Summer luau party guide

Say aloha to summer with a luau! Celebrate a birthday or even just a casual backyard gathering with Hawaiian-themed decorations, dishes, drinks and activities.

‍

Decorations

‍Nothing says luau like tropical flowers and greenery. Buy a bouquet of orchids, birds of paradise, anthuriums or ginger, or get hibiscus or palm plants in pots. Or for a more affordable and unexpected option, buy some flat tropical leaves, such as the philodendron leaves (available at florists) shown here. You can even write guests’ names on them with a chalk marker or permanent marker and use them as place cards. Add fruit, including baby bananas, citrus, kiwi and papaya, as an accent. Mix and match wooden or bamboo dinner plates with bright napkins and woven straw napkin rings or placemats.

Dishes

‍Keep eats easy yet on theme. Set sail with a pineapple boat appetizer—simply cut a pineapple in half lengthwise and hollow it out, then use as a serving dish for mango salsa. For the entrée, grill kabobs or fish and serve with a salad on the side.

Dessert‍

For a simple dessert, dish up coconut and mango or raspberry fruit sorbet in lemon cups and serve with little wooden spoons. To make the lemon cups, just cut the top third off the lemon and a small slice from the bottom so it sits flat, then use a knife to cut around the inside edge and hollow it out.

Drinks

‍Get the luau started with piña coladas and cranberry-pineapple lemonade. To add extra pizazz to your party drinks, serve them in hollowed-out pineapples and/or add fun garnishes such as cocktail umbrellas, tropical drink stirrers, pineapple, citrus, maraschino cherries and mint sprigs.

Activities

Your guests will go coco-nuts for this photo booth. Tape palm fronds and philodendron leaves to a brightly-colored wall and create some fun photo props using some paper and wooden dowels. Adorn your guests with fresh flower leis (available at florists) or fake ones (available at party stores or online). Now turn up your Hawaiian music playlist, do the hula and snap some party pics. More ideas: hula hoop or limbo contests!

Get your luau started with invitation from our summer invitation gallery.

‍