Dying to Party? Throw a Murder Mystery Bachelorette Party
1920’s murder mystery party Via Livin’ in Coffee
The 1800s WhoDunit was the first murder mystery series to debut, and murder mystery hype isn’t going away anytime soon. Today, murder mystery games and events aren’t just confined to personal parties; they’ve taken over corporate events, on-stage theatres, and dinner shows. When planning a bachelorette party, you want something memorable.
So, it’s only fitting that the maid of honor and brides-to-be have turned to this fun and chaotic theme, searching for the perfect way to host a murder mystery bachelorette party. It’s a thrilling way to bring friends and family together while stimulating their minds, dressing in fantastic costumes, and inspiring conversation and teamwork.
Whether you’re a seasoned “whodunit” player or this is your first time, this bachelorette party theme is fun for anyone. Let’s break down how to play a self-planned murder mystery, how to plan a murder mystery bachelorette party, and what you need for your guests to have a killer time.
How to Plan a Murder Mystery Bachelorette Party Game
Choose Your Theme
The first step to planning any good party, but especially a murder mystery party, is choosing an overall theme. While a murder mystery bachelorette party is a theme, you will need a theme for your murder mystery game.
You can choose any theme that fits your bachelorette group or the bride would enjoy. These can be popular themes, or you can come up with one unique to just your group. Choosing a popular theme may take some of the suspense and excitement away if members of your group are experienced in murder mystery games, but it will create a sense of comfortability for those who are new to it.
Using a unique theme will ensure there’s a consistent level of thrill for everyone involved. Some murder mystery themes include:
Christmas or holidays
Superheroes
Victorian British society
Hotel chaos
Sailing disasters
Mean Girls
Clueless
Dinner parties
Island vacations
The Great Gatsby
Your theme will basically set the tone for the plot, place, and time of your story. For example, if you chose a Mean Girls theme, your story would take place in the early 2000s in a high school with a group of frenemies. Once you decide on a theme, you can begin to put your story together.
2. Create Your Story
Now that you’ve selected a theme, you can purchase or write the story for your murder mystery bachelorette party! Some brides or maid of honors choose to craft a creative story on their own, while others purchase murder mystery party games with a story, clues, and characters already designed.
If you have a creative hand or love to tell stories, try your hand at writing the murder mystery storyline. It doesn’t have to be insanely detailed - just cover your plot, your characters, your clues, and, of course, your murderer. If you don’t have time or desire to write a custom story, feel free to purchase one. Amazon and Etsy have a wide variety of these available.
The storyline is the center of the game. It is what you and your group members will be basing the entire game on; it decides your outfits and characters, your locations, and your overall vibe, so it’s really important to pick a theme that your group will enjoy and that you can find a related location for.
3. Choose a Murder Mystery Bachelorette Party Location
Once you have a theme and a storyline, you can choose a location to host your murder mystery bachelorette party! It’s important to remember that your location should reflect your storyline. If you choose a roaring 20s-themed story, you’ll want to book a venue location that’s elegant, historic, and grand, such as a mansion or an upscale hotel.
While your location should reflect your story, it should also consider your budget. Some venues may be too expensive or grand for your planned bachelorette budget, so be sure you’re leaving money to pay for costumes, food, and drinks as well.
4. Craft Your Murderess Invitations
Murder mystery party invitations Via MyLittleStoryArt on Etsy
Once you’ve sorted the bigger details out, it’s time to look into invitations for the bachelorette party. Since it may be tricky to find invitations that reflect niche topics, like your murder mystery game theme, it’s best to seek out invitations that match the murder mystery vibe.
These can be formatted like the show ticket invitations above, old-school on vintage-looking stock paper, or include elements like blood, a spyglass, knives, or suitcases.
5. Set the Mystery Scene with Decor
A murder mystery bachelorette party can’t be complete without exquisite decorations! Your decoration choice will vary greatly depending on what theme you choose, but some core aspects will stay the same, such as caution tape, fake blood splatter, and evidence item numbers.
If you have a smaller group of gals, consider purchasing a mannequin to play the role of the fallen victim. This way, all members can actively participate, but you’ll still have the appeal of the design.
If you’re looking for some decor ideas for your murder mystery bachelorette party, think about incorporating some of these items:
Fake knives
Fake guns
Evidence numbers
Evidence bags
Caution tape
A mannequin
Spyglasses
Black decorations
A chalk outline display
Fake blood splatter
Mug shot background
6. Assign Your Characters
Murder mystery Christmas Via Smoking Gun Entertainment
Once you’ve laid out the scene of your party, you’ll want to assign each member attending the party a role. You, of course, need the villain of the story who commits the crime. When you choose this person, try to assign this to someone who has a good poker face.
They may be suspected early on, and for the sake of the game, they need to be able to deflect these accusations onto someone else or be able to prove their innocence. Then, based on the theme you chose, you’ll need regular party-goers, a main character, etc.
Each member of your group should have a unique and definitive role and position in the game. This will help create suspense and thrill. Try to assign roles that fit the personalities of each group member. They will be able to act the role out more naturally and effectively.
7. Set Expectations of Gameplay
Before you start the game, briefly go over how to play and what the story entails. This way, anyone who isn’t familiar with this style of activity can ask any questions they may have and not go through the motions being confused. Guests who are familiar with the idea will know what to expect and what the story will bring.
Amongst this discussion, also inform your bridal crew how they should find and store evidence and how long they have to solve the mystery.
Costume Ideas for a Murder Mystery Bachelorette Party
Costumes are an essential part of a good murder mystery party. Like decor, costumes will vary depending on the theme that you settled on. But don’t skip out on any opportunity to get dressed up and play the role of someone else for the night.
Your costumes can be grand, elegant, simple, or dark. It’s all about how the bride envisions her day of celebration. All that matters is matching your costumes to the theme of your activity.
Post Murder Mystery Activities
Just because your event is over doesn’t mean the themed festivities have to stop! Now that you’re all dressed up and warmed up for a party go do some activities as a group that will create a memorable evening. Some ideas include:
Group photo session - Sporting your costumes, you can take some themed and memorable photos as a group! These will help your bridal crew remember what a special night your bachelorette party was.
Game Night - Now that you’ve played your main game, continue the fun with a game night. Grab some cards or some board games, a bottle of wine, some snacks, and play your heart out.
Movie Night - If you’ve exhausted your energy fighting crime and solving mysteries, opt for a simple movie night. Grab some snacks, pick up some desserts, put some alcohol in your glass, and turn on a movie.