Ideas for a Mystery Theme Party
Are you looking for a fun birthday party theme for teens or adults? Perhaps you need a party theme for your next corporate event, dinner party or reunion. A mystery theme party will captivate your guests with intrigue, adventure and fun. Rather than paying a small fortune for a professional murder mystery event, find some inspiration to help you create your own mystery party. Does this Spark an idea?
Types
A mystery theme would be appropriate for many different party types. Teenagers, for whom it can be difficult to plan birthdays, might enjoy finding clues and solving a crime. If you have a small group of staff members attending a company event, consider creating costumes based on the classic board game Clue. A yellow safari outfit with a monocle and white handlebar mustache is perfect for Colonel Mustard. Miss Scarlet needs a slinky red dress and a vintage long cigarette holder.
Time Frame
Start planning a mystery theme party at least two months in advance. You will need time to find a location, come up with a plot and gather decorations. Send invitations around one month before the date of your party. Print simple invitations onto card stock and cut them into puzzle pieces before slipping them into their envelopes.
Effects
Your decorations will have the biggest effect on the party. If you decide to go with a Clue party, write the names of each room in calligraphy on parchment paper, such as Library and Ballroom. Set weapons about appropriately, such as an antique candlestick and a knotted rope. If it is a murder mystery, use masking tape to make a body outline on the floor. You might also want to mark off certain areas with crime scene tape.
Features
Food is always an important party feature. Fancy hors d'oeuvres are a nice touch, adding an air of elegance worthy of a mystery at a mansion or famed estate. They are also more portable, allowing guests to move from room to room, clue to clue or crime scene to crime scene. Make a sheet cake and draw a large question mark or magnifying glass on the top. Hide a clean, plastic clue somewhere in the cake, warning guests to eat carefully. The guest who receives the clue wins a prize.
Considerations
There are many affordable--and sometimes free--mystery party kits available (see Resources). These kits will take a lot of the guesswork out of planning the mystery theme party for you, providing everything from characters to a plot to the tremendously important answer to the question "Who done it?"
Tags: crime scene, Ideas Mystery, Ideas Mystery Theme, murder mystery, mystery theme