Moana Luau Birthday Party

(Photo Credits: Alicia Marie Photography)

My Ladybug is obsessed with all things water. So it wasn’t a surprise that she picked a Moana birthday party this year. Since she is getting older, we decided to make it more of a luau theme so it was a little more grown up. These are all ideas for a Moana Luau birthday party, but could also be used for a normal luau. You will see some character-type decorations here and there, but I was going for less cutesy and a more grown-up luau.

I am posting a bunch of our Moana party game ideas as well, but since there is so much to cover, I will be doing it in a separate post later.

And a big thanks to Alicia Marie Photography for helping out with the photography. She is amazing!

Luau Entrance

I love creating an entrance that really helps set the stage for the party. And if it is easy to do, even better!

And it doesn’t get much easier than this! I secured a dowel across the gate and draped a flower leis garland over it. The garland was a great deal and 100 feet long! I plan on using it in Ladybug’s bedroom later as a bed canopy.

I also bought a second garland to drape along a set of garden shepherd hooks. I like having a set of shepherd hooks around because they are so versatile for so many things.

We did this in the winter, so our backyard wasn’t at its best, but the fake flowers helped add the needed color.

Along the pathway, we also included Moana printables with quotes from the movie.

Download Moana Sign Printables (PDF) (includes quote signs, signs for the games, and station signs)

Pick Your Moana Party Favors

I am all about the swag at our parties. I love party favors that add to the look of the party and that the kids can also take home and enjoy for a long time. So for the Moana Luau birthday party favors, I did a t-shirt, a leis headband, a Heart of Te Fiti, and pineapple cups.

At the first station, the girls grabbed their t-shirts. If you want a copy of the Silhouette file, just leave me a note in the comments and I can email it to you. I make these with those packs of Hanes undershirts, so they are really not that expensive. Alicia over at Zoley Creations also has access to all my vinyl files and can make them for you. I love to use glitter vinyl because it stays on so much better after multiple washings.

The next station was to pick out your leis headband. My wonderful friend April let me borrow a bunch of her Moana stuff to decorate this station. The headbands were only about 50 cents a piece on Amazon! The girls were so cute in them!

The girls put lot of thought went into picking just the right one!

The girls then got to pick out their pineapple cups on the Moana party food table and I gave out the Hearts of Te Fiti as part of a game.

How to Make a Balloon Palm Tree

A luau isn’t complete without a palm tree, so I used a patio pillar to make one.

I started by wrapping packing paper from Amazon and Walmart shipments around the pillar and securing it by wrapping twine around it. I then blew up some 40-inch spiral green balloons and taped them to the packing paper up on the top.

I then wrapped some more packing paper around the base of the balloons to hide the tape. Walmart uses this cool paper when mailing glass bottles and it was perfect. I then wrapped some more twine to secure it. The whole thing was practically free because I had the balloons leftover from a Minecraft birthday party.

Moana Luau Birthday Party Food Table

I had a lot of fun with this food table. I talk more about the banner below, but the backdrop was a pair of white curtains, palm leaves, and some paper flowers I made. On the front, I draped a grass skirt by pinning it to the tablecloth.

>>See full Luau Paper Flower Tutorial and Templates

On the side, I draped a couple of fishing nets and a tissue flower garland.

And I included my little Kakamora pinata in the back!

On the table, I scattered little glass stones, seashells, and rocks we found at the beach. I found this fabric in my fabric stash and it was too perfect not to use. And my friend’s Maui toy overlooks it all.

Moana Luau Birthday Party Banner

I was so excited to buy this burlap birthday banner because I plan on using it over and over again. It is so versatile. For this party, I just added some seashells and it became the perfect Luau birthday banner.

To add the shells, I hot glued on a bunch of seashells to pieces of twine. Once the glue hardened, I tied it to the banner.

After the party, I took the seashells off and used them to make a garland for Ladybug’s room.

Luau Photo Booth

How cute are these girls!?! Every Moana Luau Birthday Party needs a photo booth and this one was so easy to do. Believe it or not, the ocean backdrop is a tablecloth I bought for only $13! The quality was great and I now have it hanging in Ladybug’s room above her bed. She now gets to wake up every day in paradise!

We even moved the Moana boat over to take a few photos.

And these cute pineapple cups made the best photo props!

The fun part about so many of these Moana Luau birthday party decorations is that we have been able to reuse them in Ladybug’s room and for other luaus. I hate wasting money and time, so it is nice when they can do double duty.