Let yourself have fun when decorating for your Luau. You can create the mood for your party with minimal expense if budget is a consideration. In fact, you can even plan on eating your decorations when the Luau is over if you use pineapples and coconuts as elements in your design! As you can see in the simple centerpiece above, I have used a pineapple, coconut, two silk leis, paper parasols and tropical fish picks to create a simple, colorful design.
You can go two ways with your decorations; create a natural Hawaiian mood or make it a campy beach party.
For the natural look you'll want some of these decorations:
- bamboo placemats real tropical flower arrangements with orchids, hibiscus, bird of paradise and any other tropical flowers you can find.
- sea shells scattered around your tables
- napkin rings made from sea shells glued to raffia rings
- coconuts
- pineapples
- a real parrot (only if you or a friend owns one, of course)
- palm trees
- palm leaves
- tiki torches
- tiki masks and other supplies
- real flower leis
- tropical design fabric tablecloths and napkins
For a campy beach party, you can include all of the above, but also add any or all of the following Hawaiian icons:
- plastic hula dancers
- surf boards
- plastic leis
- little paper parasols for your drinks
- plastic picks for your drinks and hors d'oeuvres
- string lots of fun party lights above and around your buffet table
- colorful tropical tablecloths, napkins and party goods in paper or vinyl materials
- tropical design confetti
At either party you can ask your guests to dress in colorful Hawaiian Aloha shirts and straw hats.
Welcome all guests to your Luau with a kiss and a flower lei. I prefer the silk or real flower leis to the plastic ones you can find in most party stores.
If you're setting a campy beach party mood as in the Elvis movie Blue Hawaii, have raffia grass skirts available for anyone who'd like to try hula dancing.
Finally, organize a limbo contest for fun.
