What we designed...

• Party Theming
• Event Coordination
• Invitation Design
• Costume Design

The brief

Entertaining is always great fun but introducing a theme and storyline turns a dinner party into a night few will forget!

A series of games called “How to Host a Murder” are available at some game and toy stores. Each game contains 8 player manuals, nametags, secret clues, host guide, invitations, CD of theme music and a map of the crime scene. My first “How to Host a Murder” was entitled, ‘The Good, The Bad and The Guilty’ and Wild West themed.

The Plot:
In the town of Roadkill, Judge Waylon Payne has invited 8 guests to a lavish dinner to celebrate the capture and hanging of the Malevolent Seven. The Malevolent Seven are a gang of criminals that have secretly victimized Roadkill for many years. However, as the eight guests of Judge Payne are seated, they learn that a horrible murder has been committed and they have all become suspects!

The Characters:
BUTCH CHASTITY: Legendary Butch Chastity is the first lady of outlaws.
P'ELVIS SWAGARIN: A mysterious lone gunslinger.
HELENA HANDCART: Matriarch of the Handcart Cattle Ranch.
CHIEF BREAKING WIND: The distinguished leader of the extinct Cowpai tribe.
ELVIRA-LYNN FEKSHIN: The proud madam of the Pigeon Ranch, the best little you-know-what in Roadkill.
WYATT HERTZ: The most famous lawman in the West until a shotgun blast caught him in the tender parts.
DEE ADELA MUERTE: A Mexican beauty widowed three times as a newlywed.
ELIAS TRUIST-HEATH: An up-and-coming heart-throb gunfighter and brawler.

Theme:
The game is set in the Wild West so to set the scene I needed to create a backdrop worthy of an old Western saloon. I purchased some ‘scene setters’ and ‘Wanted’ posters from a local party supplier. These were used to decorate the walls surrounding the dining area.

A friend who was heavily involved in horse riding, lent me her Western horse saddle and bridle. I hung the bridle and displayed the saddle on a plinth. They looked great and added a very authentic smell to the room!

As an incentive for guests to dress and act in character, I created some awards. I bought some old horse-riding trophies and had them engraved ‘Best Dressed” and ‘Best Actor/Actress’. These were displayed on a table decorated with poker chips, playing cards and old Western inspired photographs. I also used this table to lay out the secret clues and display the map of the crime scene.

Although the game provided invitations and nametags, these were unimaginative and generic so I created my own invitations using the text of the original invitation. I decorated the secret clues to make them more ‘secretive.’ Each clue was wrapped in wood-textured paper and sealed with wax.

Dinner table:
I used cowprint dinner plates and continued the Western theme with string placemats, Western themed serviettes, a place card, player manual, writing board, pencil and notepaper.

Place cards were created using playing cards. I printed each character’s name on a piece of paper which were then glued to a playing card and trimmed to size. Two or Three playing cards were glued together to create a ‘fan.’ These were inserted into the indentation in the napkin ring.

Writing boards were created by buying some craft placemats from the local discount store then sanded, bashed and tinted to create a weathered wood effect. Small bits of wood were glued to the back of each board so the ledger sat on an angle.

Notepaper was dyed using coffee and tea to create an aged parchment effect. Each piece of paper had the character’s name printed using a laser printer. The paper was immersed in a solution of coffee and tea then ironed dry. Once the paper was dry it was nailed to the writing boards with bronze nails deliberately angled to create a more weathered effect.

Dinner:
Entrée: Three-Bean dip and corn chips, Beef jerky and Hot wings (Hooters Wings).
Main: BBQ beef and pork ribs with corn cobs, crusty bread and oven roasted potatoes.
Desert: Apple pie with vanilla ice-cream.

Costumes:
Elvira, the Madam of Pigeon Ranch, had to look like a saloon dame. I created a bustle using tulle wrapped in black and red satin fabric. The same fabric was used to drape across the front of the skirt. This was finished with black lace. I sewed metres of lace into the underside of a second-hand skirt to give the allusion of a lacy petticoat and completed the outfit with a fascinator, striped stockings, corset, lace gloves, ribbon chocker and cigarette holder.

Chief Breaking Wind, had to exude ‘the noble Indian chief’. I made his shirt from faux suede and trimmed it with gold fringing. To create breechclout pants, I sourced a pair of camel coloured jeans from an Op shop. I applied the same gold fringing to the leg seams as the suede shirt. I also sourced a small camel skirt at the Op shop which was perfect for a breechclout skirt. Finally I created a headdress by gluing red, white and black feathers to a vinyl semi-circle. I glued a patterned band across the front and finished it by gluing two brass earrings to either side. Two large white feathers were hung from either side of the headdress. I completed the look with a beaded breastplate and peace pipe. This costume won best dressed.