Murder Mystery Party

Hi there! I thought I'd share this little story since it's fun and something I'm do outside of my obligations and duties. I like planning and throwing themed parties and this past month, I threw a 1920s themed murder mystery party. It was a lot of fun!

Back in high school (which feels like ages ago now) my best friend had this annual tradition of throwing themed parties and I would always help out as a co-host. It was super exciting and I enjoyed everything about the whole process: from brainstorming decoration ideas and making the food, to getting creative with party games. It was always a blast. In lieu of that charming tradition (since everyone’s moved on), I decided to throw a themed party by myself this year. And since I've always wanted to go to a Murder Mystery party, I decided why not mix the two?

So I got some friends interested and then had everyone pick (dates, themes, times, etc.). I was very democratic with the decision-making process but in the future, I'd recommend just doing whatever you want since you’re the one doing most of the work (you want to make sure you like it). In any case, we picked a 1920s theme at an affluent wealthy patron's house.

Now since I'd never done this, I did all research I could on the topic and read everything I could find which left me very bewildered and confused but also much wiser. There are a bunch of different ways you can do a murder mystery party (something I cover in another post) but since it was all new to me (not to mention overwhelming), I decided to stick to the basics:I invited 16 guests and to make it more fun, everyone got a character. They got little character info sheets with their RSVPs that way they could know more about their persona and dress the part. I debated about whether I should buy a murder mystery party (mmp for short) kit which has characters and a story-line pre-made but what's the fun in that? Plus most of the ones I looked at were pretty expensive (I do not have $40-160 just for a kit I have to print myself. Yeah, no. Sorry, not happening). So I just wrote one by myself which seemed like a good idea at first but turned out to be super hard! It was very rewarding in the end but also really time-consuming and stressful. There are a lot of different factors and elements you have to think of not to mention you’ve got to be creative and clever.

Now if anyone else out there is thinking of doing a mmp (without buying a kit) and wants any advice, on how to write it, check out my later post here for a step-by-step guide. But for now, here are some of the photos we took from that night.

Despite my perpetual worrying, everything overall went smoothly and everyone said they had a great time. I got really lucky because all my friends wanted to help out with food so we had a potluck style dinner which made planning ten times easier (I seriously just made a 1920s themed food list and everyone signed up!).  In terms of decoration, I stayed more on the minimal side. Since it was a dinner party, I just incorporated little 1920s elements into our house rather than trying to turn everything into a flapper bonanza (I know, I know, it's sad I couldn’t go all Gatsby on this one but hey, we all have a budget).

Anyways, that's all I've got for you now. I hope you enjoyed this little tidbit on my solo party planning adventures. If you want to know more about the party process, be sure to check my other post. And hopefully if I throw more parties in the future, I'll share them here with you as well! :) Until then, good night!