Greetings, dear readers, and welcome to the official kick-off of Halloween on the blog! After the success of last year’s The Birds themed party we couldn’t wait to start brewing up spooky ideas for this year. We knew we wanted to do something where the costumes could be a big part of it, and we stumbled across our perfect theme at ALT Summit. We had such a blast at their CLUE-themed dinner party that we simply had to create our own take on this fun concept! With it’s six iconic characters, the classic board game served as the perfect inspiration for our glam fall get-together. Fantastic prop styling by our friends at LOOT Vintage Rentals and photography by Melanie Grizzel helped us bring our vision of a 1920’s-style CLUE dinner party to life.
A candlelit room set the scene for mystery as guests arrived.
Custom invitations inspired by the game called for a “meeting of the suspects” in the Conservatory. Download our fill-in printable invitation here!
Vintage china from LOOT Vintage Rentals added a touch of old world elegance to our conservatory table.
Guests found a character name at each place setting. Download our custom set of six CLUE character place cards here.
Miss Scarlett coyly sipped red wine from a vintage brass goblet…
…while Col. Mustard whispered dark accusations to Mrs. Peacock. (Candice’s peacock velvet dress was found on Etsy and Claire’s mustard headpiece was made from an inexpensive men’s tie!)
Photographer Melanie Grizzel created dramatic lighting for our shoot with a few strategically placed studio lamps.
As Mrs. White, I donned a pair of white opera gloves with a favorite bracelet from J. Crew’s fantastic costume jewelry collection.
Prof. Plum (aka Kate Stafford) looked glam in this rhinestone necklace from Zara.
Small inexpensive ferns made perfect centerpieces for our conservatory-themed table.
After dinner guests enjoyed a lively game of CLUE on a vintage board from the sixties!
Photo Activity: We randomly selected three cards from each category (character, room, weapon) and then took turns recreating the murder scenes.
Miss Scarlett, with the Lead Pipe, in the Lounge…
…or Colonel Mustard, with the Wrench, in the Library! (Didn’t Kate make a convincing victim?!)
A murderous array of props made for fun photos.
Our fern centerpieces did double-duty as favors when the party was over.
Download our mysterious and strange plant name labels here.
Of course we couldn’t leave without a formal portrait of all six suspects. Look closely to see our weapons of choice… and Happy Halloween!
So clever! All you gals look stunning.
Thanks, Clara!
So, so fun!!
We had SO much fun shooting this, Lori. You should see the murder reenactments that didn’t make the cut! The rope was hilarious.
This looked like sooo much fun.
Thanks, Lotoya. It totally was!!!
Had such a blast! Jenn, you are so talented! xo
Yay! Thank you SO much for trusting me to dress you up and kill you. xoxo
oh my gosh this looks like a total blast!
seriously, so creative 🙂
Molly {Dreams in HD}
http://dreamsinhd.blogspot.com/
Aww, thanks Molly! It really was too much fun. Now to start thinking about what we’ll do next year… 😉
This is so cool! Love the costumes, you guys really nailed it!
Awesome! Thanks Frippery!!! What a fantastic compliment coming from you. 🙂
Amazing post! Love,Love,Love!!!!!
Thanks D!!!
So fun! Awesome job Jenn!! And great photos!!
Thanks so much!!! Any excuse to play dress up as an adult, right?
Absolutely love this! Your costumes and accessories are gorgeous! Great photos, too with the perfect thematic lighting. Very well done, ladies!
Thanks, Elizabeth! I’ve got to hand it to Mel (our photographer) for the lighting. She really created the perfect mood, didn’t she?
Great idea for a different take on a Halloween party!
http://liveitinerantly.com
Thanks, Quyen! I LOVE Halloween and think there’s SO many different ways you can approach it. I think it’s my favorite holiday because it’s the one that welcomes the most creativity.
Jenn, you have done some gorgeous posts, but this one might just take top honors (close second is the feature you did on the neon artist in Austin!). Congratulations on translating your vision with such style, glamour, and playfulness.
Lizette, thank you so much. This comment makes my day! 🙂
Wow That’s the best party yet – thank you for the inspiration
Awesome! We’re so glad you like it, Jilly. You must be a Halloween-lover like myself!
Omg this is so cool haha! Love it.
Yay! Glad you like it, Nicky. We had a blast with this one!
Oh my goodness! This is amazing. You all look incredible, and such a fun idea. xo @ Waiting on Martha
Aww, thank you so much, Waiting on Martha! It was a lot of fun — especially wearing the costumes.
What a fun post! The photos, costumes, sets and models are all fabulous!
Thanks Kate!!! The models were great and we have LOOT Vintage Rentals to thank for helping us create such a cool set.
I’ve never been more inspired to host a Halloween dinner and get glammed up that evening. Thanks for showing us how to make it happen every step of the way!
Go for it, Candice! We had SO much fun. Of course we think Halloween can be fun when it’s less gory, more glam!
This looks like so much fun. What a great idea!!
It totally was, Elizabeth. Thanks!!!
What a fun theme and post, Jenn! Amazing styling work in each photo! (PS – you all look completely glamorous & pull off the characters perfectly!) 🙂
Thanks so much, Katie!!! xoxo
Love that red lip on you lady!! Mis you!!
wow…something that I’ve never seen before. Good job,everyone!
Cool! Thanks, Nova!
Theme party! This is a really great one. The clothes, ladies, the clothes!
Thanks, Karina. The outfits were too much fun!
This is fabulous!! Love these costumes… The colours are just divine 🙂 Brings back great memories of this game!!!! Xx
Thanks, Natalie! it was fun to actually break out the old game again! Such a classic.
Nothing better than dress up for grown ups – adore this idea! @myconfetticrush
Thanks, Kirsten! We had a lot of fun with the costumes. I keep waiting for long gloves to make a come back…
Oh my! This looks like an incredible time. Clue + costumes + good girl friends = fabulous party.
It was, Dominique! You should see some of the murder reenactments that didn’t make the post…. hilarious! Check Chanel’s instagram account for that.
This is absolutely brilliant! I’ve been hunting for a fun idea to modify for my oldest daughter’s birthday party… This is absolutely fab! So much better than a boxed murder mystery… Love it!
I love this theme and would like to use it in a small dinner party I have coming up. In past themed dinners, I have always included the food items indicative of the theme. What kind of food themed items did you serve for dinner?
How many people can you do this Murder Mystery Dinner with sounds so fun
Hello Camille!
I love the details in this post (from the gorgeous photos to the great outline on how you completed each part of it) – thank you so much for creating such a wonderful post!
I mentioned this post in my most current blog release (http://michellereyburn.com/2018/04/10/ultimate-adult-party-ideas-activities/ ). Hopefully it will inspire more people to create an awesome party like this (& connect with your blog!).
Thanks for creating beautiful things!