Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Planning a gathering doesn’t have to be stressful—Let’s Talk Local is here to make it easy! In this special episode, Sarah Zubiate Bennett shares hosting tips, tricks, and hacks to help you throw a great event, no matter the size. Sarah brings together guests from different backgrounds to share their secrets for hosting success. Get ready for some laughs, surprises, and a moment that leaves one guest stunned while the rest can’t stop laughing!
You can download some of Sarah's helpful party planning spreadsheets here!
You can download some of Sarah's helpful party planning spreadsheets here!
Creators and Guests
Host
Guest
Guest
Guest
What is Let's Talk Local?
Join host Sarah Zubiate Bennett on Let’s Talk Local as she uncovers the stories, people, and places shaping Dallas, fostering a stronger and more connected community—let's get to know the real Dallas!
The holidays are here, which means parties, gatherings, and lots of planning. I'm Sarah Zubiate Bennett, and I'm so excited you're here for the very first special edition of Let's Talk Local. In this episode, I'm joined by my executive assistant, our producer, and good friend for a fun chat about entertainment tips, tricks, and some amazing local entrepreneurs. Spoiler alert. Things take a hilarious turn, and my friend, Sarah Beth's reaction is absolutely priceless. Get ready to laugh until your cheeks hurt. We're thrilled to have you with us. Don't forget to like and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Hi there. We're so excited for you to be with us today in the month of December when everyone's talking about holiday planning and hosting, but we wanted to do a little bit of a different take today. These lovely, lovely women here all entertain differently, myself included. And I thought it'd be really fun to share some really neat hosting hacks from different perspectives. I'm Sarah Zubiate Bennett, the host of Let's Talk Local. This is Sarah Beth Christy. This is Shanon Murphy, and this is Ricki Casper, who you all have seen. Actually, you've seen Shanon in some prior episodes, too. She's the producer of our, Let's Talk Local show, and Ricki is my executive assistant, and Sara Beth is just a dear friend. All the different takes that we have whenever it comes to entertaining, I think will be useful. Useful holiday or entertaining tricks in general. So I am going to cover and not really cover, but I'm going to specialize more in the big bash basics area.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Shanon is going to be high class hot mess hostess. Sarah Beth is going to be Poised and Polished Parties and Ricki is Cozy Hosting Hacks for Small Homes. And I think all of us at one point or another have lived lived in a small home and so we'll all kind of weigh in in different segments and sections. Let's just start with the cocktails if we can. Sarah Beth, why don't you start us off here because I know that you were the one that talked about these Costco finds. Will you tell us a little bit about how you found these?
Sarah Beth Christy:Sure. So we were on YouTube one day and this was a recommended video for me to watch was a sommelier that had, gone through all the Costco wines from champagne to Malbec, to Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir. And he gave his rating after each one of them. And, of course, after watching this, I had to go to Costco to get each you know, as many as I could find. I think the highest price one at this point in time is probably about $20 for the champagne. And tried tried everything they had available. Loved some of them, maybe not all of them, but everyone has a different palette, so I'm sure that people could find something that they like.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah. And that's what I thought was so interesting. Whenever we went to Costco, the Mabac, I believe, is the one that sells out within an hour. Oh, Gigondas. The Gigondas. Yes. Yes. Yes. So we don't have that one here, and that's the one that she initially had indicated as part of the sommelier's recommended list. So 2 of us today are indulging in alcoholic beverages. That is Shanon and Sarah Beth. I, momentarily, probably for a few years, am going to be stepping away or I have stepped away from alcoholic beverages, so I can't wait to talk to you about my assortment of everything over here. But why don't you, if you can, just start pouring this for you and Shanon to try. Alright. You're good. Talk about it. And then while you're doing that, I'm gonna talk a little bit about what it is that I have set up over here. So like I said, I've taken a break from boozing.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I'm doing this in solidarity with a friend, and there's just so much on the market nowadays. And and, honestly, the alcohol industry has taken a huge hit sales wise because there are so many different types of infused CBD or mushroom based alternatives that are supposed to allow you to have a good fun at night or during the day and to not indulge in alcohol. So they're these little, like, CBD gummies, they're Feals, and I absolutely love them. I don't have the bag out here because it's super crinkly and it looks bad, but I don't know if you all would like half of 1 or what. It's just supposed it just like I mean, you can try it.
