How to have a Hawaiian house party
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Do you want to throw a Hawaiian-themed house party? Check out our tips below.
A Hawaiian party is also called a Luau. This can be an indoor beach party or you can have a beach party outside. If you don't want to have a beach party perhaps you can have a Hawaiian jungle theme.
Hawaii is a state in the United States of America.
If you're partying outside, then you'll probably want to schedule it for summer. You could also have an indoor party with heating in any season
You'd have a Hawaiian party to give the vibe of a tropical paradise. People will love sunny Hawaii.
Invitations
Your invitations could have beach scenery, palm trees and/or a lei graphic. You could also have a picture of yourself in a Hawaiian shirt or floral dress. You could do a Hula dance.
You can Photoshop yourself with scenery from Hawaii in the background if you have the technical skills. If you don't have such skills then a friend may do this for you.
You'd want to state whether the party is inside and/or outside. You would also want to put the time and date of your party.
Adding a dress code is probably a good idea. This would help prevent people from showing up in a black T-shirt when everybody else is wearing Hawaiian shirts, floral dresses and tank tops.
If you want guests to bring anything, then you can state this on the invitations.
For offline invitations postcards with Hawaiian scenery or landmarks could be a nice touch. You can buy postcards at Amazon.
If you're hand delivering them, then you could go with a message in a bottle or message in a drained coconut.
Entrance
You can welcome people to your Hawaiian party with a sign saying "Aloha! Welcome to Hawaii". They say Aloha in Hawaii to greet people.
Someone may greet people at the door by saying "Aloha!" and hand them a lei.
You might have some leis for people to pick up and wear if you don't have a greeter. Alternatively you could have Hawaiian print shirts, sunglasses and sunblock at the entrance.
Decorations
You can get inflatable palm trees at Amazon.
You may want some tropical flowers around your party area. This will add color to your party. You can have real flowers, but fake flowers are also an option.
Plants are a good option, especially if you have a jungle theme going on.
If there's room you may have a beach ball in the party area. A rubber ring might be good too; you would usually hang those up.
You may want to print out images of Hawaiian scenery and have them around your party areas.
Water and sand
Unless you're wealthy enough to have a beach-front property, you can't have an authentic beach experience.
You can have a pool in your backyard if you want people to enjoy hanging in the water.
You could have a sandpit too. Fake sand can be easily made.
Otherwise, you can just buy blue and brown mats. Getting pictures of tropical fish would be a good way to represent the sea.
You could also buy real or plastic tropical fish, or rent an aquarium. There are also many items with tropical fish designs, such as soap, shower curtains and much more.
What to wear at a Hawaiian party
Guys would typically wear Hawaiian shirts. They're commonly made from Cotton or Rayon.
Guests may wear beautiful floral dresses. People may turn up in beachwear, too. Grass skirts or sorongs can also be considered.
Hawaiian shirts go great with shorts or slacks.
Some people would want to wear leis around their necks, too. Another accessory could be a puka shell necklace or bracelet.
Party-goers could also wear a flower behind one ear. They would wear it behind their left ear if they're single and behind their right ear if they're taken.
Footwear could include sandals, flip-flops or bare feet.
Lights
String lights could be a good option. Other options could include Tiki Torches, candles or a bonfire.
Drinks
You can make some tropical cocktails such as a Blue Hawaii or Mai Tai.
You can also serve tropical punch. This usually has rum with pineapple, passionfruit and lime.
Fruit smoothies are another option. You would need plain/vanilla yogurt, fresh fruit and optionally a sweetener. You can use soy milk/yogurt to create a dairy-free smoothie.
You can also go with pineapple, passionfruit or mango juice.
Food
Tropical fruit such as pinapple, passionfruit or mango would be great. You can also get passionfruit and mango yoghurt.
Fish could be a good choice. Popular fish in Hawaii include salmon, ani and ono. Diced raw fish is called poke in Hawaii.
Other popular dishes could be Kalua Pig, Hawaiian Poi, Haupia, and Chicken Long Rice. Spam musubi is also a popular snack in Hawaii, but any spam will do.
If you don't mind something less traditional, then burgers are great. You could also do toasted sandwiches with ham and pineapple.
You can also order (or make your own) Hawaiian pizza. Pineapple and ham would typically go on it.
Coconut flavored sweets could be nice. You might want to buy some coconut, too. I love the taste of coconut!
Pineapple Lumps might be good.
If it's a daytime party and hot, then you may want some tropical ice blocks and/or passionfruit ice cream.
You can get kitchen items made from bamboo, including plates and spoons.
Games
Pass The Coconut
People pass around a coconut while music is playing. When the music stops, the person holding the coconut is eliminated from the game. The last person remaining wins.
Pineapple Bowling
This is exactly like Ten Pin Bowling, but pineapples are used as the pins. You could use a coconut to knock down the pineapples.
