Tangled Thistle · Venue Intelligence

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Real rooms, real problems

Rooms that exist, at the dimensions their venues publish, with an evening that has to happen in them. Decide what you would do before you read what the arithmetic says.

Square footage is the number everybody quotes and the one that hides the most. These are the cases where it hides something.

The Long Foyer

3,718 square feet, and nowhere to put the bar

The room
143 × 26 ft · 13 ft ceiling · 3,718 sq ft
The evening
220 guests · 2 bars
Where the geometry comes from
The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, Ritz-Carlton Ballroom Pre-Function — read 2026-09-19. Published as 26 × 143 × 13 ft, 3,718 sq ft

A 220-person reception before dinner. Two bars, a check-in table, a coat drop, passed canapés, and a set of ballroom doors everybody goes through at once when dinner is called.

143 ft26 ft
EntryExitBar

Where would you put the two bars?

There is rarely one right answer. Decide yours, then read what the arithmetic makes of the room.

Geometry read from the venue's own published event specifications on the date shown. The event scenario is written by Tangled Thistle for planning education. Nothing here is a criticism of the property, and no floor plan is reproduced.