Ricki Casper:Gives you the feels?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Well, it's just relaxes you, but you can try half of 1 or 1. I don't know if you all want any. Yay. Cheers! Okay. And this is a lion's mane drink. This, I really like to mix with things as well as the Nowadays, which I just recently tried over the holidays. You did too. Right, Shanon? I did. And this one is a Brez drink. It has adaptogens, botanicals, and a can. So I'm just gonna pour myself some of this. I can let you see the ingredients. Ricki has a different one over there, but she'll be indulging in this fun CBD hemp drink and it's just nice. Nice to take a little bit of the edge off. Oh, and also this. This u relax.
Ricki Casper:I love those.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:These Yes. Are incredible. If you're an anxious person and something stresses you out, you can reach for something like this instead of reaching for alcohol. Mhmm. I mean, none of these things have side effects, hangover effects, anything. I mean, it's all natural. I love it, and I can show you what it looks like whenever I pour it. So these are some fun things that you can do while out and about.
Ricki Casper:Want me to grab you a bottle of water?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah, please. Thank you. Mhmm. And it's also great to have something available for parties that is both alcoholic and nonalcoholic. Yep. You know, even if you have a cocktail, you can have cocktails. A, add the alcohol to it yourself. And sometimes people like to make their own mimosas, how strong or how light that they like. So there there is always nice to have options at parties for all of your guests to enjoy.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yes. To Sarah Beth's point, it is amazing because the Feals brand that I was talking to you all about, they actually have little tinctures so that you can drop that into a fun mocktail if you're not indulging in alcohol.
Ricki Casper:Oh, okay.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And it's just a way to kind of relax without the without the beverage. But okay. So tell me if you all have not tasted this, what what you think about it. Are you having any?
Shanon Murphy:I don't normally drink wine.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh you don't?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:You mean high class doesn't normally drink wine?
Shanon Murphy:Right. You know what? Today, I'm gonna do it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Cheers. Salute. Here, let me I guess we can toast. Cheers. Okay. Tell us what you think about this. Cheers. That one that you just had. Cheers. Okay. Someone who knows wine and then someone who's just taking it. Just trying it, Shannon. Why don't you tell us first?
Shanon Murphy:That's strong and I can see myself needing needing an Uber home after this.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I love it. And okay. Tell us, Sarah Beth, what is your thoughts on that?
Sarah Beth Christy:To me, it's very smooth and easily drinkable for me.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And it's also this one actually is rated 91 points Oh my god.
Sarah Beth Christy:From Costco. There is, yes. We saw that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:What?
Sarah Beth Christy:On this Malbec that we just poured, It's, 91 points from James Sick Suckling.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Is this a sommelier?
Sarah Beth Christy:I don't know.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay. But I don't know. But We will find out.
Sarah Beth Christy:I've always heard anything above 90 points when you're shopping for wine is really good.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:At Costco?
Sarah Beth Christy:I think anywhere.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah. Got it.
Ricki Casper:But I've only ever seen them like, I know what you're talking about. The liquor stores say, like, 92 or 92. Yes. At Specs, they have them all numbered.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh, yeah. See, I love cabs. Love them and, like I said, I don't know if I'll ever have another one again but, if I do, mine never had numbers on them or any rating system but that's good to know.
Sarah Beth Christy:We like an app called Vivino. I have it still. I think it will show you the number of points it's rated.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yes. It does. That does. I mean, you have to look up your star and all that stuff. But I use that especially because I like to entertain and make sure that whatever it is that I'm serving complements is complemented by whatever beverage I'm serving with it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So, yes, I use that Vivino app all the time. Okay. So, Shanon. Yes. Okay.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So, Shanon, tell tell us a little bit about, your parties and how you prepare for them. Okay. And give us a little bit of a background and tell us a little bit about you as a person. More casual
Shanon Murphy:Function over fashion, obviously. I am not a very good host. I'm a I'm a better goer and enjoyer. But I've learned a lot from my family. And, something that my family does is they personalize a lot of things to make the person being celebrated or or that occasion feel special.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Uh-huh.
Shanon Murphy:So there's always going to be like a styrofoam cup or whatever that's personal for the occasion.
Sarah Beth Christy:Yeah.
Shanon Murphy:Or whatever. So I brought some of the items.
Ricki Casper:Yeah. Show us. That it's a big bag.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:You brought some of them?
Ricki Casper:Just a couple of them.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So we we personalized stuff too. Yeah. So And I love that.
Shanon Murphy:So for one of my birthdays.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh, that's cute.
Shanon Murphy:This is my my nickname. They call me Shan Wow. Shan Wow. Yeah. We can talk about why later.
