Plan the music, the party and the night
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- FeaturedAustin Guides
Austin live music venues
A useful guide to finding the right Austin room, from South Congress and South Lamar to Red River and downtown.
7 min read - Karaoke and DJ
Karaoke in Austin
Five solid places to sing around town, plus the difference between a karaoke DJ and singing with a live band at your own party.
7 min read - Karaoke and DJ
Best karaoke songs for a party
A practical karaoke queue: crowd-pleasers, country, duets, 80s classics, and easy songs for the first person to grab the mic.
8 min read - Karaoke and DJ
What a wedding DJ costs
Two national wedding publishers report different DJ averages. See the numbers, what they mean, and the details that change a quote.
7 min read - Hiring Live Music
Band or DJ for your wedding?
Published cost ranges, the real difference in the room, and when booking both makes sense.
7 min read - Songs and Playlists
Parent dance songs
Classic, country, upbeat, and tearjerker picks for a mother-son or father-daughter dance, plus advice on length, timing, and playing it live.
8 min read - Austin Guides
Austin bachelorette party guide
Rainey, Sixth, South Congress, or Lake Travis: pick the neighborhood that fits your group, then build the weekend around it.
8 min read - Party Planning
Holiday party ideas for large groups
Themes, activities, entertainment, timing, and a run of show that helps a big office party feel easy to join.
8 min read - Party Planning
How to plan a party
A usable party-planning checklist and timeline, from first decisions to the last song.
9 min read - Party Planning
Corporate event run of show template
A minute-by-minute company-party schedule with clear cue owners, plus the places entertainment should enter and leave the plan.
9 min read - Party Planning
Adult birthday ideas people attend
A practical way to plan a 30th, 40th, 50th, or any milestone birthday around something guests can join.
11 min read - Weddings
Wedding reception timeline template
A copyable schedule for four, five, and six-hour receptions, with timing, music cues, announcements, and owners for every moment.
9 min read - Party Planning
Christmas party themes and games
Four practical themes, adult games, and music plans for a Christmas party people want to stay at.
8 min read - Songs and Playlists
Quinceañera songs for every moment
Pick the entrance, shoe-change, vals, surprise-dance, and party songs without turning the whole plan into a guessing game.
8 min read - Party Planning
Anniversary party ideas by milestone
A practical way to plan a 10th, 25th, 40th, or 50th anniversary party around the couple's story, their wedding year, and music people can share.
8 min read - Karaoke and DJ
The best country karaoke songs
Country karaoke picks for a crowd, a duet, a classic, a 90s set, modern country, and the first person brave enough to sing.
7 min read - Weddings
Wedding reception entrance music
Plan on about twenty seconds for each introduction. The opening bars of the song ruin most entrances.
8 min read - Weddings
Who announces what at a reception
This covers every announcement a reception needs, who each one is meant for, and the order they should follow.
8 min read - Weddings
Do you need a separate MC?
The answer is usually no, with a real exception. The limit is attention, not talent.
6 min read - Production and Logistics
House sound or a band PA?
“The venue has sound” means four different things and only one of them runs a band.
6 min read - Production and Logistics
Space and power for a band
Find out the number of distinct circuits supplying the stage, not the number of wall outlets.
8 min read - Production and Logistics
How long a band needs to load in
The walk from the van sets the timing; how much gear the band carries does not.
9 min read - Hiring Live Music
What to ask a band before you book
A dozen questions ranked by the problems they help prevent, with guidance on what a good reply sounds like.
7 min read - Hiring Live Music
What a wedding band costs
Ask the two biggest sources the same question and their answers are more than double apart. This piece lays out why, plus the factors that shape your number.
7 min read - Songs and Playlists
The songs Austin bands play most
We counted 13 lists. They contain 1,609 different songs. Two-thirds appear on just one band's song list and no other.
27 min read - Weddings
How to choose your ceremony songs
Identify the moment, then choose the music. Working in reverse is the reason ceremony music falls apart.
7 min read - Weddings
Harp, piano, organ or a band
The room and the weather settle this more often than what you like. In Austin that holds unusually true.
11 min read - Weddings
Wedding music, hour by hour
The venue curfew is the only fixed point in the evening, so the schedule is built backward from it.
7 min read - Weddings
What a live band plays during a ceremony
Four cues instead of a playlist, and how to handle a song the band doesn't know.
7 min read - Weddings
Cocktail hour music with a live band
It looks like a music problem, but it's really a room-flip problem in a space that hasn't been soundchecked.
5 min read - Production and Logistics
Haze, bubbles and confetti
Cleanup is why venues usually ban things, not fire risk. Three policies they have published reach three different decisions.
7 min read - Austin Guides
Backyard party live music
You get ten a.m. until ten p.m., capped at 75 decibels, and a residential address can't get a permit.
7 min read
- Plan wedding music from the ceremony through the last dance, with song ideas and timelines for each part of the day.
- Compare a live band, DJ, or karaoke setup before you book, then ask the questions that shape the night.
- Use Austin guides for live music venues, karaoke spots, bachelorette parties, and backyard events.
- Build a party plan and run of show that gives music, announcements, and logistics a clear place.
The Ricky Bobby Blog is planning help for weddings and parties: song lists, Austin guides, and practical advice for hiring live music, a DJ, or karaoke. It comes from Ricky Bobby Music, Ricky Bobby DJ, and Ricky Bobby Karaoke, with guides for the music, timing, production, and decisions that make up an event.
Want to ask us? Our questions and answers page tells you how we operate, while the setlist publishes all 70 songs and names who recorded them.