How Many Toilets Does Your
Wedding Need?
When
organising your wedding or other milestone event,
the ratio of toilets to guests is incredibly
important, so you need to do the maths early in
your planning to make sure that the venue you
choose has sufficient toilets. This might mean
hiring an additional porta-loo or two.Larger, formal venues
provide sufficient toilets for the maximum
number of guests they can accommodate
because they are required to do so by
licensing conditions.
It is when it comes to organising a celebration in your own backyard, or somewhere else that the situation can get a bit - er - icky.
It is when it comes to organising a celebration in your own backyard, or somewhere else that the situation can get a bit - er - icky.
How many loos you will
require depends on several factors, so
it is not a completely straightforward
calculation. Though get it wrong and
everyone will know on the day! I'll
never forget officiating a ceremony at a
wedding gardens where there was ONE
portaloo, on a trailer, and the only hand
washing facility was a jug of water on a
table outside. With over 100 guests. Not a
peak experience.
What you need to know
before you start doing the maths
What you need to know
before you start doing the maths
out
- How many people will be at your wedding
NB Don't forget to include everyone - guests, bridal party, plus anyone who will be working your wedding during the actual event which could include photographer, videographer, their assistants, catering and serving staff, and anyone providing entertainment
- How long your celebration will last
- Will there be alcohol
You will need more toilets than you might think you do as people will use the facilities more often when consuming alcohol
How to calculate many loos
you will need
out
There
are lots of toilet calculators out there.
Virtually every porta-loo company has one on
their website. Problem is that some are more
simplistic that others but they all come up with
a different answer when you plug in the same
figures.
There are also lots of different suggested rules-of thum. I've seen figures everywhere from 1 toilet per 1-35 people to 1 toilet per 1-60 people to a rule of thumb that said 3 toilets for up to 240 people as long as the event lasted under 6 hours. But that is based on a 50/50 ratio of men and women with no food or drinks being served.
And we are told we will need more loos
There are also lots of different suggested rules-of thum. I've seen figures everywhere from 1 toilet per 1-35 people to 1 toilet per 1-60 people to a rule of thumb that said 3 toilets for up to 240 people as long as the event lasted under 6 hours. But that is based on a 50/50 ratio of men and women with no food or drinks being served.
And we are told we will need more loos
- When food and drinks are
served (commonly suggested to increase
number of loos by 30%
- When alcohol is being
served (commonly suggested to increase
number of loos by 13%)
- If the percentage of female users exceeds 50%
- If your guests include
children, lots of elderly people, and/or a
significant number of pregnant women
All,
of course, based on the number of loos you first
came up with!
As a guide, the requirements for restaurants in Australia are:
As a guide, the requirements for restaurants in Australia are:
- 1 toilet for every 1-100 men plus 1 urinal for every 1-50 men
- 1 toilet for every 1-25 women
Oh, if you do need to hire porta-loos, make them part of the wedding by adding some funky decoration, and some great signage.
Thanks for reading!