Shanon Murphy:That's one of the reasons I don't indulge in alcohol very much.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay. I didn't know that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Swimsuits? What? Oh my gosh. I love that. I didn't even know they made those.
Shanon Murphy:I somehow ended up with several people's swim suits. I think this is adorable. I made some pajamas of my face for Monty. This is so fun!
Shanon Murphy:And my dog.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:My dog. Yes. I've done that too with Scrapsies.
Shanon Murphy:Yep. And then we have hats. My dog. Can you tell how much I love my dog?
Shanon Murphy:This was a wedding gift.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I'm from Aspen. Oh. Oh, that's right. You go to Aspen a lot. So you're not the one hosting up there.
Shanon Murphy:We went to the beach.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So cute. I love that.
Shanon Murphy:And then another Dog shirt? Hawaiian shirt with my dog.
Ricki Casper:Oh, wow.
Shanon Murphy:Oh, that is so nice. To feel special too. This weekend, I set up a full photo shoot for his 3rd birthday.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Stop. Where did
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I Do you have pictures of it?
Shanon Murphy:Yeah. Oh, no. And then I mean, it's just Yeah. So if you've got something going on, you might as well make that person feel special by putting their face everywhere. I know. So that's how we do it. And then if if you don't go this big, you can do little cut out faces and put it on a toothpick and put those toothpicks in candy jars or something like that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh my god. We have done that. I said, we do that too even though I'm more like big bash basics. I am all about the memorabilia and the little the date or whatever it is that makes that person or that event special. And okay. I'm I'm dying to hear this. So are you big on people RSVP ing or no?
Shanon Murphy:I'm not good at RSVPing, so I feel like it'd be kind of hypocritical for me to expect people to RSVP.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I'm gonna read this because, Sarah Beth
Shanon Murphy:Oh, and I know Sarah Beth is gonna hate me for this.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:No. No. She's not. So okay. I created this spreadsheet because I want entertainment from all walks of life to be featured and feel included and happy and all the things.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:But since I do Big Bash basics, it is super important that people RSVP for me, but a lot of people in my life are like, they don't show up timely because culturally, I'm I'm Latina. So everyone's always late. I am not always late, but my family members of my family are often late. But here is what I thought was just so lovely that she that Sarah Beth shared. So for the poised and polished parties, hostess gifts idea. Flowers already in a vase so the hostess doesn't have to worry about finding the vase or cutting flowers. So where do you find these? Trader Joe's?
Sarah Beth Christy:You can go there or I've, also Kroger has either plants or just, you know, things in a vase already that you can just buy it and go. Central Market's great as well. And, you you know, really, it's all about trying to make it easy for the host or the hostess so that they're not having to do something extra upon arrival.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I love that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I think that's just always useful and very helpful. And Ricky actually shared about Trader Joe's having a whole bunch of floral available for really affordable prices.
Ricki Casper:They have all these, seasonal flower bushels at by the front door and you just grab a handful of each and it it's $8 or something. It's very affordable.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:That makes me happy. So I know that we did this whole charcuterie Mhmm. Board visit.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Boxed Bites was the name. And they kind of inspired a lot of just conversation and dialogue around charcuterie boards. I do them all the time just for this bash that we had for mothers for, our children's school. I had this awesome charcuterie set up. And how how was it that she came about?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:You recommended her.
Shanon Murphy:Yeah. The board lady. The board lady. In East Dallas. Mhmm.
Shanon Murphy:Yeah. She's pretty well known. I live over there and I see posts from her. She does classes at the Arboretum.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Uh-huh.
Shanon Murphy:And I've known her through friends and she did a massive setup for you. My goodness.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:She did. And I actually got a few moments with her. And I want you guys to take a look and see at what it was that we talked about. She's so talented. So check this out.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:We are so happy to be here. This is Alicia. Hello.
The Board Lady:I started this. This was my COVID project. I was bored sitting at home in COVID. Doing nothing, and I was on the Lakewood ladies page one night. And this lady said, check on my friend's Facebook page. She's just started doing charcuterie, and my first thought was, I could do better than that. I come in. I bring everything in. You have a setup with all of your cheeses and meats and everything in front of you. I explain what's everything that's on your board.
The Board Lady:I bring a mock up board so you see what you're about to build, and then I explain everything that's there, and then we just start building. I take you step by step of exactly what you're gonna build on the example that I bring. And it's super fun. So I bring everything. You don't need anything.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Everyone's gonna be able to see you piecing this together from start to completion. And the time right now, it's about 2, and the event doesn't start until 6. Mhmm. Might have a tornado. So who the heck knows? For now, I don't wanna hold you up anymore because...
