Creating Seating for Sixteen in the Dining Room

Photo credit to PhillipC.

If you thought finding the perfect wall decor art, painting, or metal tree wall decor for your dining room was a challenge, what would you think about throwing a dinner party for sixteen? 

Actually, when space allows, a dinner party for 16 can be a lot of fun to host.  Preparing the guest list, seating chart, and dinner is the easy part.  The hard part is figuring out how to create seating for everyone.  The ideas below provide some traditional and clever ways to make seating your 16 guests a breeze.

The Single Table

It takes a very large dining room table to seat seven people on each side with a person at each end.  If the table is big enough and the room can easily accommodate such seating, a single table is the best way to seat all 16 dinner guests.  Be sure that the chairs are comfortable and that they are not too crowded together.  If they are crammed together, the guests will be uncomfortable and it will be difficult for everyone to enjoy their meal.  Proper spacing is key to comfortable seating at a single table dinner party.

Cafe Seating

A non-traditional way to seat 16 guests is to break them into small groups of four, seated at four square tables in the dining room.  This style of seating is reminiscent of being in a coffee house and creates an intimate arena for guests to get to know one another.  To vary who is sitting where, consider having one set of place cards for dinner and another set for dessert.  The guests will then be able to mingle with different people and everyone will get to know one another better.  Since this style of seating is more casual, it is even appropriate to have stylish folding chairs for seating.  Guests will enjoy the fun setting and will not mind the casual dining furniture.

Photo credit to yachtfan.

A Cue From the Far East

Imagine throwing a dinner party for 16 guests while living in an apartment.  The biggest room in the place is the living room, so how can 16 guests fit comfortably around a table in a dining nook?  That is simple; transform the living room into the dining room with some ideas from the Far East.  For this seating arrangement, gather 16 large, comfortable floor pillows and low tables.  Arrange the tables in a giant square in the living room, placing the pillows on the floor in front of them.  A dinner menu of Oriental style food will have guests eagerly kicking off their shoes, and dining while sitting on the floor.  This type of seating situation is probably best to reserve for friends, as opposed to, a dinner where the boss and his wife are joining you for dinner.  The casual, relaxed atmosphere will be a backdrop for a fun and memorable dinner party for 16.

Creating seating for 16 in the dining room is about being creative if the space does not permit a long, traditional dining room table and chairs.  Use the resources and seating options that are available to create a unique dining space for guests.  Do not be afraid to opt for fun and casual if that is all the room can accommodate.  A dinner party is more about the interactions and the mood of the event than it is about the dining room table.