Marin Independent Journal

Even the best weddings can be murder

By Sally Richards

Some might think that a murder at a wedding reception would dampen the occasion. But for Eric and Renee Swensen of San Rafael, who encouraged their friends and family to find the killer among the guests at their wedding -- it was all part of the fun of getting married on Halloween.

More than 70 friends and family were invited to the event, held at San Francisco's own haunted house -- the Mansions Hotel. They were asked to wear Victorian-style clothing, but had no idea what the night had in store for them.

Of course no one attending the wedding and reception expected it to be the normal dining and dancing affair. Eric is a freelance special effects cameraman who has worked with both Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas. Renee once worked as a national events coordinator for Walt Disney. And Halloween is this couple's favorite holiday.

"We wanted to have a traditional Victorian wedding, but also have something fun," said Renee.

The couple decided a haunted wedding was the way to go. They hired Murder on the Menu, an Oakland-based company that presents murder mystery events, to coordinate an event for their reception.

The wedding began late in the afternoon on a chilly and gloomy-looking Halloween.

The bride was beautiful in her Victorian lace dress and the groom was dapper in his sheriff's attire. A ceremony, complete with vows, music and a reading by a friend were traditional touches to the not-so-traditional evening.

It was during dinner in the Mansions' dining room that things started to get a little spooky. An actor, employed by Murder on the Menu, stood up and started telling the tale of the two newlyweds who had been murdered 100 years ago on that very night. As he related the story, Renee and Eric gathered in the billiards room with friends choosen to play suspects in the murder. Murder on the Menu owner, Janet Rudolph, filled them in on their characters.

The remaining guests were told about the suspects, then broke into teams. They were instructed to ask the suspects questions about their whereabouts during the murder and their relationship with the murdered bride and groom.

With dinner over, guests moved into the parlor for dessert, and to mingle with the suspects.

While the sleuths tried to ferret out the murderer, Eric and Renee appeared on the stairwell wearing a second set of wedding attire which made them look as if they had been dug up from a grave. The couple answered guests' questions about the circumstances of their demise, then the teams were asked to give their guesses about who killed the couple.

The murder mystery lasted about two hours, during which time guests were able to mingle while being challenged, entertained and ultimately surprised.

"We didn't even know who had done it," said Renee. "Janet had kept it a secret until the very end. We were all really excited about finding out -- everyone had been such a ham acting their parts. The guests were really getting into it -- there was a lot of teamwork."

"It was the most interesting wedding I have ever attended," said Lisa Kludjian, friend of the bride and sales manager for Walt Disney Home Video. "Disney would have been proud of them; it was a very creative idea and was executed perfectly. When I first told my husband about the wedding he was reluctant to travel all the way to San Francisco -- he thought it was real odd, but we ended up having a really great time."

The Swensens met in 1990 when Renee, who is a cow paraphernalia fanatic, went to a car race in Willow Springs (near Los Angeles) only to see Eric's race car: it was painted to look like a cow. It was love at first sight.

Planning the wedding wasn't as effortless as falling in love, but knowing what they wanted helped the couple as they searched for locations, clothing and other accouterments. Renee designed the invitations, found the murder mystery coordinator and shopped for her flowers. Eric set up the wedding props, recorded the music and coordinated the special effects for the wedding.

The couple cut corners where they could and the cost of the wedding, which at one time exceeded $17,000, went down to a more reasonable $13,000. The total also included the rental of a cable car to take the guests, the majority from out-of-town, for a night of costume watching on the streets of San Francisco.

"We went back and forth on a lot of things -- and when we came to a stopping point and began to argue, we just stopped talking about it for a while. We had plenty of time and had no pressure to hurry," Renee said.

Renee had told her father of her plans to have the "haunted wedding," and he did his best to talk his daughter out of it. But, in the end the decision was up to her and her future husband.

"The wedding really cemented my admiration and respect fur Renee," said Eric after the wedding. "It's so nice to know that we don't have to be normal. I'm saying all this as I look at our Christmas tree -- it has a dinosaur theme this year. It's very unusual to find someone this special."

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