What Size Tent Do I Need?
Enter your guest count and seating style — get the exact marquee size, square footage, and starting price, plus a to-scale preview of your layout. Powered by the same engine as our free event layout planner.
Enter your guest count and press Calculate — your recommended tent, square footage, starting price, and a to-scale layout preview will appear here.
Tent Size Chart by Guest Count
Dinner seating only, no dance floor — exactly what the calculator engine recommends. Prices are tent-only starting prices from our current catalog (CAD, before delivery & setup).
Round tables (8 guests per 5ft round)
| Guests | Recommended tent | Footprint | Total area | Tent from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 20×40 Marquee Tent | 20×40 ft | 800 sq ft | $1,100 |
| 50 | 2× 20×40 Marquees, joined | 40×40 ft | 1,600 sq ft | $2,200 |
| 100 | 2× 20×60 Marquees, joined | 40×60 ft | 2,400 sq ft | $2,520 |
| 150 | 30×60 + 20×60, joined | 50×60 ft | 3,000 sq ft | $3,150 |
| 200 | 30×60 + 2× 20×60, joined | 70×60 ft | 4,200 sq ft | $4,410 |
Long banquet tables (family-style runs, 6 per table)
| Guests | Recommended tent | Footprint | Total area | Tent from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 20×20 Marquee Tent | 20×20 ft | 400 sq ft | $550 |
| 50 | 20×60 Marquee Tent | 20×60 ft | 1,200 sq ft | $1,260 |
| 100 | 2× 20×60 Marquees, joined | 40×60 ft | 2,400 sq ft | $2,520 |
| 150 | 30×60 + 20×60, joined | 50×60 ft | 3,000 sq ft | $3,150 |
| 200 | 30×60 + 2× 20×60, joined | 70×60 ft | 4,200 sq ft | $4,410 |
The engine always sizes to the smallest 20-ft-wide marquee or joined combination that fits standard catering spacing (~10.75 ft pitch per round table, 4 ft guest aisles), never recommends more tents than our fleet stocks, and only reaches for the 30×60 when no 20-ft combination can hold the layout — typically 150+ guests. A dance floor, head table, or buffet adds footprint: use the calculator above for your exact combination. Tent specs and pricing live on the product pages: 20×20, 20×30, 20×40, 20×60, 30×60.
How We Size a Tent
Square feet per guest
Cocktail events run about 8 sq ft per guest. Seated dinners need 12–15 sq ft once you add chair push-back and aisles. Ceremony rows fall in between. Our engine sizes from the actual furniture footprint, not just a rule of thumb.
Table pitch, not table size
A 5ft round is 5 ft across — but with chairs it's a 9.2 ft envelope, and with walking room it sits on a ~10.75 ft pitch (the catering-industry standard). That's why round-table layouts need wider tents than most people expect.
Dance floors & extras
We size dance floors at roughly 3 sq ft × 40% of your guest list, snapped up to our real floor sizes (8×8 to 20×20). Head tables and buffet lines reserve their own zones before the seating grid is placed.
Tent Sizing Questions
For 50 guests at long banquet tables run family-style, a single 20×60 ft marquee (1,200 sq ft) works — even with a dance floor — with tent rental from $1,260. Round tables need more width: two 20×60 marquees joined side-by-side (40×60 ft, 2,400 sq ft) from $2,520. Smaller groups: 20 guests fit a 20×20 at long tables ($550) or a 20×40 at rounds ($1,100).
For 100 guests — round or long banquet tables, with or without a dance floor — two 20×60 marquees joined side-by-side: a 40×60 ft footprint, 2,400 sq ft (24 sq ft per guest), with tent rental from $2,520. The dance floor tucks into a corner of the tent beside the seating rather than demanding its own full-width zone.
In the Lower Mainland we recommend sidewalls for any event outside July–August, for evening events, and for any site exposed to wind — they keep rain, wind, and chill out and hold heat in if you add a tent heater. Sidewalls rent per panel, so you can wall in only the weather side.
It depends on the municipality and tent size. Many Metro Vancouver municipalities require a permit for larger tents (commonly over 60 square metres / about 645 sq ft) on private property, and parks have their own booking rules. A 20×20 backyard tent rarely needs one; joined marquees for 100+ guests often do. We walk every customer through their city's rules — read our tent permit guide or call 778-990-7983.