-footage-per-guest details across event styles, see our square footage per guest guide. The tent CAD: a 20×40 is $1,100, a 20×60 is $1,260 — $160, not a $400–$700 jump. Line-item math: wedding tent rental cost.

04150 guests — where the complexity jumps

Between 100 and 150 guests, the event shape changes. Two bars instead of one, dance floor non-negotiable, and the tent we actually install is the 30×60 on Covered 150-guest ($2,414: 19 rounds, 165 fanbacks). A 20×60 is the 100-guest tent.

• 1 × 30×60 marquee (dinner + dance). We do not rent a second 20×40 as a “ceremony tent” SKU pair unless you book two marquees à la carte.
• 165 fanbacks (15 spares)
• 19 × 5ft rounds
• 4 × 6ft banquets for bars, gifts, DJ, cake
• 4 cocktail tables (Garden Premium 150-guest uses 7 highboys)
• Linens quoted with tables. Place settings sit with the caterer.
• Bar tables are 6ft banquets we already rent — we do not rent a branded bar SKU or lounge sofas
• 16×16 dance floor if dancing is the point; 12×12 is the usual
• Bistro lights $45/day (in Garden Premium). We do not rent uplighting
• Sidewalls $50/day — windward, not automatically four walls
• Heaters $100/day — two or three on a 30×60 in shoulder season

05200 guests — the full production

200-guest weddings are a different kind of event. We do not rent a 40×80 or 40×60 — 30×60 at $1,890 is the top of the published fleet. A 200-person dinner is two marquees (for example a 20×60 + 30×60) quoted à la carte, or another shop's clearspan. Do not plan a 40×80 on our cart.

• Two marquees, quoted — not a 40×80 SKU
• 220 chairs (20 spares) if you still use the 10% rule
• ~25 × 5ft rounds at 8 seats (200 ÷ 8 = 25)
• 6 × 6ft banquets as stations (bar, gifts, DJ, cake) — still banquet tables, not a bar SKU
• Cocktail highboys as needed ($15.50)
• Linens quoted with tables. Place settings sit with the caterer.
• 16×16 dance floor — top of our published sizes
• Bistro $45/day. We do not rent lounge sofas, uplighting, or industrial fans
• Sidewalls $50/day and heaters $100/day as the forecast demands

06What you don't actually need

Five rentals we see on Pinterest checklists that we quietly steer couples away from:

• Rented ceremony arch — florists bring better arches than rental companies; let your florist handle it.
• Rented aisle runner — they slip, they wrinkle, they photograph badly. Skip.
• Rented cocktail napkins — caterer usually includes these; buying is cheaper than renting for something disposable.
• Gold chargers — if you have a tight budget, the charger plates add 8% cost for 2% visual impact. Skip first.
• Dance floor lighting packages over about 80 guests — the DJ's lighting rig covers it.

07The rental-cost-per-guest math

Rental costs scale non-linearly with guest count. On our Covered packages a 50-guest wedding runs about $25 per guest in rentals (tent, chairs, tables), and both the 100-guest and 150-guest packages land around $16 per guest. The reason: the tent is the biggest single cost, and doubling guests doesn't double the tent.

That's useful when you're deciding whether to cut the guest list. Cutting from 150 to 100 saves about a third on the Covered package ($2,414 to $1,614), and you lose the goodwill of inviting people. Cut the menu before you cut the guest list.

08A sample 100-guest order

Example order — a 100-guest wedding in a Fort Langley barn, August:

• 1 × 20×60 marquee, sidewalls
• 110 × fanback folding chairs
• 13 × 5ft rounds, 1 × 8ft banquet for head table
• 3 × 6ft banquets for bar, gifts, DJ
• Linens (white 120-inch rounds)
• 12×12 dance floor
• String lights across tent ceiling
• Friday afternoon load-in, Sunday morning teardown

09Next steps

Pick your guest count bucket, start with the list above, then adjust based on your venue and event shape. Send us the rough numbers and we'll turn it into a live quote — or book instantly online. Every list on this page is deliverable anywhere on our routes — from Chilliwack acreages to tight New Westminster backyards.

Text or email 778-990-7983 or welcome@foreverpartyrentals.com. If you're not sure which bucket you're in (60? 85? 130?), we'll walk through the math with you — we'd rather get it right than quote you the wrong size.

You can also use our free layout planner to drop the items off this checklist into a scaled tent and see how the floor plan comes together — useful for in-between guest counts where the right rental list isn't obvious.

"The mistake at every guest count is the same — over-renting the visible stuff (arches, accent decor) and under-renting the invisible stuff (sidewalls, extra linens, back-up chairs). Budget for the boring rentals first." — Forever Party Rentals Team

We deliver to: Surrey · Langley · Vancouver · White Rock