The 2019 Murder Mystery Weekend was a wonderful success! There were 13 guests this year and everyone really did an amazing job in putting together their costumes and taking on their Murder Mystery Roles.
The weekend started with the “Meet-N-Greet” Wine & Cheese party on Friday evening. It was fun to get to know all the players – some were returning guests, and others were new. As always, we love to have locals participate in our non-private events. We had a wonderful group of people from the area participate as well.
This year, all the players were Murder Mystery “Virgins” having never participated in a Murder Mystery event before, but everyone worked together really well and all said they truly had a wonderful and enjoyable experience they will never forget. In fact, most of them are eager to attend the 2020 Murder Mystery Weekend already in the planning stages!
The Murder Mystery main event commenced at 4:00 pm on Saturday. The players all started to arrive dressed in their costumes and WOW – it was like being at a Red Carpet event! The gowns, the tuxedos, the elegant masks – simply stunning! It was great to see everyone really get into the full swing of the event. I truly believe that this helps make the event work so well.
We started off with a Cocktail Hour where the guests were treated to a special Murder Mystery cocktail and the first course of food came out which were a collection of passed hors d’oeuvres consisting of Tortellini, Mozzarella and Cherry Tomato Skewers with a Pesto Drizzle, and Warm Maple Toastettes with Melted Camembert. During this time, the 3 actors from the Murder Mystery Company out of Baltimore, MD, met with each of the players to give them their characters/roles that they would take on for the evening.
Once all the roles were handed out, Act 1 was performed in the Guest Parlor. The scene is set, the action begins, and the mystery starts to take shape. Perhaps….a DEATH?
After Act 1, the players are all seated in the Dining Room where the 2nd Course is presented: The Soup/Salad Course. Options were a Spinach & Apple Salad with a Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing or a Potato, Bacon, Cheddar & White Wine Soup. Of course, no formal meal is complete without a choice of wine!
After the 2nd Course was enjoyed, the players once again returned to the Guest Parlor for Act 2. More information, investigation, questioning, etc. goes on in all the common areas of the house. Players try to gather information about each other to see what they know, how they may be involved and – perhaps they are the murderer trying to conceal information so as not to be found out.
Guests once again returned to the Dining Room for the 3rd/Main Course: The Entree & Side Dishes. Guests had pre-selected their entree choices which consisted of Shrimp in a Dijon White Wine Cream Sauce over Angel Hair Pasta, or Crab Imperial Filet Mignon. The side dishes were Peas with Pancetta and Shallots and Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar and Candied Pecans. Oh, and more wine!
Dinner was then followed by the Final Act in the Guest Parlor and the murderer is revealed. Teams were asked to fill out forms to put all the pieces together and determine who the murderer was and provide all the details they could as to how they figured it out. The winning team was selected as well as awards for Best Actors, Best Costumes, etc.
Guests then returned to the Dining Room for the final course: Dessert! Once again, it was the birthday of one of the guests so we had a big birthday cake with a LOT of candles (lol) and we all sang (basically murdered Happy BIrthday) and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
It was really fun and a special thanks to my two wonderful assistants/servers, Bev & Rich. They did a fantastic job and also added to making the event special.
If you have never participated in a Murder Mystery, you should consider attending the 2020 Murder Mystery! It will be a new theme and a new menu. It’s bound to be another super fun weekend so keep an eye out on this website and the Hummingbird Inn Facebook page for the announcement. Interest is very high so we’re anticipating a sellout event next year!
Below are some wonderful pictures taken by Elaina Faith Photography who once again did a fabulous job of capturing the event.
(Click on image to enlarge – scroll to see additional pics)
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