Hawaiian Trivia
Trivia questions about Hawaii are asked. Groups of people can answer the questions.
Hawaiian Bingo
Bingo with Hawaiian icons. People would say "Aloha" instead of "Bingo".
Hawaiian Pictonary
You write names of things in Hawaiian on cards. People draw cards without showing the others. They have to draw (on paper or in sand) what the card says.
You can choose to play in groups. Each group would assign an artist. The artist doesn't have to be the same person every time.
Limbo
Someone would lower a bamboo stick or broom. Music plays while the participants try to lean back and fit under the item. If the player fails to fit under, then they're eliminated.
Koane
This is basically Hawaiian checkers, but every move must be a capture move, and the impressions can go in any direction.
You line up 64 impressions one color after the other.
Ball Toss
Using a sand shovel, you would toss ping-pong balls in a bucket at least 10 feet away. The person who fills their bucket the fastest wins.
You can also bury the balls in sand and have the players dig them out before tossing them.
Hula Relay
People form teams. Each person in a team takes turn putting on a hula outfit and running to a spot and back. The team who completes the relay first wins.
You could also use rubber rings or beachwear instead of hula outfits.
All The Poi You Can Eat
Players get a bowl of poi and whoever eats the most poi in 60 seconds wins.
Alternatively, you can use rice or yogurt instead of poi.
Photo booth
You could have a photo booth with a beach backdrop. Sunglasses and fake parrots could be used as props.
Seating
Depending on the room, people can sit on beach towels or fold up chairs. Fold up chairs can be easily removed if you want to convert the seating area into a dance floor.
Sober attendee
If you have a sober attendee they can wear a lifeguard outfit.
Music
Traditional Hawaiian music is usually played on slack key guitar or ukulele. You can get someone to play Hawaiian music live or seek out a playlist on YouTube or Spotify.
Alternatively, you can play tropical pop artists such as Riker Lynch. This isn't really Hawaiian music, though.
Hula dancers
It may be possible to hire hula dancers in your area.
Hula dancing involves swaying of the hips and sidestepping. You can find videos on YouTube if you're interested.
Hula 'Auana is a version of Hula music played on slack key guitar or ukulele.
If you're into dance music then you can put on some drum and bass jungle music as Hawaii does have jungle areas.
Movies
Below are some movies that contain scenery from Hawaii.
Legendary director Steven Spielberg has many movies filmed in Hawaii, including Jurassic Park, Jurassic World and Hook.
The kids movie Lilo and Stitch is partly filmed in Hawaii.
Just Go With It and Along Came Polly are romantic comedies filmed in Hawaii.
A movie called Aloha exists; however, it bombed at the box office, and is not very enjoyable, from what I've read. Watch at your own risk.
While Six Days And Seven Nights wasn't set in Hawaii, it was filmed there.
Mighty Joe Young and Tropic Thunder were not set in Hawaii, but they were filmed on the Hawaiian island Kauai.
Pearl Harbor and From Here To Eternity might be good options, too.
TV
Episodes of Hawaii 5-0, Magnum P.I., The White Lotus, Lost, High School Reunion or NCIS: Hawaii can be binged.
Lots of sitcoms have episodes set in Hawaii, such as Full House, Saved By The Bell, Step By Step and My Wife And Kids You'll have to look the episode numbers up.
Fire Dancers
If you have the budget and space, then you could hire some fire dancers. Do not attempt this yourself!
Outside parties
If your party is outside, then don't forget to get people to wear sunblock if it's still daylight.
Indoor parties
You may want to ensure that your place is heated if it's an indoor party, since people may come in beach wear and cotton shirts.
How to make a lei
A lei is a ring of flowers. People wear them around their neck.
To make a lei, get about 100" of string or fishing line.
Get some flowers. You may buy some real or artificial flowers. You can even pick them from your garden.
Cut the stems off them, except for about half an inch.
Thread a needle to your string/line. Perhaps you'll need a knot to ensure the connection is secure.
Gently place the flower through the needle and down the lei. Continue doing this until your Lei is satisfactory.
Lastly, remove the needle and tie the ends of the lei together.
Some people also use money instead of flowers. I imagine that it's mostly rich people who do this.
They would fold two notes and glue the folded ends together. Once the glue dries, they would thread notes with beads in between.
You can also have a lei with beads. Paper flowers are an option, too.
How to make a flower crown
To make a flower crown, you would first connect two pieces of wire so it forms a circle. You should make the circle so it fits nicely on your head.
Cut the flowers so the stems are 3 inches long. You may have to place a wire through the stem if the stems are too floppy. Ensure that the flowers are in groups of two or three.
Using floral tape, you would tape the stems/wires to the crown.
You can place the crown in the refrigerator to keep it fresh, but you'll need to keep it well away from fruit and vegetables. If you're unable to remove the fruit and vegetables, you can put them into a plastic bag or crisper drawer.
Thanks for reading
I hope that you have a great Hawaiian party.