A few notes on the floor plans: -they are not to scale. -they are meant only to give you a general idea of a setup for the maximum capacity of the room. -our 60″ round tables can seat up to 10 chairs. -our 6′ rectangular banquet tables can seat 3 on the longer side. -please advise our staff at least 2 weeks in advance if you are renting your own chairs and tables from an outside company Your floor plan should be finalized two weeks before your event, and turned in with your event details sheet. A good rule of thumb is to start discussing the layout/setup when you pay your damage deposit, that way any changes can be made easily. If you are within 48 hours of your event, MAJOR changes (such as reversing which side the dance floor is located on, or switching your entire setup from ten rounds of eight people to fifteen banquet tables) will not be accepted. We are happy to help with minor things such as a extra table for signing in or a few extra chairs for the DJ and photographer, but please respect the limits of our maintenance team on busy days.
Additionally, please remember to bring your own trash bags as we do not provide them for special events. Click on the name of a room to view more info about it. On that page, look for the “Sample Special Event Floor Plan” link. Navigate Marina Village has two distinct departments to serve your needs: Special Events & Conference CenterPinterest Badge by Skipser Gallery Douglas K. Smith Insurance The Dana on Mission Bay The Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa & Marina MV ConfCtr on Facebook MV ConfCtr on MySpace MV ConfCtr on Twitter MV Marina on Facebook MV Marina on TwitterAt the heart of any restaurant is the dining room. A dining room is more than just tables and chairs. It sets the tone, the ambience for your restaurant. Lighting, noise and the view are all things that should be considered when you plan your restaurant dining room design. The furniture you choose is also important. It should be sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of a busy restaurant, while at the same time look attractive and add to your ambience.
Flexibility is also important when planning a restaurant dining room. Being able to move tables, chairs, even wait stations around, allows you to accommodate both large and small parties easily.Be careful of packing tables into your dining room. When designing the floor plan of your restaurant on paper, you may think you can fit a certain numbers of tables into the dining room. However, you may find that what works on paper doesn’t work in reality. Yes, you want to have plenty of seats to accommodate customers (and make more money) but you also want people to be comfortable. A good rule of thumb for placing restaurant tables is to leave a minimum of 24" in between corners of the tables.By having a portable wait station, you can move it to fit your needs, instead of trying to relocate a table into a less desirable area of your dining room. If you have a big open dining room and want to make it more private, half-wall dividers, set on casters are an easy solution. You can move them about to create small nooks for two tops, or larger alcoves for big parties.
One way to spot problem areas before opening day is to sit in every single chair in your dining room. Study the view from each seat. You may find that one has a direct view into the kitchen, while another gets a draft from the front door. Experiencing each seat first allows you to make changes before customers complain.When purchasing tables and chairs, look for easy to clean designs. Avoid styles with lots of intricate carvings and crevices. They will be harder to wipe down and keep free of crumbs and other debris. If you are purchasing chairs or restaurant booths with fabric seats, be sure to have the fabric treated with a stain resister. And plan to budget in at a professional cleaning at least once, preferably twice a year. Restaurant booths offer some great advantages over standard restaurant seating. They’re great space savers. If you have found the perfect restaurant location- but the space is small- consider installing rows of booths to maximize seating capacity. Just like restaurant chairs, booths come in a variety of shapes, sizes and color.
They can be customized to fit any restaurant design. Read more about pros and cons of restaurant booths.Decide How Loud is Too LoudHow loud is your dining room? Some restaurant concepts are better suited for a loud environment, like a bar or other casual setting. Others, like fine dining, require a much quieter setting. If you have wood or tile floors, the sound is going to echo more, ditto with high ceilings. Throw a few dozen customers, staff in there and it might be a lot louder than you anticipated. If you need to tone down the sound, area carpets can help dilute noise.Select Appropriate Window CoveringsIf summer sun is making your restaurant dining room too hot or is otherwise uncomfortable for customers you will need to invest in some shades. Look for window treatments that are easy to clean and easy to open and close.Over the course of the two decades that I have planned events, I have always started my process with the foundational step of creating my floor plan first. This method has proven a strategic advantage in successfully executing events ranging from the XI International Conference on AIDS (one stadium, one arena, one convention centre, one university campus building, two hotels and a downtown conference centre) to a 3,000-person medical convention with 50 breakouts to taking over the multi-level outdoor Olympic Plaza for MPI WEC in 2010.I often wonder
, “ Do other planners adhere to this mentality?”Here are the 5 reasons why I believe the floor plan must be considered in all aspects of your planning process: from complimenting your proposal to on-site execution.Do this exercise: Make a square out of masking tape on the floor, with each side measuring 3’3”. Step inside this square (approximately 10sf (square feet)). Now, imagine standing inside this amount of space all night. This small area is what the average sales kit projects to be the amount of space each individual needs in your meeting area. When you see a 5,000 sf ballroom that says it can hold 500 people, it’s not lying, but it’s not considering that you have to yet add tables, chairs, drop stations, bars, buffets, décor or environment setting pieces…which means you can’t actually fit 500 people in the room.You’ll notice above that I left off all things production, which account for even more considerations that take up valuable real estate on your floor plan: from power drop locations to rigging points, ingress and egress for equipment and people, staging locations, pillars and sight lines, staging plots and technical requirements, entrances and exits for performers and presenters, equipment required including size and configuration of screens based on audience size
, messaging and desired “coolness” – should I go on? These all take space and all need to be reflected on a floor plan.An outdoor event will often present nuanced challenges for your equipment, staff and attendees that can’t be grasped by looking at a pre-defined sales kit. Many outdoor event locations are not close to the complimenting indoor event space, more than often come with noise restrictions and time limits, or present impediments to infrastructure (hello, sloping grounds or random stairs). Additionally, you have to take into consideration the need to create micro-sites for your guests, your caterer, your entertainment, and your technology vendor. To ensure proper execution at an outdoor event, you must have a unique diagram to guide your planning.When I say I am a visual person, I can imagine an entire event fully dressed and with a complete flow in my head as I write it. I realize this is not the norm, and when I client says “I am very visual” (which almost everyone does), this means they have to see a picture, or mood board, or fly-through of their event.
To accurately portray this vision, you must ALWAYS start with a floor plan.Typically, you’ll be presenting several floor plans to your client as you lead them through a journey map of their event: from informal welcome receptions, the general session to the gala; from interactive breakout rooms, meal and meeting spaces, to foyers and other non-traditional spaces.Clients need to see that their vision can be executed. It’s not your job to tell them their vision can become a reality – it’s your job to show them how.How can you possibly present a budget to your client that is not based on a diagram? You can’t otherwise know the costs associated with an event if you don’t know what will be on the floor. Are you using long tables or round tables? How many chairs at each? Are you are bringing in specialty chairs or furniture? What about lounge groupings, table seating, staging/rigging, specialty decor bars and buffets, roving or stationary entertainment? You need to know what fits to build a realistic budget.