Backyard LUAU party ideas for my mom's birthday.?

Question

I am throwing my mom a Surprise 45th birthday for my mom and she has always wanted a luau. So thats what i'm doing for her. I have some decorations, but need help with food ideas and games. Also i wanted to do prizes. There will be kids and adults there, so i wanted to have prizes for kids and adults, but in the Hawaiian theme. Any ideas. Also we have a above ground pool and trampoline and are putting in a koi pond and i was wondering what kind of backyard setup i could do. i want to put strings from our patio to fence and hang lanterns on it. and I'm trying to find cheap canopies, like a 10x20, but can't. also i need help with Bamboo. We have a covered patio and i wanted to put bamboo on it to make it look like a tiki hut, any cheaper idea or know of where to find bamboo at? Any thing will help

Answer 1

You can get solar bamboo tiki torches at Home Depot ...  check Oriental Trading Co.'s website for lots of favors & decorations.  They have grass skirts to go around your tables, and you might be able to put them over your canopies too..... Walmart or Target should have cheaper canopies in their garden/patio sections ......  Make fruit kebobs and put the skewers into whole fresh pineapples, and use them as centerpieces.  Little wooden bowls with chunks of FRESH coconut and macadamia nuts.  Poi is served at all luaus, but tastes terrible - so put the teensiest dab of blue & red food coloring into hummus, to color it purple and serve with chips ......   Fill a jar with tropical jelly bellies and have a prize for the person who guesses how many are in there .....  get some sprigs of artificial little orchids at Michaels, and scatter the orchids all over the table, and food platters (they're on everything in Hawaii) .......

Answer 2

Get Mom a fresh hawaiian lei to wear. Party City or Oriental Trading Company has wonderful inexpensive lei's for men and women. Have all guest dress the part with sarongs, grass skirts, coconut bras and hawaiian shirts etc.

Limbo? Decorate a broomstick with streamers, play some energetic music. Hula hoop contest? Award prizes for the longest hula, the most unique hula, and for the person who can successfully hula the most hoops!

Decorate your table with beautiful wood plates, bowls and platters. Lay fruit, and big sea shells on a spread of palm leaves. Add tealights for the evening. Your hanging lanterns will add a great touch! Tiki torches are inexpensive too. Play hawaiian music throughout the party.

Translate Your Guests Names into Hawaiian

There are only 13 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet: A, E, H, I K, L, M, N, O, P, U and W. The consonants H, K, L, M, N, P, and W are pronounced exactly as in English. If a name ends in a consonant, add a vowel. Always place a vowel between consonants.

Food Ideas:

Oven Kalua Pig

1 medium large pork butt (around 8 lbs.)

¼ Cup Hawaii salt or Kosher Salt

2 Cups water

1-Tablespoon Liquid Smoke

Cut a few half-inch incisions into the pork. Place pork butt in large roasting pan. Rub in salt and liquid smoke. Pour water into pan. Roast in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for over 8 hours. Kalua pork is usually shredded and may be served with poi or rice.

Huli Huli Chicken (Hawaiian barbequed chicken)

3 Fryers split or quartered

¼ Cup Soy Sauce

¼ Ketchup

¼ Cup Pineapple juice concentrate

½ Cup Chicken broth

1/3 Cup White Wine

1 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

1 Pinch Ginger

Combine soy sauce, ketchup, pineapple juice concentrate, chicken broth, white wine, Worcestershire sauce, and ginger in a large bowl. You may marinate your chicken pieces in the sauce or brush on and barbeque immediately. Grill the chicken turning and basting with the sauce until fully cooked.

Lomi Lomi Salmon (Lomi Lomi means “massage”)

1 Pound salt salmon

4 Tomatoes peeled and diced

1 Medium Maui Onion chopped (mild white onion)

Green Onions for garnish

Soak the Salt Salmon in water to help remove the skin and excess salt (If you cannot find salt salmon you may substitute canned salmon and rub in a small amount of Hawaiian Salt or Kosher Salt). Shred the Salmon with your hands. Combine shredded salmon, onions and tomatoes in large bowl and massage until thoroughly mixed. At this point you may choose to add some crushed ice to aid in chilling. Serve chilled.

Here's a fun checklist http://www.alohafriendsluau.com/planner.... have an awesome time with Mom!

Answer 3

Don't forget the music and coconut cups with umbrellas. Greet your guests as they arrive with the Lei's (if that's how you spell it). You can also use dry ice put up in a safe place away from the children to add decor around the drink table. Get bug candles too for those insects at night that can make you miserable. Definately do limbo for an activity, and if you have room in the backyard at night a bondfire. Have a dress contest but imply that on invites. You can use the grass skirts also to decorate the deck to get that look too. Give flip flops as a favor as well if you want. Salsa and avacado dip n chips, melon balls (canteloupe,watermelon,purple grapes scooped with a melon baller and later put back into the watermelon rind and use toothpicks to serve) terriaki wings, meatballs, deviled eggs, pigs in blankets, large tossed salad, etc.....Some of those items the kids can eat because it's finger food they understand. I can help you research if you want I do this for friends too and plan events here and there.

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Answer 4

Activities:

Dust off that ukulele and start doing the hula. A luau is the perfect time to don some grass skirts and have guests learn Hawaii's traditional dance. If you want to give them a lesson they won't forget, try hiring a local instructor. Or you can learn low-budge from instructional videos.

Guests of all ages will love a Hula Hoop contest. See who can keep his or her hoop going for the longest time or who can master circling the hoop around the knees or feet.

Finish everything off with a few rounds of limbo. Wrap a pole (or broomstick) in some floral garland to give it an island feel, and challenge guests to see how low they can go.

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One of the luxuries of Hawaii-inspired anything is that you can serve spur-of-the-moment made-up drinks, as long as they’re flavored with fruit and rum. Apples and oranges, juicy mangos and vibrang pineapples and oranges all lend themselves to lovely party concoctions.

Mai-Tais

• 1 oz. Royal Hawaiian Light Rum, or any light rum.

• 1 oz. Demerara Rum (Lemon Hart 86)

• 1 oz. Orange Curacao (Bols)

• Dash French Orgeat Syrup

• Dash Rock Candy Syrup

• Juice of half a Lime

• 1/4 oz. Lemon Juice

• Pineapple, Orange and Guava Juice

Fill large (14 ounce) glass with ingredients, then add crushed ice and juices. Garnish with mint leaves and perhaps fruit on a skewer.

Answer 5

Same Prob!

Answer 6

Big project!  I hope this doesn't go to voters!!!

You can get bamboo "walls" or fences at home depot.  They're $20 for 16 feet.  That would be cool for atmosphere.  

You can get paper lanterns that run on AAA batteries, so you can hang them anywhere...our Rite Aid store has them marked down right now.

You can go to your local dollar store and find all kinds of Island inspired stuff...umbrella toothpicks, streamers, hats, and very colorful plates napkins, and cups.

Try to create a festive atmosphere...yes...but have absolutely splendid food on hand.  You probably want to call on some relatives to provide their expertise in side dishes and maybe some others to work the grill they love so well!

Don't forget the music............Buffet is good~~~