Classy Luau Party Ideas on a Budget

Take the stress out of hosting with amazing ideas for a luau party on a budget. It’s a great theme for birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers and graduations.

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

A luau is a fun and festive party theme that is perfect for groups of any size. And when it comes to planning parties and celebrations, I’ve found that having a theme makes it easier to put together. It limits the options–in a good way–and you have less decisions to make as a result.

A year and a half ago, I hosted an indoor luau themed party on a budget for close to 40 people. While you may not be planning for a crowd that big, there are a lot of ways to add little details that look expensive but aren’t. If you have time and a little help, but not necessarily a lot of money to spend, then you will love these budget friendly ideas for a luau themed party.

I’ve divided this post into three sections: decor, table settings and food. These are the areas that will make the biggest impact and really help tie everything together.

*NOTE* You can find a supply list at the end of this post for everything referenced below.

Luau Party Decor

DIY Balloon Garland

Balloon garlands are a popular option for decor because they make a great statement without being expensive. They are customizable in color and size. You can drape them over archways, along railings or around a portable stand.

For our luau, we used the colors of green, pink, yellow, orange, white and gold. This provided a lot of variety and flexibility. When buying your balloons, choose 2-3 sizes which makes the end product look more interesting.

If you have never made your own balloon garland, don’t worry! There are a lot of great tutorials out there, but if I had to recommend one that gives the basics it would be this one from my friend Justine. She has 6 kids and uses balloon garlands at almost all of their birthday parties. CLICK HERE—>DIY Balloon Garland

Portable Gold Hoop Stand

Having a portable stand has been helpful when planning parties because it gives you an easy focal point. Use it inside or outside (but make sure it’s weighted down). I often default to using my gold hoop stand for my balloon garlands. There are other colors you can choose but I like gold because it’s a great neutral. When the party is over, I can take it apart and store it in a box until the next time.

DIY Chalk Sign

Years ago, I made a framed chalkboard sign. It’s come in handy many times because I can change it up for any occasion! For the luau, I used it as a welcome sign as people came in. It simply said, “Aloha, welcome to the luau” with some fern leaves around the border. I placed it on a metal easel on a small table with a plant next to it.

If writing on a chalkboard is more than you want to take on, you can also create a simple sign using Canva. Print it off at a print shop and frame it or attach it to foam core for added stability.

Plants and Greenery

As you know, a luau is a celebration that originated in Hawaii where there is an abundance of plants and flowers. To help create a tropical feeling, use plants as part of your decor. Both real and fake are fine and we used a combination at our luau themed party. Don’t have any plants? Consider buying a couple that you can place in your home afterwards. Or you can borrow from friends or family.

Luau Table Settings

White Tablecloths

We used white tablecloths for both the round tables people sat at and the serving tables. It made anything we placed on the tables stand out and provided a really clean look. If you want to change things up for your party, you could use colored tablecloths to give a more playful look.

Clear Containers

To keep things simple, we used clear containers in a variety of shapes and sizes as part of our table decor. This created consistency (and made it easier to find containers). You can see in the image below that we had taller, narrow vases, as well as shorter bowls with wider openings.

Fairy Lights

Inside of the taller containers, we placed fairy lights. It was a small detail that really took the table centerpiece up a notch. Especially as it got darker and the lights flickered, it created a really nice ambiance. Another option would be to place the fairy lights around the floral centerpiece if you aren’t going to use the glass containers/vases/jars mentioned above.

Battery Powered Tea Lights

Using tea lights is just another way to add to the overall feel of your luau themed party. They flicker like candles without having to worry they will get blown out or knocked over. Placing them inside of a more shallow container hides how the tea lights look while still giving a nice effect.

Floral Centerpiece

For our floral centerpieces, we used real pineapples that had been hollowed out with a short glass vase inside for the water. This served two purposes: 1) people automatically associate pineapple with tropical themes, 2) we could serve the pineapple at the party with dinner. At the end of the night, we gave away the centerpieces as a thank you.

The flower arrangements were done by a local florist friend who worked with me on cost since I brought in the vases and picked everything up. You can see from the photo below that she used 5-6 flowers and a lot of greenery to fill it all in.

If you were doing this on your own, you could buy a couple of bouquets of flowers from a local store and separate them out into your vases. Use the greenery from the bouquets and consider buying either real or fake greenery if you need more.

Place Settings

We kept the place settings very simple. I bought a pack of paper monstera leaves, bamboo plates and napkins printed with monstera leaves. I do want to mention that the bamboo plates were definitely worth the extra cost. They held up perfectly with no leaks and they are compostible.

The cups we used were clear with a gold rim, which helped tie everything together. However, you could easily swap them out for basic clear cups. We had seating assignments at our luau themed party, so if you are doing something similar, check out my Pineapple Place Holder SVG file to make your own. You can refer to the image below for the placement of everything.

Luau Food & Drink

We decided to do a combination of catered food and food we prepped ahead of time.

Food

• Teriyaki Chicken (catered)
• Kalua Pork (catered)
• Rice (catered)
• Green Salad (prepped ahead)
• Watermelon (prepped ahead)
• Pineapple (prepped ahead)

Drink

We kept it simple with ice water that had lemon and lime slices in it. It was served from a clear water dispenser. Other options for an easy non-alcoholic drink include lemonade and/or pineapple juice with lemon lime soda.

Dessert

Instead of going with a classic Hawaiian dessert, we opted for Dole Whips. We rented a machine and bought mix for it and served it afterwards. If you are serving a smaller group, you could make your own Dole Whip. Another option would be to go with a Chocolate Haupia (Coconut) Pie or Guava Cake.

Serving Dishes and Trays

Taking the extra step to serve food on a nice dish or tray for your luau themed party will add to the overall look and feel. My best tip for serving at any party is to use the same color of dishes and trays. Even if they don’t all match, using the same color make it look clean and put together. For our party, we used white bowls, trays and serving dishes (with the exception of the catered food which came in metal serving trays).

Luau Themed Party Supply List

• Electric balloon pump
• Luau themed balloon garland kit
• Portable gold hoop stand
• Framed chalkboard
• Chalk markers
• White tablecloths
• Fairy lights
• Battery powered tea lights
• Paper monstera leaves
• 10″ Bamboo plates
• Monstera printed napkins
• Clear cup with gold rim
• Clear drink dispenser
• Artificial monstera plant

Want to save this post for later? Hover over one of the images below and click the “Pin It” button. Then save it to your Pinterest board!

Additional Details about this Party

• Venue: Ottinger Hall at This is the Place in Salt Lake City, UT
• Photography: Callie Chloe Photography (Utah County)
• Catering (meat only): Mo’Bettah’s Hawaiian
• Floral Centerpieces: Bloomique (Provo, UT)