When we at Dinner Murder Mystery throw a murder mystery party dinner, the big thing for us is making sure the party location is clean and tidy. This can be done at little or no cost, just a bit of elbow grease.
A lot depends on the crowd you are inviting. Since food is one of the biggest expenses, if you know each other well, a potluck mystery night could be an option. It could also be BYOB, as alcohol definitely racks up the cost (unless it’s an underage party).
If you are not comfortable with a potluck, make a meal that doesn’t include a lot of meat as that is usually what hikes up the price. You can check out our other blog posts on meal suggestions on a budget on our Dinner Murder Mystery website for further ideas. See here.
Look for costume ideas at second-hand clothing stores or places like Goodwill. Our Dinner Murder Mystery blog also has several costume suggestions. See here.
As far as decorations for your murder mystery game, check out our blog on decorations. There are lots of ideas and details for decorating on a budget. It may seem like a shot in the dark, but it’s not as difficult as it may first seem. See here. Murder Mystery party themes will vary based on the game that you are playing, but for most of our games there are lots of ideas already out there.
In each of our games we have included a poster or two as a decoration. If you print out a couple of the same poster you can place them in prominent places.
There are a variety of games that we offer here at Dinner Murder Mystery including a 1920's murder mystery party, cowboys set in a Western murder mystery, a Pirate murder mystery, a London mystery game, a Wine-tasting mystery game, and a Silicon Valley high-tech computer mystery game.