Event layouts may seem like the most ordinary of things. A relatively simple sketch of where tables, chairs, stages, furniture and other items should be placed in an event room or space. And a basic planning tool in the toolbox of most any event planner or venue manager.
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But in reality, practically EVERYTHING depends on your event layout, like:
Yes, a lot is riding on your event layout design. But if you follow these nine best practices, you will have a solid foundation on which to create event floor plans that will keep your attendees in awe and coming back for more.
WARNING: Although some of the initial tips may seem more practical than wildly innovative (see the bottom of the article for our edgier ideas), God is in the details when making a big impression, and we speak from experience when we say that following these guidelines sets you up for success.
Simply put, every event should have a singular purpose or mission.
For a social event like a wedding or party, it could be to celebrate the occasion and create unforgettable memories. For corporate events, it’s to promote a product/service, enhance your brand or facilitate staff bonding. For fundraisers or galas, it’s to promote a cause or increase donations. And for conferences or meetings, it’s to educate attendees or create connections.
Your first step is to identify this one primary purpose and plan your event setup and activities around achieving this goal. Here are two examples.
Say you are planning a professional conference focused on education, networking and professional development for your attendees and fundraising for your organization. To accomplish this, you plan to have keynote addresses for speakers and presenters, breakout sessions, group dining, happy hours and an exhibit hall for vendors and sponsors. Your event floor plans will need to easily accommodate all these functions with flair.
Or say you are tasked with creating a room layout for a special event like a wedding. To create a memorable experience in one space, you need to account for seating for the ceremony, a dining area for a gourmet catered sit-down meal, a front focal point for speeches, a small stage for a band or DJ and a dance floor area. Oh, and it all has to look glamorous.
And this reminds me … the style of the space should also align with your purpose and activities, because it’s much easier to select a room that fits the style and aesthetics of your event than it is to create or rent a bunch of event decor.
By defining these key activities up front, you now know what kind of space to look for and how to begin to lay it out.
Early on you should be planning ahead as to your guest list and maximum number of event registrations or RSVPs your event will be able to accommodate. By locking in this number, you now can determine how to design your event so this number of people can comfortably move through the event (what event designers call “event flow”).
Usually venues will have room capacities prominently detailed in their marketing literature, and venue staff usually know their offerings intimately and what configurations work best for each area. Make the most of their expertise to make the best decisions for your event.
However, you or the venue can still create a to-scale event layout of your event using floor plan software (more on that in a bit) to definitively determine how people and furniture will be spaced out properly; this is especially true if you have unusual floor plans or if you are getting very creative with seating or decor. That way you can definitively tell if the room can handle your crowd and all your activities.
FYI ... here's a great article on the most common event room layout types.
Room dimensions are just as important as capacity because you need to know if the configuration/shape of the space and its total area (in square feet or meters) is large enough to contain all your key activities.
For example, if you are setting up chairs for an auditorium-like performance, you will need a room wide enough and deep enough for your stage and audience seating … so a narrow room may not work well.
Or if you are planning on having a large area for something like a trade expo or silent auction, your space needs to have the proper dimensions for that kind of activity … and an area that is broken up by walls and fixtures may not be the right fit.
Also worth contemplating is if you want something like an open floor plan so your attendees can easily explore and wander about or if your goal is to create a multi-space event that connects multiple rooms.
Hence, other factors you should consider regarding configuration/dimensions include:
If your event includes dining of any sort or cocktail seating, classroom setups or auditorium seating, then seating arrangements with tables, chairs and other furniture items are a firm requirement.
But what seating layout is the most appropriate? Which type of table would best accommodate your diners? And how best to arrange them?
Although these questions depend heavily on your room dimensions, for dining and cocktail/heavy appetizer arrangements, the best options typically are:
Allowing for an adequate buffer between tables is important so attendees can easily access their seats as well as to ensure adequate service area for staff to deliver meals and remove plateware, silverware and glassware. A good practice is to leave at least 60” between tables and 30” between tables and walls/columns.
If you are setting up your event area for auditorium seating, a good rule of thumb is to leave a 3” to 6” gap between chairs and 2’ between chair rows and to configure aisles so there are never more than 20 continuous chairs in a row. Angling chairs toward a main focal point (stage, speaker, entertainer) also ensures that guests do not suffer any discomfort from straining to see the action (this is often called chevron style seating).
Finally, if you are setting up a classroom for a seminar or small meeting, 6’ or 8’ seminar tables work great (2-3 seats per table) with 3’ between table rows.
Note: Most event layout software programs offer these and many other floor plan elements so you can easily create different room layout options for the same event space to compare and contrast.
If you are serving food to your guests, you will need to determine if you want them to self-serve (and if your designated room has the space for such foot traffic) or if you want them to be seated for longer stretches of time so they can be focused on presentations or entertainment.
For the former, buffet-style service would work well with long buffet tables holding entrees accompanied by appetizer and dessert tables/carts and drink carts or a centralized bar area. Just make sure you have staked out ample space for buffet lines (possibly literally with velvet ropes or retractable stanchions).
For the latter, sit-down dinner service is more appropriate with servers delivering drinks and pre-selected meal options from a short menu (having guests pre-select meal options from a limited menu upon RSVPing/registering saves lots of time and confusion at the event and lets your kitchen or caterer know exactly how many of which meals to prepare).
Pardon the pun, but here’s some food for thought … One way to draw more attendees and make a big impression is to serve high-end gourmet catering to your guests, and these meals can be either served up via elaborate display tables or by small plates or platters delivered to tables for sharing.
It’s not an easy task to book a speaker or band that can leave guests completely floored, and it’s equally as challenging to make sure that your audio/visual setup provides each guest with an equally vibrant and unimpeded experience.
So while we will leave choosing a galvanizing presenter or riveting entertainer to another article, we will concern ourselves here with the following A/V sticking points:
Most of what has been mentioned so far are time-honored best practices, but here we look at factors you absolutely must consider in any event layout plan, including:
Earlier in the article we had said that you should focus on one overarching purpose/mission for each event and, well, we sorta lied.
Actually you have two main objectives for every event: accomplishing your primary purpose/mission, and planning an experience that attendees will not soon forget.
And one way you can accomplish the latter is to get super-creative with your event decor with items like:
Another way you can make a lasting impression is to do something dramatically different with the event layout design itself, like:
It’s hugely impractical and prohibitively expensive to physically test out different floor plans at your chosen venue.
But with event layout software, you can quickly and effortlessly create to-scale multiple setup versions; collaborate with staff, clients and vendors online; arrive at the best possible setup; and make tweaks right up to the last minute before everything has to be put in place. It’s by far the easiest visual aid for event planners and venue staff to create a workable plan and explain it to others.
Such tools are often included in all-in-one event planning software platforms and often include the following features:
Of course, these event design planning tools are only useful if you are looking to implement them throughout your process, but they will save you lots of time and guesswork and will help you avoid any major SNAFUS regarding how you lay out your event.
Event layouts are not just a key component of event planning and venue setup … they are a critical activity if you want the best possible experience for your audience members. Best of luck, and let us know how we can help with your next event!