80 degrees weather, palm trees wrapped up in blinking lights, ukulele caroling, surfing Santa, flip-flop decorations, beach fun, eggnog, and outdoor dining. How else could we describe a Hawaiian Christmas?
Christmas combined with Makahiki invites tourists from all over the world in order to experience winter as they’ve never before. We offer a Christmas that is not available in other parts of the world and we, for the most part, like to do it under the open sky. According to some, tourism will skyrocket this December, thus there will be tourists on every step you take. Why not stay at home and create the perfect Christmas-themed Luau for family and friends?
The Perfect Christmas Outdoor Dining
Embracing the warm weather conditions that the islands offer, why not welcome your friends and family to the perfect Christmas outdoor dining?
The first thing one has to do is have the ideal outdoor furniture for such an event. Comfortable, inviting, weather-resistant, high-quality furniture that will last for many holiday gatherings to come. Socializing has never been more effortless than lounging under the open sky with family and friends on comfortable furniture, drinking some fine wine, eating a tasty holiday meal, feeling the light warm breeze under the blinking Christmas lights. That’s when those unique memories are created that last a lifetime!
Hang up a hammock or two between trees, depending on your guests, either in the secluded area of your backyard or directly in the heart of the party. Mix it up and do many different areas with different kinds of seating: high chairs at the bar, dining seating, lounging area, etc.
Go nuts with the Christmas decoration! No, really! Can it ever be enough Christmas decorations? Mistletoes, garlands, ribbons, wreaths, poinsettias, swags, candles, and of course – Christmas tree ornaments! It’s not like others don’t know what time of the year it is, but it’s just so pretty! All kidding aside, get creative and create the right mood you want and create the style: traditional, white, rustic, vintage. Any style you’ve seen on the internet will work perfectly outdoors, because of the warm weather, but of course, you could always go for something creatively exclusive. Ideal, of course, would be to have some kind of shading, in case the weather turned grumpy.
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who like to drink from early in the morning on Christmas day and those who endure the whole family on holidays while sober. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without some yummy beverages. Prepare different drinks, such as the
Mele Kalikimaka, a rum and amaro cocktail, or the Rum Rum Reindeer, a tropical gingerbread cocktail. Anyone assuming I like rum would be absolutely correct. But don’t leave out the youngest: prepare a hot cocoa station with festive Styrofoam cups, so they don’t burn their little hands.
And speaking of hot cocoa, prepare a mountain of marshmallows – they are not only delish in melted chocolate, but those squishy, divine bites of heaven can be made into snowmen by the kids, or they can be used as gingerbread house decorations!
Well, even if you’ve put a drink in your guest’s hands, they need to eat as well. So, you can either go for the traditional turkey and ham dinner, with mashed potatoes and whatnot or taking into consideration that it’s not snowing anywhere near us, go for a lighter version of dinner. Prepare cold meat, seafood, salads, finger food, fruit bowls. Or, hear me out, make a potluck barbeque evening. Let everyone pitch in and bring something, reducing your responsibility as a host.
Set the mood
So you’ve gone nuts with the Christmas decorations, now it’s time to add some twinkle!
- Christmas lights – of course the first thing on our list would be just that. In today’s era we are presented with an unbelievable amount of different holiday lights: curtains, nets, icicles, bulb lights, stars, mini string lights, and the list just goes on and on. Choose the ones you like and fit the style of the decorations. You can go over the top and minimalistic, either way, it will give your patio or back-yard a magical feel.
- Candles – well, it’s not like you won’t have to make up your mind whether you want scented ones, battery operated wax candles, big or small ones, or just go with the amazing DIY mason jar oil lamp with floating wicks, where you can put anything you want into the jar (lemons, pinecones, pebbles, flowers…). Infuse the oil with essential oils or spices of your choosing. Let your creativity run the show of decorating and be blown away with your own creations!
- Lanterns – such a rustic way of lighting evening affairs. This way we can make sure the candles will not be blown out by light breezes. Lanterns can be hung on trees, fences, or placed directly on the table or ground.
- Fire pit – what better way to spend Christmas Eve but around a cozy fire. Arrange some armchairs and sofas around the fireplace, or even haul a big piece of driftwood into your yard.
Games for all!
Guests require some entertainment, most of the time, especially if there are kids at the party. So why not make it a fun game night for everyone to enjoy? We’ll list some of the games that could be fun for the guests.
- Limbo away! Whether you try it with a drink in one hand or not is totally up to you, but kids will love this game because they will actually be better at it than the grown up and it will cause a chain of laughter throughout your guests.
- Hula hoop – how many hoops can one do? None, or at least a couple, or a whole gymnast show? Compete to find out who’s the best.
- Bowling Hawaiian style! – use pineapples as pins and coconuts as bowling balls.
And there you have it! A complete Christmas Luau to celebrate with family and friends. If you lack seating accommodation for the party, give us a call and visit our showroom so you could choose your set of the finest hand-woven outdoor furniture.
Either direction you go with decorations, preparations, we hope you have fun and enjoy this time of the year, and say hello to Santa if you see him canoeing!
