Tips to Organize a Luau

Aloha!

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Pineapples, Flamingos, + Palm Trees

Recently, I had the opportunity to plan a luau for twelve tweens in only nine days. My usual protocol is to begin planning two months in advance, needless to say I was outside my comfort zone. However, my husband said, “ if anyone can organize a luau in just over a week its Leslie.” His confidence in me gave me the courage to make it happen.

Even though this party was short notice, I applied my party planning skills.  In this case, my deadlines were much shorter then usual.  Here are my tips to organize a luau birthday party.

 

Select A Theme

My first step to party planning is to select a theme.  The theme creates the foundation for the event, my daughter quickly decided on a luau.   Palm trees, pink flamingos, and pineapples offered a festive and chic party theme.

 

 

 

Invitations

Once the theme was decided my daughter created her guest list.  We used evite.com for our electeronic invations which offered us a wide vairety of themes.  Due to our urgent deadline for RSVPs, evite.com provided an effective and efficient  solution.

Decorations

We used Pinterest to create a Luau board for party ideas, games, and  color inspirations. The board was filled with pink flamingos, pineapples, palm trees, and gold accents. My next step was to turn to Geese and Ganders to order party supplies and decorations.

 

 

 

Geese and Ganders offered a fabulous variety of decorations to capture the chic pink, gold and green tropical theme. How cute are these green tropical plates?  Troppo Baking Cups from Geese and Ganders were used for Macadamia Nuts and Pineapple Candies. Pretty Paper Club created name cards for the buffet incorporating the the colors and theme.

 

 

Let Them Eat Cake

I loved the look of the gold and colorful garland from Geese and Ganders The pop of pink and sparkle of gold created a chic decor for a modern luau. I ordered the cake as soon as the decorations and party supplies were ordered. This allowed me images I could share with the bakery demonstrating the theme of the party.  Barbs Bakery created the perfect chocolate cake.

 

Menu

Creating a menu for the luau was simple, pulled pork sliders served on Hawaiian rolls, teriyaki chicken, fruit salad, and Hawaiian Punch. I ordered the chicken and pulled pork from my  Bobby Qs without sauce. The day of the party I created the buffet platters using teriyaki sauce instead of bar-b-q.

 

 

 

Pineaples, Hawaiian Punch, + Macadamia Nuts

The idea to use pineapples in a row as our center piece was inspired by party found on Pinterest. Two days before the party I visited Trader Joe’s for pineapples, fruit, Macadamia nuts, and Hawaiian Punch. The pineapples became a prize for the winners of a party game, they were a huge hit. That was a last minute idea as I tried to determine what I would do with all of the leftover pineapples.

 

 

Festivities

Pineapples and flamingos in a row. Hawaiian Punch and South Pacific water was served in colorful pineapple cups with pink flamingos straws. Garland from Geese and Ganders and name cards from Pretty Paper Club.

 

 

 

 

 

Entertainment

 

 

 

 

Aloha!

 

 

 

 

xoxo,

 

Leslie