Name of the party/theme for the party

Casino Royale 2016/Mission Paradise Hill

Invitation

All guests got an envelope with information about the mission and a formal invitation to the event (as a V.I.P guest). 

The guests also got an internet address for a secret message:

https://paradisehill007.weebly.com

Number of guests

I had invited 76 friends and 38 could make it. 

Unfortunately we hade late cancelations because of the flu... At least 8 friends had to cancel the same day or the day before...

Activities

The guests were told to sign up for the assignment trough the V.I.P invitation. They were asked to go to the bar (when they had arrived to the "Casino") and order a vodka martini, shaken not stirred and then they would receive an envelope with more details about the mission. 

When they had order a drink in the bar they got an goodie bag.

In the goodie bags they could find (among other things) an envelope with more information about the mission.

They got to know which agent team they were part of . We had divided them in to 6 teams (Goldfinger, Thunderball, Octopussy, Goldeneye, Skyfall and Spectre). Every guest also got their own mission during the evening. It could be that they were team leader for a team, make a toast during dinner, take photos during the evening and send them to me, help me serve the dessert etc... But one guest in each team also got got a mission to be a spy for another team. They were not allowed to tell anyone...

The information in the envelope also said that they couldn't show anyone their mission, not even their team. And they had to remember that they couldn't trust anyone completely that evening. Even their closest friends could be be their enemies...

Q

Of course we had "Q" with us. My dad was perfect playing Q and every team got to visit him and got all sort of gadgets and things that could help them spy on other teams and solve the mystery.

We had bought firecrackers and placed them on the floor in "Q´s room". They exploded when guests walked on them. Q gave the teams instructions how to use the different gadgets.

Every team got their own briefcase with more instructions for the evening. They got more information (in a folder) about the murder they were supposed to solve during the evening. All teams got chips that they could use in the casino.

Food and beverages

When the guests arrived to the party venue they got a vodka martini. They were served some snacks with that.

Starter: Gazpacho with grissini and pea shoots.

Main course: Double Marinated Pork served with Potato Gratin and Crispy sallad.

Dessert: Chocolate Symphony.

The guests had to bring the beverages they wanted to drink. We served sparkling wine during the night. We also served "false" Russian caviar and later during the evening we had a chocolate fountain. 

Details

We had made the party venue look like a casino.

One of the rooms, were the murder had take place, were closed. I had put evidence in there that could help the teams to solve the mystery.

We also tried to make it feel like a V.I.P event. We had a red carpet and all the guests had to pose at the red carpet when they arrived at the party. We had asked one of our friends thats a photographer to mingle and take photos of the guests and details. 

I had also asked my cousin to act croupier at the casino during the evening.

We had details on the tables, the teams name, casino details, spies, etc. We also had film clips from the Bond movies rolling on a big screen and the soundtracks playing in the background. We had gadgets and a murder to solve...

The mission (the murder/mystery)

I had bought a written mystery and changed it so it was the owner of Casino Royale that had been murdered. 

We made changes on photos of some of the guests so they became part in the mystery we told (they didn't have a role in the mystery we only used photos so it became a bit fun when they recognized themselves). All teams got SMS with videos with more information about the murder (3 times during the evening). They also had more information in their folders.

For every mission the team solved, or the competition they won, they got more chips. They could also challenge the other teams in different activities and games.

The team that had the most chips in the end of the evening became "the team of the year".

One of the team competitions involved how smooth they were...