As hosting a murder mystery party takes a lot of coordination between you and your guests, a large factor - and probably the most frustrating - in preparation is making sure that you have enough people to fill each of the roles needed for the event. The following timeline takes into consideration any problems that can happen in that area, as well as allowing for any extra time you may need to get things together in tip top shape! To begin, you must first choose a date for your party. . .
Murder Mystery Party Planning Timeline
One Month + 2 Weeks
The next step in planning your murder mystery party after choosing the date is determining which game your guests will be playing. Take a look at the many websites out there that sell parties and make sure you've seen as many as possible before picking one so that you can pick your absolute favorite. (and if you have multiple favorites, write them down for next time!)
One Month
Take an hour or so to sit down and determine your guest list. Make sure that you have a primary list of people that matches the number of characters the party that you chose will accommodate. After making the primary list, make a secondary list that will be used to fill the spots of those on the primary list that cannot attend so that you still are able to meet the minimum number of players that the game requires. Once done with this, send out invitations to the primary list with the RSVP date listed as two weeks before the party. Make sure to theme the initial invite to the game - I've found that people are much more willing to move their schedules to attend when greeted with "Howdy-do! Yer good partner Sheriff Princess is roundin' up the cattle to throw a good ol' fashioned murder mystery ho-down!" than "You are invited to a murder mystery party". Show them right off the bat that your party will be the once-in-a-lifetime-don't-wanna-miss-it event of the year!
3 Weeks
About a week after the invitations have been sent out, you can begin shopping decorations and figuring out what the menu for the night will be. Party stores are always a good place to start out for decorations, and there are tons of online recipe sites where you can search for any recipe you could imagine!
2 Weeks
By this time you should have received your RSVPs and if there are still some stragglers, it's time to make their last chance phone calls. Don't let this hang too long as you want to give your backup list a reasonable amount of time to respond should you have the unfortunate case of having to make multiple waves of backup invites. Once you have the list of 'no's compiled, begin calling the people on the backup list, one for each 'no' you received in the first round. If they can't RSVP while you're on the phone with them, give them a day or two to respond before you have to call them again.
If some of your guests have never heard of murder mysteries before, here are two good articles to share with them so they know what to expect and you don't have to worry about answering questions: What Is A Murder Mystery Party Anyways? and How to Be A Guest At A Murder Mystery Party.
1 Week
After you have your guest list completely finalized and you have enough 'yes'es to meet the minimum requirement, take a look at the party you bought and follow its instructions for assigning characters to the guests. Once everyone has a character, its time to hand out more mail. If the game comes with a sheet or packet to send to characters prior to the party, this is what you will be sending to them. If it doesn't, just make up a little themed letter stating the character's name, their character description, and how you or the game box would like them to dress. It is crucial that the guests receive this so that they will have the information to prepare themselves to play their character: how to act, what to wear, etc. Sometimes the party even includes the guests' game information in this, so make sure they receive these or there may be difficulties with the game!
At this point, you should also have the menu finalized and decorations purchased.
Day/Evening Before
It is important to utilize this extra day so that you aren't rushing around on the day of the party and can have just as much fun hosting as your guests will as players. The following is the list of things that need to get done on this day:
- Grocery shopping.
- Prepare food that needs to set or sit over night.
- Pick up any balloons or rented decor.
- Print out and assemble any packets and/or game pieces.
- Confirm that you have everything ready you need for the game.
- Pick out an outfit for your host character or, if the game did not give you a character, an outfit that matches your theme.
Doing the jobs that take lots time and driving will allow you to be in your venue getting ready on the day of the party with no disturbances or annoying errands to run.
Day of the Party
You've finally made it! The day you've been anticipating and planning for just over a month has finally arrived! Now all you have to do is make sure that you start these last few jobs early enough in the day so that you can sit down, relax, and have a snack or drink before the doorbell rings.
- Decorate the venue.
- Cook the food on the menu.
- Get dressed.
- Hide any clues/cards/weapons as outlined by the game.
Now that everything is ready to go, all that's left for you to do is enjoy the evening! Hopefully this timeline was able to create a structure that took a lot of the stress of planning a party off of your shoulders. If you have any questions, need clarification, or want to invite us to your next party, feel free to leave a comment here or pay a visit to our Contact Us page and shoot us an email!
-Princessofherworld♥
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