A Modern Luau

When you hear of a "Hawaiian Luau Party" images of fruit punch, hula skirts and colorful plastic flower lei's probably come to mind. However, a traditional Hawaiian luau couldn't be further from the truth. Culturally luau's are a large part of Hawaiian culture and entertaining is an essential part of life. Even if you aren't in the tropics, throwing a modern luau today doesn’t have to mean kitschy. Here are my tips for creating a more authentic, and infinetly more modern, Hawaiian Luau.

DECOR:
For the table décor, focus on clean, organic lines with a lot of natural elements and just a few tropical ones. Keep the floral print to one aspect of the table, we chose to highlight a colorful floral tablecloth and balance that out by using many wood elements and limiting the use of color. Instead of floral centerpieces, we chose to use two large Monstera leafs in a simple wood bowl. Other beautiful floral options include orchids, birds of paradise and red ginger flowers. Clear votives with white candles were placed on wooden trays and set along the table.

For the place settings; simple, off-white ceramic plates were placed on top of a woven grass charger. Sleek modern silverware and stemless wine glasses complete our place setting. Little wood salt and pepper cellars with matching spoons hold the Hawaiian red sea salt and organic pepper. We placed a real leaf on top of each plate and wrapped them around the menus to give the entire setting a splash of natural color. For our guest favors a tin of authentic red Hawaiian sea salt was placed at each setting.

MENU:
Pacific Rim inspired cuisine is not only an accurate, but upscale menu choice for your party. Start with a refreshing Edamame Mint Salad followed by Cedar-Planked Teriyaki Salmon and Pork and Pineapple Kebabs. For dessert, try a Banana Vanilla Haupia Pudding.

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Comments

[Liz@The Wedding Bistro]

That menu suggestion is great!