Luau Party Planning Guide

To plan a successful Luau, you’ll need to consider how many people to invite, where to hold the feast, your decorations, menu and music. This guide will help you achieve a fun Hawaiian atmosphere.

As a first step, make a guest list. Make your own invitation cards or buy them from a stationery store, but remember to send these out exactly a week in advance. Follow up by a personal phone call three days in advance to know the exact number of expected guests.

Depending upon the numbers, you must decide on a venue. After that, you should survey your venue site and take broad measurements. Make a rough plan on paper to decide your decorations, seating etc. The seating, of course, depends upon your guest list. Always remember to keep the seating down to fewer chairs than the number of people you’ve invited, as many of guests like to stand and mingle. Decide where to put your buffet table and your drinks counter. A good tip: it’s always best to keep them apart, as people will crowd around them both.

If you’re running short of tables and chairs, borrow some from friends or rent some out. You may even want to create some rustic sitting arrangements by placing logs of woods with large cushions on them, or by using plywood boxes. Almost anything can be made to look interesting by dressing it up with grass table skirts.

Make a menu list and do your shopping two to three days in advance. Plan to do the cooking a night before the party, and if you have many guests, why not get some help from friends and relatives?

Start decorating on the morning of the party and involve teens from the neighborhood or call over your nephews and nieces to help. You should devise a general plan of decoration and explain it broadly to your helpers, but allow them to add their creativity to create a unique décor.

Plan to welcome your guests with leis and have two of your young friends dress like Hula dancers to hand the leis out while saying ‘Aloha’ (‘hello’ in Hawaiian). Keep the music ready and involve an enthusiastic friend to take care of changing it and to initiate the dancing. It’s always best to pre-plan when you would like the dancing to begin, and where to have it. It would be great if you can have an instructor who can teach Hula to your guests.

Don’t forget to appoint a keen photographer among your guests, and let them shoot away. Plan at least three games lasting half an hour each and don’t forget to buy interesting prizes for the guests. End your party with some funky painted shells that say thank you on them and hand them out personally to each guest.

If you plan well, yours could be the Luau of the season!

When should you have a Luau party? Well, they’re ideal to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, baby showers, weddings or any other occasion that calls for fun! Luau parties are traditional Hawaiian feasts, characterized by the use of colorful flowers, tropical fruits, Luau food, funky clothes, foot-tapping island music and lively Hula dancing. Generally held outdoors, Luaus can also work indoors with the right ambience and props.

The good thing about a Luau is that it need not be expensive. It’s fine to ask your guests to bring along some of their own cooking. In fact this makes it even more cozy and fun!

Your guests will have to be told beforehand what they should wear. Most people have something tropical in their wardrobes and if not, it’s easy to put something together in a jiffy. If nothing else, a colorful lei on a plain white shirt works best. Men can wear shorts and sandals and women can wear flowers in their hair.

Whatever the occasion, Luau parties will bring an exotic flavor of island life to your homes.