Plan a Hawaiian luau and be like the easy going people of Hawaii who love a party. You can expect loads of fun when you get ready to plan a luau.
You don't need a reason to hold a luau - host one for a wedding, birthday or for any celebration you'd like!
Here are seven simple tips to help you plan a Hawaiian luau:
1. Hold the luau outside. Set up a tent for cover. Do as the Hawaiians do and weave palm fronds together to create an illusion for walls.
Stake tiki lamps around, used carved candles tropical smelling scents such as plumeria, gardenia and orchids. Get blow-up coconut trees to create the feel of a tropical island.
2. Create the ocean feel by stringing a fishing net across the tent and throw in shells, flip-flops, plastic sand buckets and shovels and toy tropical fish, dolphins and whales.
3. Decorate with tropical flowers such as birds of paradise, red ginger, ferns and orchids. If those are hard to find, raid your local party store for grass skirts and use them creatively to wrap around serving tables and chairs. In a pinch, a tropical sarong is a good table cloth.
4. An absolute must is to have flower or shell leis for each of your guests. You can order them in advance from lei suppliers in Hawaii, or settle for plastic flower leis from your local party shop.
5. Create the right mood with a good selection of music when you plan a Hawaiian luau.
Look for Slack key guitarists such as Gabby Pahunui, traditional Hawaiian drumming and war chants, Check out contemporary artists such as Makaha Sons, Hapa or Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaii’s most beloved entertainer until his premature death in 1997. Of course, there is Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii for a trip down memory lane.
6. Inform your guests of the dress code ahead of time. Hawaiian shirts, brightly floral muu-muus, dresses or shorts, sarongs flips-flops and sandals will add to the party’s theme.
7. For drinks, serve mai-tais with little umbrella stirrers or plastic stirrers decorated with pineapples, water melons or coconuts. Serve coconut drinks in their shells.
For non-alcoholic drinks, water melon juice or pineapple juice in a large bowl with slices of fruit floating on top add to the occasion.
Serve aromatic-smelling coffee such as this Kona Coffee float along with desserts.
A traditionally cooked kalua pig may be just too much to handle when you plan a Hawaiian luau. However you can give yourself an advantage by learning from the experts.
Hawaiian celebrity chef, Alan Wong, has a cookbook New Wave Luau which will help you get started. Lavishly decorated with photos of his culinary designs, Wong combines local Hawaiian ingredients with food and cooking techniques from Europe, South America and Asia.
It may not be traditional luau but you can be certain your Lychee-Ginger ice cream will be a sure hit. Otherwise, chicken long rice and lomilomi salmon are quite easily whipped up in the chicken.
When you plan a Hawaiian luau, consider little packages of macadamia nuts as favors for your guests. For a successful event, all you need is a little bit of research, lots of imagination and a party spirit to make your luau come alive!
