Good Morning everyone! Are you enjoying June so far? Are you excited to plan wonderful parties and get-togethers with your friends and family? One of my favorite parties that I planned years ago was a luau barbecue. I invited around 10-15 families and it was the BEST party I ever threw! Everyone had such a fun time and it went off without a hitch (which is NOT normal for me!).
Planning the Perfect Luau
I have been thinking that I will try to throw another luau this year, so I started looking for some new fun ideas to include for this party. I’ve found so many ways to make your luau special and fun and I am so excited to plan this party over the next few weeks! But I wanted to share some of the ideas that I’ve found for Planning the Perfect Luau with you as well, so enjoy the following ideas as you plan your own luau this summer!
Steps for Planning Your Luau:
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Invitations:
- You don’t have to spend a ton of money to plan an awesome luau party. If printing invitations is too costly, check out the Dollar Store to find tropical invitations.
- You can also make your own invitations – whether you print them out on your computer or make them by hand, keep your luau theme going by decorating them with tropical flowers, tikis, and coconuts.
- Remember to send the invitations out early enough that your guests can put your party on their schedule – you know how busy the summer months can get with barbecues and holiday celebrations!
Decorations:
- Remember to incorporate the iconic luau items in your decorating: pineapples, flamingos, coconuts, tikis, palm trees, and bamboo work well.
- Use grass skirts on the table (or even on your guests) and have colored or luau-decorated tablecloths. Hang banners or decorative lighting with totem poles, hibiscus flowers, tikis, and flamingos to decorate your party space.
- Have leis for each guest so they feel a part of your festivities. Whether you make them with paper flowers or buy them, they’re sure to be a hit!
- Coordinate your silverware, cups, plates, and napkins by selecting tropical colors like neon green, turquoise, hot pink, or orange.
- Set a tropical table by having paper umbrellas and fun tropical straws for the drinks and tropical themed picks for your finger foods. You can also decorate your food tables by spreading tropical confetti or hibiscus flowers.
- String outdoor lights or light the fire pit to keep the party going well into the night. You can also place glow sticks in your coolers to add a fun pop of color.
- Have a sign on your yard so people can easily find the party. It’s also a good idea to have someone help your guests find the best parking spot to prevent confusion or illegal parking.
- Play tropical music or even some beach-inspired music like Don Ho, the Beach Boys or Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii to keep your guests in the luau mood.
Menu:
- Tropical dishes will make your luau feel more authentic, so consider serving dishes like coconut lime shrimp, chicken or fruit kebabs, and pinã You can even try these Pinã Colada Cake Pops (recipe courtesy of ladybehindthecurtain.com)
- Print out a luau-decorated Menu card so your guests can see what is being served.
- Use cake or cupcake toppers to keep your desserts in the luau-theme.
- Check out this Party Calculator (courtesy of foodnetwork.com) to easily figure out how much food you’ll need to have on hand for your size party.
- If you’re trying to keep costs down, you can ask your guests to bring something with them for the party. Side dishes, desserts, sodas or bottled water, chips, and hamburger or hot dog rolls are always great ideas to ask them to bring.
- Be sure to read your recipes a few days ahead of the party to ensure you get all pre-work completed, like marinating and chilling dishes.
Fun and Games:
- Have a Photo Booth with fun tropical props. You can buy props and a backdrop like I did or make your own using a picture frame or decorating your fence as a backdrop and use leis, coconuts, tikis, and flamingos as your props.
- Be sure to plan some fun kid’s games to keep the little ones happy. Some games to consider are lawn darts, corn hole, volleyball, badminton, water balloon fights, and even this fun Squirt Gun Race idea I found on Pinterest.
- How about a flamingo ring toss game? I picked up an Inflatable Flamingo Ring Toss reasonably, but you can easily make your own by following this great tutorial (courtesy of sugarandcloth.com).
- Have a limbo contest! You don’t even have to spend the money on a limbo kit if you don’t want – you can make your own! All you need is a long pole and you can have someone hold it on each end as your slowly lower it closer to the ground to see who is the most flexible.
- Don’t forget to have some items planned for the nighttime too. Pick up glow bracelets and necklaces for the kids to wear and sparklers to light once the sun goes down.
- Keep the kids (and adults too) cool by having a slip ‘n’ slide or fun sprinkler. Make sure you let your guests know to bring bathing suits and towels if you’re planning to have water fun so everyone stays comfortable.
I hope that these tips for Planning the Perfect Luau have inspired you to start planning your own for this summer! I’d love to hear what tips and ideas you have so please comment below to share your ideas with us! And don’t forget to share this post on your social media sites so your friends and family can enjoy these ideas as well!
