Hawaiian Luau Party Theme Ideas

You can host a luau indoors too. It's a great way to perk up the winter blues.

All of our luau party ideas can be used outside or inside (not the tiki torches please).

Get ready to create unique centerpieces, a colorful buffet table, beautiful lighting with torches and luminarias...can't you feel the tropical breeze already?

Hawaiian Luau Party Ideas

• Greet your guests as they arrive (you could appoint a special greeter dressed in fancy luau garb for this duty) with a lei. Buy them or make them yourself out of flowers, shells, feathers, leaves or nuts. A properly worn lei drapes down in both the front and the back. Also, it's traditional in Hawaii for the guest of honor to be given a special lei to wear so he or she stands out from the other guests.
• Present your guests with name tags showing their Hawaiian names (you can translate your guests' names into Hawaiian at Internet Island).
• Fill a pretty basket with silk plumeria blooms for the women to wear in their hair. Traditionally, in Hawaii, wearing the flower behind your right ear means you're single, and behind your left ear means you're taken. Don't forget to have some bobby pins handy too.
• In Hawaii a luau is a feast, so make sure you put on a big spread for your guests. Having authentic luau food to go along with your Hawaiian luau party theme is key! Pick up some simple luau recipes and impress your guests with these tropical dishes.
• Have an assortment of tropical drinks on hand (Mai Tais, Blue Hawaiians, and Lava Flows are a few of the most popular) —they're a big part of any luau. Don't forget to have non-alcoholic drinks available too. These luau drink recipes make authentic tropical mixed drinks that'll get your guests in a very happy Hawaiian state of mind (and pretty quickly, too).
• Your food and drinks will look even more fabulous on tropical patterned dishes and in tiki mugs, coconut shells or glasses with tropical garnishes (exotic flowers, slices of pineapple, and paper umbrellas, for example). Check Target and similar stores for inexpensive tableware. If your party will be outside it's a good idea to get non-breakable dishes and glasses.
• Transform your backyard into the tropics with tiki torches —yes, even if your Hawaiian luau is in the daytime (fill them with citronella oil for mosquito-repelling benefits), exotic flowers strewn across the buffet table, colorful paper lanterns strung above the party-goers, and strings of lights for great nighttime ambience.
• Use a couple of beach umbrellas to make shady spots for guests who want to get out of the sun for a bit. Decorate them with raffia streamers or hang grass skirting around the egdes of the umbrellas for a tiki hut look.
• For a fun cooler for beer, soda and water bottles, fill a child's wading pool with ice or use colorful tin buckets for smaller parties.
• Check out the new appliances made especially for making frozen drinks. You can blend large batches of drinks with them, which will save you loads of time if you're having a lot of guests.
• Add to the fun by sending your guests off with luau party favors. Be kitschy if you want or do something unexpected and present your guests with mini bottles of Malibu® coconut rum tucked into tiki mugs or jars of honey from Maui's lavender fields.

You might also be interested in these pages:
More Luau Party Ideas
Hawaiian Decorations
Hawaiian Luau Party Invitations (download them free!)
Luau Birthday Cakes
Luau Party Favors
Luau Drink Recipes
Easy Luau Recipes

Do you have Hawaiian luau party theme ideas of your own? We'd love it if you'd share them with us! Send us an email and we'll be sure to publish your ideas for our readers to enjoy.