Before I get into tips for making your murder mystery dinner party a success let me first explain what it is and how it works because planning a murder mystery dinner party is not for everyone. It requires a lot of work and is hard to do on a tight budget.
What is a murder mystery diner party?
Murder mystery dinner parties are an interactive way for party guests to be entertained, get to know one another, have fun and solve a murder mystery that happens during the course of the party. Murder mystery dinner parties are very much like the old movie Clue.
How is it played?
A week or so before the party starts each guest receives a description of their character, background information about the night of the murder, costuming and character tips as well as their final invitation. The night of the party guests are given name tags, play money and a set of objectives.
When the party starts the host gives an introduction and explains how things will get underway. Sometime shortly after the guests have begun to interact the lights go out and someone is murdered. Guests will then spend the rest of the evening doing detective work to find the killer. At the end of the game the murderer is revealed usually at dinner or at the end of dinner. How your game ends will depend on the murder mystery dinner party kid your order.
Here are some tips for making your murder mystery dinner party a scandalous success!
1. Select the theme for your party based on an interest that the majority of your friends share. For instance if you are throwing a murder mystery dinner party for you Star Trek fan club you belong to then it would go over best if your murder happens in outer space rather than on a 1800’s Early American Plantation Mansion.
2. It is very difficult to throw a full scale murder mystery dinner party without spending a nice sized chunk of change. Even Martha Stewart would allot a large budget for this type of project. Although you can make a great many of your props and costumes the supplies alone will rack up quite a bill. So when you plan your party, plan to have a fairly costly budget.
3. Leave yourself plenty of time in your schedule for anything and everything that can go wrong because it will. It’s best to begin planning your party 4 to 6 weeks ahead of time.
4. Be flexible. You might have guests that don’t come or that bring an extra uninvited friend which means your murder mystery may have to be revised to include or exclude those guests. Expect to have glitches occur when it comes to your cast of friends.
5. Don’t be the host of the party. In order to take part in the murder mystery you can’t be the host and a character at the same time. You can hire a close friend or local performer to act as host. To take this tip one step further, pencil in your hired host as the acting butler. Word t the wise; if you choose to be a character be sure that you don’t accidentally give away the story’s secrets or reveal the murderer’s identity.
6. Demand RSVP’s for your murder mystery dinner party. Make it plain and clear on your invitations that only RSVP’d guests will be allowed inside during the party. Considering the costs of throwing a party like this and the fact that if the main characters don’t show up it could be a bust, you should never attempt this type of party without have a confirmed guest list signed, sealed and delivered.
7. Encourage your guests to come in costume. Every murder mystery dinner kit comes with character descriptions and costuming information. Explain to your guests that your party will have a theme and in order to participate they must come in costume. Having said that; some of your guests may not be able to afford to rent, make or purchase a costume. If that happens, you will need to have costume supplies on hand for your guests. To stock up on costume supplies spend a few weeks before the party hitting up a local thrift store and garage sales. You may even be able to costumes on loan from a college or high school theater group.
8. Decorate the location of your party according to the theme or era of your murder mystery. If your murder takes place at midnight on Christmas night then decorate like its Christmas and schedule the party for shortly before midnight so that your murder can happen at exactly midnight. If your party is centered on the Victorian era then try to book your party at a local Victorian hotel. Take note of these kinds of details to make your party more interesting.
9. Feel free to be exaggerative. The less scripted the party is the more entertaining it will be. The last thing you want is a bunch of bored, irritated, drunk people trying to read pages of script ruining your party.
10. Stay in character and keep your guests in character. This is actually harder than it sounds. As your guests spend the evening mingling and sleuthing and getting sloshed it will get very easy to forget there is a murder to be solved. People forget to stay in character but if you stay in character and mingle with every single guest, chances are they’ll follow suit.
