Lyndsey Thinking about hosting a get together or cookout this summer? Why not jazz it up with a theme like a Luau Party? Get ideas and inspiration to transform your backyard into a tropical paradise!
Aloha everyone, it’s time to grab your Hawaiian shirts and get “lei’d”! I’ve provided wonderful ideas and inspiration for hosting an amazing luau party this summer!
Why a luau party? The colors, music, food, and decorations are nothing short of amazing! It’s a wonderful party theme for groups, great food, great drinks and lots of fun. Plus, who doesn’t love an opportunity to wear their best Hawaiian shirts?
My wonderful cousin (and great friend) recently hosted a luau party that really sparked my inspiration! I loved the idea and we had so much fun, so I wanted to share this idea for everyone. It’s so simple to turn your regular summer cookout into a fun themed luau party. Find out how below!
Pro Tip: Make sure your guests know the theme is intended to be a luau themed party, so they know to prepare and engage. Having everyone participate in the luau theme will really set the tone!
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• DECORATIONS • MUSIC • FOOD • DRINKS • FUN •
Luau Decorations
The decorations for a luau party can be as simple or as extravagant as you would like them to be. It’s completely up to you! You can really decorate it up, or you can provide the bare minimum, just enough to get the point across. It will be fun either way! Take some ideas from the Hawaiian luau themed decoration ideas below.
Leis
Make sure everyone at your party gets “Lei’d”. I’m sorry, I just find this so… punny! Leis are garlands of flowers, usually worn as a necklace. These are indicative of a Luau theme, and everyone will really recognize the intent.
Umbrellas for Drinks
these are a staple for tropical drinks, which would be the idea for a luau party. It’s so great to have these tiny little joyful umbrellas to add to your drink to really make it feel official!
Plants, Flowers and Greenery
Palm fronds, flowers and pineapples are great options to give a real Hawaiian or luau feel to your decorations. Stick with tropical looking flowers such as Hibiscus, Mandevilla, Plumeria, Orchids, Bird of Paradise. Palm fronds are also a wonderful addition for greenery, as well as pineapples. If you don’t have any fresh flowers, palm fronds, or pineapples, you can always get artificial ones, or make cutouts from construction paper.
Tiki Torches
Tiki torches are great because they can be used with citronella to ward off mosquitos and other bugs, as well as adding beautiful lighting to your theme. Speaking of lighting, it’s always fun to add some string lights here and there if you have them!
Raffia
This is a great decoration to add to your existing items such as tables, bars, coolers, benches, really whatever you would like! You can purchase this in table skirts, or in rolls where you can cut the length to size. You can transform your table or bar into a quick tiki bar with something as simple as raffia!
Tiki Cutouts and/or Cups
Adding the traditional Tiki cutouts will really make a colorful impact to your decorations, and hone in the luau feeling.
Coconut Cups
How fun would it be to have coconut cups for people’s drinks! You can get coconut cups that are plastic for a very reasonable price, or you can also find natural coconut shell cups, which is so much fun!
You can find a lot of other amazing decoration ideas here: Luau Decorations
Luau Music
There are so many different options for music at a Luau party. You can go with traditional Hawaiian Luau feeling soundtracks, or you can really go with any music that feels relaxing or puts off good vibes! One song that I really love is Hot Hot Hot by Buster Poindexter And His Banshees of Blue, but that’s just me. Or you could use Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys. Also… why not use the Hawaiian Rollercoaster Coaster Ride song from Lilo and Stich, I LOVE this song too! Anything with ukulele will definitely be a good choice too.
You can create your own playlist by looking up Hawaiian or Luau themed songs, but my suggestion is to use a playlist that already exists. I have given some examples below for playlists you could use for your party. These all have a wide variety of music types, so find one that makes you feel good.
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Spotify
- Luau Party Mix
- Luau Music
- Hawaiian Party Mix
- Beach Luau Party
- Island Vibes
- Ukulele Covers
- Hawaiian Dreams
Pandora
- Hawaiian Luau Party 2012 (playlist)
- Luau Party Mix (playlist)
- Luau Songs of Hawaii Volume 2 (playlist)
- Luau Radio (station)
- Hawaiian Radio (station)
- Hawaiian Reggae Radio (station)
Amazon Music
- Hawaiian Luau (playlist)
- 50 Hawaiian Songs
- Hawaiian Reggae Vibes (playlist)
Personally, I felt that Amazon Music did not have a great selection for luau music, and I would suggest either going with Spotify or Pandora.
