Everything from your drinks to your tables should scream "tropics."
Shake off the cold winter blues by turning your next party into an indoor luau. Many party stores put their leftover stock of tropical decorations and favors on clearance throughout the fall and early winter. You can also make your own invitations and decorations if you have difficulty finding them in stores. Invite your guests to wear their best tropical attire and join you in momentarily escaping from the snow and ice.
Invitations
Identify the party as a winter luau in your invitations and decorate the cards appropriately. Use stickers of palm trees, shells and tropical flowers like orchids. Decorate the cards with bright colors, such as turquoise, fuchsia, orange and yellow. Alternatively, buy pre-made cards at a card or party store or email your invitations and include plenty of tropical clip art. You may also include a note encouraging your guests to dress in tropical attire.
Decorations
Decorate your tables with bright tablecloths, small shells, tissue paper flowers and fake tropical flower petals. For an affordable centerpiece, place a small bowl of colored water on the table and set a floating candle in the center. Buy or make paper lanterns to hang from the ceiling. Ask your local party store for other leftover tropical decorations from the summer, like tiki poles or grass skirting for tables. Turn up the heat in your home or party space to mimic warm, yet comfortable, tropical weather, and play island music in the background.
Attire
Don your best tropical clothing for the event. Wear an "aloha" shirt or muumuu with a Hawaiian pattern on it. If you do not already own clothes with tropical patterns, search your local thrift store. Complete your outfit with a grass skirt and lei. Moreover, you can buy or make grass skirts and lei garlands for your guests to wear. These items help complete the atmosphere and double as fun party favors.
Games
If you plan on inviting children to your luau, plan plenty of games to hold their attention. Choose games that adults can take part in, too. Push the tables and chairs aside and have a limbo contest. Teach your guests dance the hula or have a hula-hoop contest. If you have enough space, you may also invite the children at your party to break open a pinata shaped like a fish, dolphin or other tropical object.
Food
Include plenty of fresh tropical fruits for your guests to snack on, including pineapple, kiwi, banana, mango, papaya and passion fruit. Serve tropical punch in a coconut-shaped cup and stick a miniature umbrella in the drink. You may also provide a tropical alcoholic drink, such as a pina colada, for responsible adults at your luau to enjoy. Serve Hawaiian meatballs or Hawaiian pizza for a casual party. For a more elegant occasion, serve kalua pork or shoyu chicken.
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