When you are organizing an event, seating goes a long way towards setting the appropriate atmosphere. Banquet chairs allow you to provide simple, elegant, convenient seating for large numbers of people. Despite the name, banquet chairs are appropriate for any formal event, such as a business lecture, a reception, or a charity event.
What Are Banquet Chairs?
Banquet chairs are a type of temporary seating, only intended to be used for a few hours at a time. They are built to be portable and stackable. This allows them to be set up and put away relatively quickly and stored easily until needed again. They are made out of lightweight, durable materials. Banquet chairs often lack armrests because these can interfere with stacking, but they are styled with elegant designs befitting a formal occasion.
Types of Banquet Chairs
There are a variety of standard banquet chair styles available. These include:
- Chiavari: Chiavari chairs are the original banquet chairs, developed by a cabinetmaker in Chiavari, Italy in 1807. The backs are roughly square-shaped and open, with decorative joints carved to resemble bamboo.
- Dome Back: The backrest of a dome back banquet chair is square at the bottom but rounded at the top.
- Teardrop Back: The backrest of a teardrop back chair is an oval shape that is slightly narrower at the top.
- Crown Back: This backrest is square at the bottom and comes to a rounded point at the top.
Most banquet chairs are padded on the seat and the backrest with foam covered by upholstery. This is to provide extra comfort when a person is seated.
How Much Do Banquet Chairs Cost?
Banquet chairs usually cost $30 or more, and higher-end models can even cost over $90 per chair. You may get a discount by purchasing wholesale. Banquet chairs are typically bought in large quantities, as manufacturers frequently lower the price per chair when you buy more.
How Wide Are Banquet Chairs?
Banquet chairs range in size from 17 inches to 20 inches or more. There is some variance in width depending on the style you choose. Keep in mind the needs of your guests as you’re choosing a banquet chair size. You want to be able to accommodate many different people.
Another factor to consider is weight capacity. Most standard banquet chairs will hold at least a few hundred pounds. A typical range is 500 to 1500 lbs.
How Many Banquet Chairs Do You Need?
The number of banquet chairs you need depends on a number of different factors. Two of the most significant are the size of the room and the type of event. If it is something like a lecture, you may not need tables but only chairs. If you do require tables, the size and the shape of the tables directly impact seating capacity.
There are several industry standard guidelines to follow when setting up tables for an event:
- If the tables are round, there should be at least 60 inches of space between each one. This allows 18 inches for the chairs and 24 inches of walking room.
- When square tables are at angles to one another, there should be 24 inches between the adjacent corners of each table. When they are parallel to one another, there should be 16 to 30 inches between chairs with their backs to one another.
- When budgeting 18 inches between the table and the chair, this works out to between 52 and 66 inches between each table.
Banquet Seating Arrangements
There are a variety of seating arrangements you can use for banquet chairs and tables, depending on the type of event and how the space needs to be utilized. Here are a few ideas:
- Straight rows of rectangular tables and chairs
- Diagonal rows of round tables and chairs
- Theatre or auditorium style seating
- Herringbone/fish bone style seating
- Classroom style setup
- Conference style setup
- U-shaped, square-shaped, or circular setup
Here is a guide to setting up event tables and chairs.
Buy Premium Banquet Chairs for Your Next Event
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