Moms, how fun is party planning!? Haha, yea right!!! Believe me, I know how stressful it is to plan a birthday party. Even the smallest "Oh I'm only cutting a cake" gatherings can make you wanna pull your canas out! Especially if you're anything like me, the so extra mom...always have to do the most lol.
Anyways, fear not my divalicious party planning mamas! In this blog I'm gonna show you how to throw an amazing luau birthday party without breaking the bank and without getting more unwanted grey hairs! A luau party is one the easiest themes you can do. I mean, we live in Florida. You can find tropical decor year round lol.
First things first, you need a venue. If you have a pool then you've already hit the jackpot! Even if you don't have a pool, as long as you have a backyard you don't need to look anywhere else. You can easily use one of those inflatable family pools and then save it for some family fun after the party! Unfortunately I haven't quite hit the jackpot yet lol, so for Angie's party I reserved at the Venetian Pool in Coral Gables.
Decorations:
Ok, no lie, Dollar Tree will be your best friend! Almost everything I used came from Dollar Tree.
flowers
aloha sign
green pails
green fishnet
umbrella picks
pink tablecover
fringe table skirt
flower cutout
green serving trays
inflatable palm tree
(diy foral letter will be on the next blog!)
The letterbox I already had but you can buy one from Michael's or Amazon.
I even found some goodies to set up a photo booth! Leis, flower hair clips, coconut bra, grass skirt, tiki sign, props, and honeycomb pineapple all from Dollar Tree!! The basket I had from a previous birthday party and the sunglasses on the pineapple were my own little personal touch lol. Oh I did buy the photo booth sign at Party City($5 or $6). Normally I'd make it myself but his was a very short noticed party and my peace of mind was worth the $5 or $6 lol!!!
(I also bought a really pretty photo frame from Amazon that said "Angie's 12th Luau" but it wouldn't stand so I couldn't get it in the picture.)
How cute are this light up palm tree and light up pineapple!?! These babies are from Publix!! They weren't even on my grocery list but I'm glad I found them!
Favors:
Ok, so I'm kind of obsessed with how these party favors turned out! I spotted these little hand sanitizers as I was waiting in line to pay at Dollar Tree and to my suprise they matched my luau theme perfectly!! I mean, had I been looking for them I guarantee you I wouldn't have found them. I bought some bubbles to go along with them, grabbed some twine I had at home and voila!!
I made these little tags myself on the computer and Angie helped me tie them to the favors.
Honestly, easiest party favors I've ever done!!
Cake:
We can't forget the most important part of any party, the cake!!! I feel that the cake is the focal point of the party and the party centers around the cake so it has to be perfect!
Everyone I asked for a quote on this cake told me anywhere from $150 - $180. Nothing personal to any cake makers out there but when you're on a budget $180 for sugar seems a bit extreme. Thankfully my friendly Publix bakery came through! I showed them a picture from Pinterest of what I wanted and they made it a reality. I used the actual top of a pineapple as a cake topper and one of the flowers I bought from Dollar Tree to accessorize.
Long story short, this beautiful cake came out to $24.99!!!!!!! I added some colorful cupcakes(also from Publix) and everything tied together beautifully! Since I reserved at a venue I didn't have to worry about food but in my opinion you can never go wrong with pizza!! Throw in some croquetas and pastelitos and everyone's happy!
As a mom, I'm all about a good deal and I know firsthand how hectic birthdays can be. Birthdays should be fun and loud and full of laughter! We should enjoy creating these birthday memories with our children instead of stressing out over the table skirt that keeps falling(true story) because I promise you they will not remember that!!
I really hope you enjoyed this blog as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you!! Feel free to message me if you need ideas for any other kind of party!
Xoxo,
- Marlen