How to Plan a Good Mystery Dinner Party
A great idea for a fun and different dinner party is to plan one that centers around a mystery. This works best with at least eight guests, but you can provide parts for up to 50 people with the right script. Since the guests do most of the work by playing characters, dropping clues and figuring out who did it, it's not more stressful for the host, who simply acts as the coordinator. You can write and plan your own mystery or purchase a mystery dinner party kit from a number of places. Plan for the food and drinks to match the theme of the evening, and everyone is sure to have a terrific time. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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How to Plan a Good Mystery Dinner Party
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Choose a theme for you party. It can be anything from the Wild Wild West to Halloween to the 1920s. Then choose a mystery script that will be acted out by the guests during the court of the festivities. Short, informal scripts that are heavy on character development suggestions, but don't require party goers to read anything, are your best bet. This allows for a more mingling and socializing while in character without saddling anyone with the responsibility of heavy duty lines or speeches.
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Send out the invitations and confidential character outlines to your guests. It doesn't matter if you send paper invitations or email invitations. The important thing is to make certain that all the guests know who they will be at the dinner party and what sort of costume to wear or props to bring. Make sure to include any other specific information that the person will need to develop his character. Don't forget to include the date, time and place of the party. Most mystery dinners can be concluded in a couple of hours, but it's not difficult to allow things to go on longer if everyone is having a good time.
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Set up for the party by decorating in the theme of the mystery and by hiding any props that are important to the unfolding of the story. Some murder mystery dinner parties have weapons, and this adds a fun element of scavenger hunt to the game. These parties often start by the hosts greeting everyone and telling them there has been a terrible murder, thus setting the scene for the mystery to play out. Allow guests to mingle over drink and appetizers, allowing each person a chance to develop her own role and sniff out clues from other players.
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Serve dinner in courses and hand out a clue at the beginning of each one. Guests can sleuth and nosh at the same time. The hostess can keep the action moving by planting red herrings, questioning motives or discovering hidden secrets. The big reveal can come during dessert or an after-dinner cocktail. Allow each guest a chance to figure out who the culprit is and then have the murderer reveal herself to everyone.
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Make sure to have some handcuffs ready to "arrest" whoever committed the crime. At the end of the party, give a prize to the best sleuther and present certificates for best acting and best costume.
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Tips & Warnings
Be as over-the-top as you like in setting the stage--it really gets people in the mood when they show up to a party like this and find the victim portrayed by a strangled mannequin positioned just so.
Domestic pets make great props--be sure to dress them for the part.
Guests need to be game for this sort of dinner party. Shy people or folks who don't enjoy acting could dampen the festivities.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit theatre image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
