With these luau ideas, you can indulge your guests in a taste of Hawaii without having to board a plane - host a luau at home!
With a little bit of advance planning, loads of imagination and a basketful of creativity, you can throw a very successful party for adults, or kids, or both!
Firstly, decide where you are going to host the luau. You can have a lavish party at home, but if you would have it elsewhere, how about a nearby beach, lake or park? If the weather is uncertain, then perhaps renting space in a hotel, a community center or even a church hall might work very well.
Here are a few luau ideas to make it fun and easy:
Exotic invitations set the mood.
Get postcards of Hawaii and pop them in the mail. Alternatively, find clipart of Hawaiian symbols such as the pineapple, a floral lei, a surfboard or a coconut tree and print your own.
Or, get beach balls from the party store, write your invite on each, deflate them and mail them off to your guests in an envelope. They will have fun trying to figure out what it is all about!
Tropical attire is a must. Decide whether you want them formally or casually dressed.
Hawaiian shirts and floral dresses are great for a more formal setting. If casual is the code, t-shirts, shorts, flip-flops, or even bikinis and grass skirts will work very well!
Tropical décor sets the mood right. If you are on a budget, the local party store is filled with luau ideas such as plastic palm trees, luau-themed mylar balloons shaped like Hawaiian shirts, beach balls, surf-boards, hula dancers or flip-flops.
Here are more ideas:
Display tiki statues and tiki torches around the location, scatter pots or bouquets of fresh orchids and throw bamboo matting on the floor
Alternatively, create center and sidepieces out of fruit
Throw some play sand onto the serving table and artfully arrange some pineapples, mangoes and bananas on the sand
Light coconut or plumeria scented candles to enhance the mood
Greet guests with tropical flower or shell leis - you can pre-order them from lei-makers in Hawaii or settle for the party shop substitute of plastic flower leis. Have flowers for the female guests to wear behind their ears – single women looking for a relationship should wear the flower behind their right ear.
A luau party menu starts out Hawaiian inspired pupus (appetizers), such as teriyaki beef or chicken on skewers and sushi.
If a traditional kalua pig is outside of your capability, here is an alternate recipe for preparing it in an oven using pork loin roast.
Another luau-specific food, lomi lomi salmon is easy to make. Hand-shred raw salmon fillet into a bowl, throw in onions, salt and tomatoes into the mix and serve chilled.
For some extra exotic flavor, serve your food in hollowed-out pineapple or coconut shells.
Mai-tais are a luau must if alcohol is served. If not, tropical fruit juices with skewers of fruit as decoration will do nicely, along with yummy luau cakes.
Have guests bring guitars and ukeleles and load up on CDS of Hawaiian music. Play an instruction video on how to perform the hula or hire a professional hula dancer to teach your guests.
These are just a few luau ideas to get the ball rolling. Remember however, the most important ingredient is the spirit of aloha - with a warm welcome and hospitality, everyone will have a memorable time!
