Totally Rad 80s Prom Gone Bad!!

It was my 30th Birthday last week and I decided that that milestone warranted an extra special birthday party! Last year I held a Silly Hats Only Party, which was a complete blast, so I knew I had to up the ante this year. I have always wanted to do a Murder Mystery, and I found a company that sells different mystery games online so I decided to throw the Totally Rad 80s Prom Gone Bad party! The company is call Night of Mystery and they have a TONS of murder mysteries for all different types of parties.

The game works pretty easily- you download a huge PDF and a set of character invites from the website. The PDF includes all instructions and materials needed for the game, and you just assemble it yourself! My friend Jeni did most of the planning and hosting, and together we assigned all the characters, Jeni emailed all the guests their character profiles, and I assembled the actual game for when people arrived. It was really hard to put all the packages together without spoiling who the murderer and victim were! You had to put everything together without reading! But we didn't want to find out so we could play along.

Everyone's instructions and flowers

Jeni and I also prepared for our totally rad party by making up corsages and boutonnieres for all the guests! And everyone got an awesome pair of neon sunglasses and rings pops/candy necklaces. It was so much fun! We also prepped my now-tradition of turning the den into a giant photobooth which turned out amazing. And we had an actual record player courtesy of Cam! This 80s party was ready to rock.

Photobooth Backdrop

Prizes- 80s cartoon pint glasses (and my awesome singing Cat Balloon)

Candy and popcorn station

The record player playing Thriller and The Best of Kool and the Gang all night

Also, my friend Steph totally surprised me by showing up with this AMAZING cake covered in edible pictures of me with my friends and family. It was such a shame to cut into it, but it was as delicious as it looked.

So the game is pretty straightforward. Everyone got a detailed character description with their background story leading up to the prom. When they arrived at the prom (AKA my place), the hostess Sarah Social (AKA Jeni) explained how it worked. Everyone got 2 envelopes- A & B. The A envelope gave instructions for the beginning of the party- what questions to ask certain people and how to answer questions asked of you. One person's A instructions would also tell them they are the victim and to fall down when the lights go out. You also got to vote for prom king and queen! B envelopes were to remain sealed until after the murder.

After awhile, Sarah Social announced the Prom King and Queen! I won't go into details, but it there was quite a shocking reaction that resulted in broken candy necklace all over the floor!

After we had crowned the King and Queen we continued socializing and getting to know all the scandals that seemed to be going on at our high school. The least of which is that our Dolly Dancer apparently got knocked up by Bobby Backer. Ha!

Dolly Dancer and Coach Walters

But the suddenly the lights went out and someone was dead!! We expertly outlined the body with tape and the Principal took hold of the situation and gave us our next instructions- which was to open envelope B and start our investigations. There were some comments about we probably should have called the police. But no! The fellow prom students and staff could totally solve this! :P. The B envelopes gave further questions to ask, rumors to start, and evidence. Plus everyone had much more juicy information that could be bribed out of them.

We continued our sleuthing and trying to figure out what was going on. Some people had evidence and everyone had $500 to bribe with (giving at the start), so money and rumors were flying! Even the victim came back as a zombie and tried to solve it. Who had done it?!

I turned the lights red after the murder

Finally Principal Simpson had gathered all the evidence and presented it to everyone to try and use to help with their investigations. At this point some of the characters had taken on a life of their own/ had too much to drink (someone had spiked the punch!) and it was getting pretty funny and entertaining.

Peter Prez, Kevin Catcher, Gabby Backer, Cindy Sensational, Clerical Katie, JJ Smart, and Alan Alegebra

Photobomb in the front by Teach Tanner

After little more detective work it was time to fill out a ballot of who we thought had done it, and also vote for best dressed, best performance, and most money (from accepting bribes). After handing that in to Sarah Social to tally up, Principal Simpson came out with the results of his investigation and who the murderer was! It was quite a shock and also we all completely sucked at figuring it out- only one person managed to guess the right person! Here is a hint- pay close attention to the evidence!! However, the game was so much fun to play even without solving the murder! The character acting and rumors were hilarious.

I am not telling who the victim and murderer were by the way- you will have to message me privately if you want to know the whole story! But lemme tell you- everyone had a motive. That is one drama-filled school.

After all the murderer was solved (and the murderer basically got a slap on the wrist), we continued with the prom and had a great night!!

Sarah Social (Voted Best Dressed), and Larry Lefty

Peter Prez (Voted Best Performance) and Gabby Backer

Cindy Sensational and Sally Spirit

Bobby Backer and Clerical Katie

Sarah Social and Cindy Sensational

Kevin Catcher and Cindy Sensational

My High School Friends (IRL)

Dolly Dancer and "Dave"

All in all- it was such a fun night!! Even if we sucked at solving the murder, the characters and plots were hilarious and I had such a fun time! I'm not sure how I am going to beat this one next year. Here is to turning 30!

FYI- My dress was actually my Mom's in the 80s!