It's no secret that I love a good tropical themed fete! In the past few years I've hosted a Tropical Pineapple Flamingle, a Flock of Fun Party and even a Luau Gender Reveal, so it was only natural to continue the theme with the graduate in mind. After all, what could be more fun than piling on a few leis after receiving a diploma?! To ensure our grads were picture perfect we created a DIY Lei Station complete with a backdrop for all the selfie taking they could handle. Our yard was transformed into a tropical paradise complete with a plethora of flamingos, pineapples and palm leaves and we're positive this theme will appeal to all the grads in your life!
Setting the Tropical Scene
The caps have been tossed and everyone's ready for a relaxing poolside soiree! Guests felt as though they had been transported to a sunny tropical paradise thanks to our well-placed decorations. Felicia, our larger than life flamingo pool float greeted guests with a giant smile the second they arrived.
Bright florals and a bevy of tropical foliage in the form of Large Artificial Monstera Leaves, Medium Polyester Palm leaves, Large Palm Leaves and Artificial Tropical Leaves were sprinkled throughout the party for a lush, luau feel.
Flamingos, pineapples, coconuts and fun were definitely on the agenda for this graduation party! Giant gold letters spelling "grad" left no mistaking that there was a party to be had.
Flamingle-Worthy Tablescape
I love to come up with new uses for common items, so we opted to use a pink striped Turkish towel in place of a tablecloth on our dining table.
Flamingo Decorations, fancified with flower petals from a Luau Luxe Gold Flower Garland and a Pink Peony Floral Garland stood tall and looked like they just received diplomas themselves, thanks to their mini grad caps. Large Artificial Monstera Leaves and Artificial Tropical Leaves were layered atop our tablecloth for extra dimension.
Coconut cups were transformed into vases and held faux tropical palm leaves and bright florals. They looked so chic sitting next to DIY Small Ceramic Pineapples on either side of the flamingos. Be sure to pop over to get the details to make your own eye-catching Flamingo and Coconut Vase Centerpiece.
Place Settings with Tropical Flair
We continued the layered approach with our place settings, which made for a visually appealing table.
Our table was so inviting that even Felicia, our giant flamingo pool float, wanted to join in on the fun!
Gold Pineapple Paper Dessert Plates and Pineapple Shaped Dessert Plates were alternated at each place setting. Both sat atop Carnival Fiesta Round Paper Dinner Plates.
Carnival Fiesta Beverage Napkins topped with Pineapple Gold Foil Beverage Napkins sat to the left of each place setting, along with Premium Metallic Gold Plastic Forks that were punched up with a band of pink paint. Pineapple Print Paper Cups with Gold Foil Striped Paper Straws sat at the ready so guests could sip sweet pink lemonade.
Sweets, Sips and Such
Our dessert table not only served as a sweets station, but also held party favors and displayed a Gold Pineapple Card Box for guests to leave notes of congratulations for our graduate.
Guests were enamored with the bold yet feminine lettering on the dessert station backdrop. The backdrop was given tropical style thanks to the Medium Polyester Palm Leaves and Large Palm Leaves. Large Artificial Monstera Leaves and Artificial Tropical Leaves were spray painted in shades of pink and gold for a pop of color.
The Large Glitter Grad Tabletop Letters were attached to the DIY Photo Booth Backdrop Board with Glue Dots and a script "aloha", from Letters to You, was nestled above them to finish the look. You could easily cut the word "aloha" from pink vinyl and attach to the backdrop board as well!
A runner of Artificial Tropical Leaves added just the right amount of color to our otherwise white dessert table. A floral-filled coconut cup vase and DIY Small Ceramic Pineapple, which was painted pink and green, sat next to our fetching flamingo cake.
Like the flamingos in our Flamingo and Coconut Vase Centerpiece, our flamingo cake, expertly baked by Missy P. Sweets, was extra fancy thanks to her flower "feathers"!
The left side of our dessert table held a Luau Luxe Pineapple Drink Dispenser filled with delicious pink lemonade. A Gold Dot Clear Serving Tray held both Pineapple Favor Boxes and Flamingo Treat Boxes that were filled with goodies for guests to take home as favors. We couldn't resist adding a splash of color to the bottom tier of our dessert table and the pink and gold spray painted Large Artificial Monstera Leaves and Artificial Tropical Leaves did the trick!
A DIY Unfinished Wood Chevron Tray was painted white and placed on a small table nearby to hold additional treats. Double stacked pink and hot pink popcorn boxes, filled with mini meringues, were dressed up with Luau Luxe Gold Glitter Stickers for extra style and sat on the tray. The table also held a fancy gold painted Mini Pink Flamingo Yard Ornament that was tucked into a Wide White Ceramic Vase with Gold Trim along with a few tropical florals.
Toss Your Cap and Grab A Lei!
You can't have a luau without leis, so we created a DIY Lei Station for all the guests to layer them to their hearts' content!
Our lei table got into the spirit and was decked out in a Tropical Luau Table Skirt!
A decorated DIY Unfinished Wood Pineapple Shape sat nearby and served as a sign to ensure guests knew just what to do!
To everyone's delight, we had a plethora of leis to choose from. An assortment of Natural Sea Shell Leis, Luau Ruffle Petal Flower Leis, Men's Polyester Leis, Two-tone Flower Polyester Leis and Mini Floral Petal Polyester Leis were arranged on the table and looked attractive tucked into Clear Cylinder Jars, Short Round Pedestal Jars and Large Clear Cylinder Jars.
Pink and green painted DIY Small Ceramic Pineapples and a runner of Artificial Tropical Leaves rounded out the tropical feel of the lei station.
Beaded Lei Bracelets and Beaded Lei Anklets were nestled in a woven bamboo basket to set them apart from the actual leis.
I'm a big fan of balloon garlands, but beach balls are a little more apropos for a luau! The garland was a cinch to put together, using the same method to string them together as you would with balloons. A mix of Flamingo Print Beach Balls, Pineapple Beach Balls, White Beach Balls and Pink Beach Balls were the perfect combination for our backdrop. A few chrome gold and yellow latex balloons were thrown in for good measure. We added the gold pineapple garland and several Medium Polyester Palm Leaves and Artificial Tropical Leaves to tie in with the luau feel.
Once everyone was fully layered with leis, we moved the tables aside to allow for ample selfie taking! You can find the steps to create your own Beach Ball and Palm Frond Backdrop, including how to transform a White Rectangular Polyester Tablecloth into a faux palm leaf batik print fabric panel, here.
With graduation around the corner, we hope you have found some inspiration to host your own graduation luau! Be sure to pop over and get the steps to create your own Flamingo and Coconut Cup Vase Centerpiece, a Beach Ball and Palm Frond Backdrop and all the details to put together your own DIY Lei Station!
