Leis shipped to Florida for Luau
 

We are hosting a Luau at our home in Florida upon the return from our Hawaiian Wedding. We would like to greet our guest with leis. I will need approximately 75 fresh Leis shipped.

Those of you who know leis, which flower will hold up in shipping the best and not be too expensive, plus smell much like Hawaii.

Would it be best to order them from someone at a market while we are in Hawaii? I could order them in Honolulu at the end of our trip. The Luau will be about 2 weeks after our return.

The best price I've found for Pulmeria Leis is $6 each on the internet.

Is this type lei appropriate for both men and women?

Thanks for all advise.

Usually when I ship a bunch of leis, I order from a lei stand in Chinatown (any lei stand--Sweetheart's, Lita's, Maunakea, etc, maybe even Le Flowers in Moiliili). This is so that they can ensure your leis are acceptable for agricultural inspection.

Unfortunately, most of the time the sturdiest leis are the purple orchid ones (about $3.50 each; maybe you can get them down to $3 if you order a lot). These do not have a scent. The more fragrant flowers are the most fragile. Plumeria leis are OK when worn the day they are made; they are prone to turn brown within a day. The next best thing may be a tuberose lei, which has a nice smell.....you can order tuberose/carnation leis, which are sturdy and colorful. These may be slightly more ($4 to $5?) than the orchid leis, depending on supply and demand.

If you order over the internet they may be more expensive, like the $6 plumerias.

xxxThis disappeared my first try to post...hope it doesn't show up twice later, but here goes...

Nancy- What a nice idea for your reception!

First off, Plumeria are just way fragile to ship. Don't even try it!

For my parent's 50th anniversary luau in San Diego we took 200+ dendrobium lei. They had to stay in the boxes in my sister's garage for 2 1//2 days until the party, so we draped them with ice in hefty bags as it was HOT. They survived beautifully and guests were totally impressed. Melissa is right in that they have no smell, but better no smell than an over done one.

You might order a few of the more expensive tuberose, tahitian style ginger, pakalana, or even Puakenikeni lei for you to wear or drape on tables. Their fragrance will go a long way.
I would order them while still in Honolulu so you can judge the quality of the shop's flowers. I've had very good luck shipping lei and floral arrangement from with Cindy's in downtown-- on Maunakea street, I think.

You might also check with florists in Florida if they can get stalks of tuberose. I've seen them sold many places in San Diego and Portland, Oregon. You could arrange them alone or with other flowers and you'll definitely have the Hawaiian smell!

I forget the name of the company with $3 orchid lei (do you know Melissa? their office is on Koapaka street, with another in Waimanolo...) but if you call the lei Greeter companies, they may refer you to their supplier. If I remember, I'll check for you later.

Have fun! A hawaiian style party on the mainland is always a winner. I know I'm now going off the topic, but at my parents' party (they'd been married here and we live in Hawaii) we had the lei and flowers, pineapple chunks resting on wedges of the skin (like boats) on the tables for munching.

We served Shoyu chicken (so easy to make, and popular with mainland tastes)teriyaki beef, rice, fresh fruit salads, shrimp laid out on ti leaves, trays of sushi from a local sushi shop, and haupia for desert. Not real luau food, as we wanted our guests to eat and enjoy everything! I know from experience that Kahlua pig, poi, and opihi just aren't appreciated by "beginners".

We also went all out with Tiki torches, plumeria candles floating in the pool, and used Hawaiian print fabric squares laid over white table cloths. Everyone came in Aloha wear, and our daughters danced a few hulas.

I had burned CDs with hawaiian music, and put tiny boxes of macadamia nuts inside hala boxes as favors. Collecting all the stuff, and getting it there, took a bit of planning, but it actually was pretty easy to set up. We skipped the tacky stuff, and went for casual/elegant, sarting with the invatations.

This was six years ago, and both parents have since passed away, but we still hear compliments from people!

Thanks!! and Icuy: those are some great ideas for a Luau. I definitely want it to be a classy/elegant affair and not tacky. Not heard of Shoyu Chickenor Haupia before. Will a local cater know these? We just bought a Mediterranean home on the water with a beautiful stone pool with Palms planted around the yard - a perfect setting for our party. I was thinking about getting some floating candles for the pool but haven't had any luck finding something Hawaiian looking yet. And what are Hala boxes?

Thanks again. I've got the honeymoon planned now I'm beginning to think about the party.

Your house sounds like my sisters, which is where we had our party. Very tropical, especially with the tiki torches and we also strung Japanese lanterns up high (they are a trademark of the Royal Hawaii Hotel's garden) and my parents honeymooned there in it's glory days.

Oddly enough, we found great floating candles- hibiscus and plumeria shaped- at Party city, a chain store in San Diego.

Shoyu Chicken involves boiling soy sauce, sugar, ginger then adding thighs to poach for about 30 minutes. It is so easy and really tasty. I always use it to make a meal in a hurry so now have friends all over the country who use it as their potluck standard. If you are interested I can look up my recipe and you can try a sample batch. It also works well with fish.

Haupia is made with canned coconut milk, cornstarch and sugar boiled till it thickens, then it hardens up more as it cools. Ends up like jello jigglers in density, but very creamy and refreshing. Cut into squares (like brownies) and served for dessert. They sell little packets of pwdered mix that you can use for a quick fix, but it isn't as good.

The hala tree has long spikes for leaves. They are ripped into narrow strips, then woven. You've seen grass mats? Same idea, but they make cute containers in all sizes and shapes--round, square, rectangle- with or without matching lids. Little ones that will hold some candys or mac nuts will run about 50 cents each with lids. One big enough to hold a tee shirt, small photo album and hat will run between $2-$3. In Honolulu, the best and cheapest selection is at East Asian Basket comapny on Queen street. They look great with the lids on & tied with raffia, or with no lid in a little cellophane bag. At other places, you can get ones with bows and shells glued on the lids, or lined with hawaiian fabric, but they cost a lot more.

ICUY: This all sound great. Do you live in HNL? The Hala Boxes sound great. I'd love to do this with MAC nuts we bring back from our trip, but would need to get the boxes before hand. Last thing I want to do is spend time finding shops to order while in Hawaii. I'm going to look for them on the net.

I would love your recipe. These things sound pretty easy. Do you think this would be too hard to put the food together myself rather than hire a cater?

Do you have a good recipe for the teryaki beef too.

Here's my email address: [email protected]

My husband and I also had a luau reception 9 years ago. We actually found a local source for our leis, rather than have them shipped from Hawaii. I know you have many options in the Tampa area. My parents live south of Sarasota and sent us flowers from http://www.exoticplumeria.com/ in Tampa. There are also many orchid growers in the area. My father grows beautiful White Ginger and Dendrobium and has often spoke of the large Hawaiian flower industry in that area.

If you find a good source be sure to let us know. I always have trouble getting a good lei in Florida.