General Discussion & Chat: Planning a Hawaiian Luau. Care to share ideas?, 1 by WUVIE

WUVIE wrote:
Hello everyone,

Next year hubby's family will celebrate 21 years of
annual reunions. Perhaps a moment of lunacy came over
me, but I volunteered to host the next event.

So, armed with three hundred dollars in donations, I'm
trying to plan a party for 75-100 people. We're trying to
pinpoint the attendance, but figuring 100 at most. Everyone
will bring a pot luck dish. I realize 300.00 is not much to
work with, but it gets worse.

After reserving the pavillion, we're down to 250.00. Of that,
plates, cups, napkins, ice, forks, spoons, knives, salt and
pepper must come, as well as any door prizes, decorations,
etc. Decor is not so much the problem, as I just happen to have a
ton of real bamboo poles, tons of raffia, bags and bags of balloons, etc.

There are about a dozen kids, the rest are teens or adults.

HELP!

I've been racking my brain and surfing the internet for days, calculating,
figuring, adding. The problem is, typically most of the money is spent on
a few big ticket items. Personally, I would prefer everyone walks away with
a little something, a momento, anything, than just one adult winning a prize.
This leaves 99 people out. My first thought was to buy enough plastic pineapple
cups, palm tree, tiki and coconut cups so everyone could have one.

I also have this fantasy of something other than plain white paper plates
and cheezy flatware. It just seems that colorful festivities are more fun.

Would you, as a guest having made a donation for this event, be upset if
the host spent good money on colored plastic ware?
The plastic would be recycled, of course.

I'm seriously considering these nifty compartment plates with cup holders,
colored flatware, matching napkins, etc. This way you have one free hand
while the other carries your entire meal with a drink. Convenient for the
older adults, fun for the kids. There would be extras leftover for next year,
by the way.

Could anyone give me any ideas? I would truly appreciate it!

KM

P.S. I do realize many items will come out of my own pocket, because
I truly want this to be a success. ;-)

Image of hula girl courtesy of http://www.fflpros.com/