Top Ideas on how to plan a fun Luau. A Luau Planner's Guide.

We have create Luau Planner's guide to help people plan a successful, fun, and memorable experience with friends, family, and others. Let's keep it simple and you will have a wonderful time. 

1. Food:  Look for a Hawaiian Catering Company that can customize your menu that is ideal for your party. Discuss with your family if you want to have your food cooked on location or delivered from the Catering Kitchen or Restaurant. When you elect your catering company to cook on location, remember the culture of the Polynesian Islands and Hawaii. I bring this up because Hawaii and other islands has the influence of the Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Koreans, and of course native local cooking. 

Here some examples of food:

• Hawaiian BBQ Chicken "Teriyaki, Korean, and Filipino Style Marinade"
• Kalbi Beef Short Ribs: "Korean Marinade"
• Kalua Pork "Native Smoked Pulled Pork"
• Whole Roasted "non imu" Pig: Filipino Style
• Fried Rice: Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Japanese
• Mochiko Chicken: Japanese and Korean Style Fried Chicken
• Katsu Chicken: Japanese
• Hawaiian Style Poke: Native
• Lau Lau: Native Style
• Noodles: Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Chinese
• Musubi / Onigiri Japanese
• Kings Hawaiian Rolls and Portuguese Sausage: Portugal

Here some food items that are not authentic buy labeled as Hawaiian:

• Meatballs
• Mashed Potatoes
• Chicken Wings
• Add Pineapple to any dish (Just because Pineapple is added to a meat or dish, doesn't make it authentic)

2. Luau Entertainment: There are a few companies that can contract Luau Shows for your next Luau. There are catering companies that subcontracts performers for their events that has no knowledge about the culture of Polynesian Dances, Costumes, Music, and the story that represents each island. There are some companies that pretends to be Luau Entertainers to only take your money for a higher price as they hire inexpensive actors that has no clue. This is very common in California, Florida, and New York. There is a hidden talent with Live Tahitian Drumming and MC. Not all performing companies offers an MC for their shows and would prefer to offer a pre recorded MC and not offer Live Tahitian Drumming. When you are offered a low price for a Luau Show, you are most likely hiring a show with low quality. Why spend less money to only get disappointed, get your contract cancelled last minute, or get embarrassed for low quality show. It's best to put your money into a good show vs wasting little money to only get disappointed. .

3. Luau Props: There are not many companies that can decorate for Nevada and California. There are literally only 2 companies including us that has Tikis, Palapas, Outriggers, Luau Decorations, Tiki Masks, Tiki Bars, Tiki Huts, and more. Since there are not many Luau Decoration services for the general public, do not expect us to offer individual prices per item. Party Rental companies has adjusted since covid to only offer services with a minimum of $1500.00 during the weekend. Due to the large amount contracts and inquiries, we book out quickly to the amount of Luau Props that we have to support Luau Parties. 

4. Time: California should understand that vendors have no control when it comes to traffic. If you want to have a strict expectation with time, understand and recognize that vendors will charge 20-30% more to guarantee your expected time. 

5. Gratuity: Is not 100% expected for all production but it's always appreciated when have a team of performers, decorators, catering staff, event staff, and other vendors that came together to give you a special event. The average gratuity is 18%-35% from the event invoice. If you leave a positive review on Google, Yelp, and Social Media, we will discount your final balance by 2%.