How to Make Murder Mystery Dinner Invitations
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Have you ever planned a murder before? Hopefully not! But what about a murder mystery party? That’s an entirely different story!
Murder mystery parties are booming in popularity, and some people go all out to make them a bloody success. But there are plenty of small details that shouldn’t be overlooked, such as murder mystery dinner invitations.
The murder mystery dinner invitations are more than just an invite. They build excitement among the potential guests, and they are the first interaction which sets the tone for the whole party.
So, how should you go about crafting these? Do you write your own, or use some sort of murder mystery dinner invitation template?
Night of Mystery provides downloadable invitations to all of our parties, but that isn’t the case with all companies.
What To Include In Murder Mystery Invitations
Murder mystery invitations are a critical part of planning a murder mystery party, because it’s where the experience of the party really begins. What exactly should be included in the invitations?
Make sure to cover the main points:
- Time and date of the party
- The theme of the party
- A deadline to RSVP for the party
You may or may not want to also include a lot more information about the party. You do want to ensure that your guests will have information about what to expect from the party, but it also works well to just mention if they will be receiving information at a later date.
Save the Date Vs. Invitation
One of the most important things about mystery party invitations is that you send them with plenty of advance notice. This is for two main reasons:
- You need an accurate guest list so you can assign characters
- Your guests need time to plan costumes.
Keeping this in mind, it often works well to start with a simple “save the date” message. This lets your guests know that they should start planning for it, and it lets you finalize the attendees before organizing the dangerous details.
Murder Mystery Dinner Invitation Wording
Don’t underestimate the impact of the murder mystery dinner invitation wording! This is the chance to really set the tone.
Make sure you match the language of the invitation to your theme. If it’s a medieval party, thou shouldst employ the ancient tongue. If it’s a pirate theme, arr, me hearty, methinks ye should talk like a proper pirate!
If you’re hosting a Night of Mystery party, we’ve already done the hard work for you. Get your free mystery party invitation templates here.
How to Send a Murder Mystery Invitation
Don’t overlook the delivery style! How you actually send the murder mystery dinner invitations is often part of the fun. The thrill can start long before the murder…
Email a PDF
Emailing a PDF of the invitation is obviously the fastest and easiest way to send them off to your guests. The downside is that this isn’t always as exciting.
The guests will be able to view all the information easily in their inbox, but they would have to print it themselves if they want to see a physical copy. That leaves any creative ideas dependent on their printer quality.
Mail (or Deliver) a Physical Copy
Sendinga physical copy of the invitation to your guests opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Not only can you control the feel of the paper and the quality of the printing, but you can also think of a much more creative format.
Sending them by mail is the easier way, but even the delivery can be done creatively. Just think, if you’re willing to risk giving your guests a heart attack, you could pin the invitation to their door with a bloody knife! (Fake blood, of course.) We don’t recommend that method, but it’s a good starting point for some creative brainstorming.
Get Creative with Mystery Party Invitations
No matter how you deliver the mystery party invitations, getting creative will really get your guests prepared for a night to die for. Here are a few ideas that we have seen work really well.
Message in a Bottle
If you’re doing any kind of nautical or island-themed party (such as our Murder in Margaritaland, Cruising For Murder, or Murder Among the Mateys) think about delivering your message in a bottle.
This is easier to do than you might think. Also, this is a great example of how creativity goes. Consider using a tequila bottle for a modern tropical party, or an old-fashioned rum bottle for a pirate one. The devil is in the details, and subtle adjustments like these will really bring your party to life.
Make A Scroll
If you’re hosting an old-time or fantasy party (such as our Happily Never After, Once Upon a Murder, Terror in a Toga, or A Knight of Murder), replace the screen scrolling with an actual scroll!
Here are detailed instructions on how to pull this off. Even the delivery of this can be done in a fun way. You could dress up in your costume (or have a friend do it), and dramatically read out the scroll when you deliver it.
Other Thematic Ideas
Night of Mystery is filled with ideas on how to send authentic invites for your particular theme – all you have to do is check out their Party Tips Pages >> Hosting Ideas to see what ideas might apply!
- Send your Invite from The North Pole for Ho Ho Homicide!
- Have your Save The Date be printed on a postcard that looks like a playing Card – Murder in Sin City
- Send your Lights! Camera! MURDER!!! invites in gold envelopes with “And the murderer is…” printed on the back
- Stain your invites with coffee or tea to give them a weathered and worn look – Murder Among The Mateys
Free Mystery Party Invitation Templates
All of our Night of Mystery parties include plenty of tips to make your party easier to host, and with a higher quality outcome. Not only do we offer free mystery party invitation templates for all of our parties, but the “party tips” tab of each mystery page gives you plenty of other planning tips. There are costume ideas, recipes, printable decorations, playlists, and much more.
To throw a murder mystery party that will be remembered for years, try to fill it with tons of tiny details. So definitely don’t overlook the possibilities that come with the murder mystery dinner invitations.
You only get one chance to make a first impression, and you want it to be a killer one.
