Luau party in northern minnesota, back yard small along with small budget. Any ideas for food or decorations?

Question

I live in a small town and am having close friends and family over. i am getting some decorations from oriental tradings, but need some home-made ideas along with some food ideas that would be rather inexpensive. thanks for your help!

Answer 1

Carve names into whole coconuts for "place cards"

Get some tiki torches from your local home/garden shop..they aren't expensive but REALLY set the mood.

Download a bunch of Hawaiian music and tiki drum music onto your computer and have it playing in the back ground.

And remember, a Hawaiian luau as the hawaiians explain is their version of a backyard party.  Every luau I've attended in the Hawaiian Islands had easy dishes such as macaroni salad as well as the more tradional dishes.

Ask all your guests to come in an aloha shirt or hawaiian print dress and visit a thrift shop and pick up a few extras (their only a coupleof bucks) to provide for the inevitable "stick in the mud" that won't come wearing their own!

Hope you have a great time at your party :)

Answer 2

Dollar store for party goods like leis and things like that. A few real pineapples would serve as decorations also.  Find some grass skirts at a discount store somewhere and attach it to the edges of the tables.  Serve things like baked pineapple chicken, which is chicken how you like to bake with some pineapples and orange juice added when cooking.   Mix up a batch of Mai Tais and I think it would be a hit.

Answer 3

make chicken and pineapple kabobs on the grill,

marinate the chicken in orange juice to make it even more luau feeling / tasting.

make paper lanterns, or buy them in bulk, they're usually not very expensive,

use palm branches and fruits like mangos limes and pineapples as table decorations,

and you could always eat them as dessert!

=]

Answer 4

Do a potluck, and ask everyone to bring a tropical-inspired dish.  This cuts down on both cost and preparation!

Some ideas for food:

- Hawaiian pizza

- Lemon Meringue pie

- lots of tropical fruit (with cool whip is a nice dessert... sometimes it's nice with a little Bailey's or Kahlua mixed in!)

- For alcohol have Malibu coconut rum (there are other varieties now too, like papaya). You can mix it in fruit juice (coconut rum in pineapple juice is delish!) or in coke or other mixers.

- For kids, have fruit juice with and pour a little grenadine in the bottom of the cup - they LOVE it and it looks so pretty! Top it with one of those little plastic swords with a maraschino cherry.

- Ribs in a lime-based BBQ sauce are AMAZING and have that "luau" feel (short of actually roasting a pig in your backyard...)

- Oh! I don't know if they're available where you are, but I've seen sherbert that you can buy that's in the shell/peel of the fruit it's made from (ie, coconut sherbert served in 1/2 a coconut shell, they also have lemon, mango I think, orange, etc. SO yummy! Short of that, tropical sherbert alone would be very refreshing)

- Have tropical-related music; for something more laid-back you could have Jack Johnson or Iz (Israel Kawakiwo'ole or something like that), or if you want something more upbeat go Cuban - ie, Buena Vista Social Club (not quite "Luau" but very festive!)

- For decorations, you can usually get really cheap leis at the local dollar store (and tell everyone to come in Hawaiian attire, that alone really adds to the ambiance!). My friend had a party and was able to rent a blow-up palm tree (seriously!) for pretty cheap.

- If it's outside and the party will continue til after dark, get some white paper bags and draw sillhouettes of Hawaiian images (sailboat, palm tree, hibiscus, hula dancer, etc). Then weight them with some sand or rocks and put a small tealight or votive inside (in a holder).  It will look pretty when it glows, plus the bag will hopefully protect the candle and keep it from blowing out.

- Also, white christmas lights look gorgeous in trees, hedges or just strung up along wherever. Very pretty and festive!

Good luck! Your party sounds like fun - I wish I could join you! :)