Luau Food
When you think of traditionally luau food, you likely think of a pig roast (and if you really want tradition, you would bury it to cook it). I’m here to tell you, you don’t have to have a pig roast to have a luau party. There are plenty of different options, and delicious food ideas to make your luau party great without spending 18 hours roasting a pig, and having frozen left overs for 4 months!
Some examples of great luau foods would be kabobs, grilled ham and pineapple, and teriyaki chicken. There are so many great ideas out there, that may not be traditional, but will still be wonderful for your luau party. Get some ideas and inspiration from the wonderful recipes below.
Main Dishes
Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken – from Dinner then Dessert
Easy Hawaiian Chicken – from Kay’s Clean Eats
Double Smoked Ham with Pineapple-Brown Sugar Glaze – from Salt Pepper Skillet
Pineapple Chicken Kabobs – from Valerie’s Kitchen
Hawaiian Beef Skewers – from Amanda Cooks & Styles
Side Dishes
Hawaiian Coleslaw Recipe – from Platings and Pairings
Hawaiian Pineapple Rice – from Modern Meal Makeover
Food Truck Hawaiian Macaroni Salad – from Food Folks and Fun
Grilled Pineapple – from Dinner at the Zoo
Hawaiian Luau Rice – from Healthy World Cuisine
Desserts
Hawaiian Pineapple Coconut Fluff – from Melissa’s Southern Style Kitchen
Hawaiian Pineapple Upside Down Cake – from AllRecipes
Hawaiian Tart – from AllRecipes
Hawaiian Malasadas – from Eva Bakes
Hawaii Butter Mochi – from Soul&Streusel
Luau Drinks
What would make this whole party better, than some great tropical drinks to go along? There are quite a few amazing tropical drinks that would pair well with a luau, even if they aren’t all traditional Hawaiian drinks. If you’re looking for drinks that originated in Hawaii, you would start with the Mai Tai. I have collected some tropical drink recipes to make this part easy for you, take a look at them below!
Easy and Delicious Pina Colada – from Perfectly Imperfect – Life with Lyndsey
The Blue Hawaiian Cocktail – from The Kitchen Magpie
Lava Flow Drink Recipe – from Keeping it Relle
Hawaiian Margarita – from Crayons & Cravings
Luau Fun
You don’t have to have fire dancers at your luau in order to have fun (although if you want to make this commitment, more power to you)! If you want to do something similar to bring the luau feeling without having to find someone capable of fire dancing, you can always get some sparklers! This is a simple, cheap and easy way to bring the same type of feeling and fun.
It’s always fun to get your friends and/or family together and just enjoy each others company. This would be enough to make any luau party fun. If you are looking for more ideas though, I have provided some fun ideas and have found some fun luau games you can plan as well! Take a look at the inspiration below.
Simple and Fun Ideas
- Have sparklers for the kids and adults!
- Make a bonfire.
- Set up some yard games.
- Make a tropical drink creation contest.
For the Kids
- Have a water balloon fight.
- Make a slip and slide.
- Create a craft (like these cute and easy handprint pineapple cutouts from Simple Everyday Mom).
- Set up a water and sand table.
- Have bins of water or mini pools with water shooters (the ones below are our favorites, and are super easy to quickly fill and squirt).
If you are looking for some creative Hawaiian or Luau themed games, Relaxed Hostess has a list of 24 game ideas to check out! It says they are for adults, but a lot of kids would have fun with these too (you can do it either way).
My Beautiful Babes Luau Party!
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Oh I love a good themed party and you can never go wrong with a luau in the summer. The photos are fabulous!
Thank you! I hope you found some inspiration for a great themed party!
What a fun way to celebrate summer! Great ideas with such detail!
Thank you so much! Luau parties can be so much fun.
Glad you all had a fun party and it does look so well done and lots of fun.
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