The Board Lady:It takes time.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I know it takes time. It takes time. I know it does.
The Board Lady:You know, as you can see, I've only got some greenery here, and this is already the beginning, so it takes time. It does. It does.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay. So that was absolutely gorgeous. And looking at this that we have today, Ricki, with her entertaining, she actually talked about some nifty hacks that she has whenever it comes to charcuterie board setup. Can you tell us about it?
Ricki Casper:Yeah. I was actually talking to Shanon earlier when I made it too. And, I have gone overboard on smaller parties and spent 100's of dollars and I just thought this is wasteful and very expensive for a smaller gathering.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Mhmm.
Ricki Casper:So I'm starting to lean towards more of, including more fresh fruits and vegetables versus, meats and olives. And I love all those things, but they don't need to be included every time. So I was leaning for a board on a budget.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Board on a budget.
Ricki Casper:So that's why I included more cucumbers and fruit because a lot of people also like a low carb option these days. So I did a mini cucumber. You can and those are mini cucumbers are a little stiffer. So you can use them like a cracker.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh. See, I would add tahini.
Ricki Casper:I would have loved that, but I was trying to go seasonal. So I went, like, this is this is a fig and olive cracker.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I'm gonna actually serve myself some. Okay. Ricki, tell us what we have here. So tell us about the different cheeses. I know you already kinda did, but talk to us about the price since it is a board on a budget.
Ricki Casper:Okay. The the one that looks like a little cheese ball closest to you, Sarah,
Ricki Casper:that is just, a port wine and sharp cheddar spread. So it's not the most natural, but I mean, because it's a spread. The round one with the jelly on top is a honey fig spread and then it is a shallot and chive soft cheese. I don't know what those boursin cheeses are actually. Like if they're goat or...
Sarah Beth Christy:I thought it was goat. Goat cheese. It's a goat cheese.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I think it's a blend though. But definitely it's a blend But it has goat. I believe. In it. Yeah.
Ricki Casper:So that one which I'm I'm really liking the combination there, and then the other soft cheese is just a garlic and herb. It's a it's a comparable brand to Boursin so it's probably also a blend.
Ricki Casper:But those soft cheeses are real easy too for quick entertaining because you can I was telling her you can just tump it over and add a topping and it's like you did something amazing?
Sarah Beth Christy:Oh, like the cream cheese with the pepper jelly dumped on the top!
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yes. So let's talk about planning for a party. So I have spreadsheets galore for the parties that I host because there's just so much to consider. At our house in Dallas, it's a super old home.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:We've been wanting to have renovations for quite some time, but we haven't because it takes us either moving rooms, moving out, something, and we're just swamped. It's pretty impossible. Ricki and I have done most of the design work. It's taken years, really, on that, but I don't know that we're gonna be completing the renovations anytime soon. You can see all of the beautiful decor, for Christmas. And the front of the house, the interior, the main living room, and even the kitchen all just have such unique touches, even my office. Check out what's in my office. And then at the ranch. The reason I love these type of festive decorations is because I think it just makes a space a home. I've always loved it. Even whenever I lived in my 1300 square foot home in El Paso that I was raised in, it my dad and I would just decorate it to, you know, as best as we could. Just hanging the lights, making it feel homey was super important to me. And at the ranch, as you can see, it's also equally beautiful, but it's always entertaining ready ish so that if we were to have some party, there's just extra floral everywhere and cute little knickknacks to warm up any location. But, yes, back to the whole spreadsheet basics. Do you do this? Do you use spreadsheets for your entertaining, Sarah Beth?
Sarah Beth Christy:No. But I want to now. I am a spreadsheet girl in other ways, but I'm all about logistics, planning, and making sure everything is as right as it can be. Of course, knowing that the unexpected can always happen.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:It always does. Yeah.
Sarah Beth Christy:And but trying to make sure everything is as in place and then you can really enjoy time with your guests, which is, of course, the reason you're hosting.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:See, I did not have a lot of time with my guests on Thanksgiving. I made the stuffing, 2 turkeys. I mean, those 2 turkeys, I mean, I brined them. And then the stuffing, I prepped it the day before Thanksgiving. And then the actual Thanksgiving day, I mean, I constantly baste the turkeys, so I just had 6 or 7 alarms going off, you know, to make sure that I was staying on top of everything. But we did a pot potluck this year. What did you guys do this Thanksgiving?
Sarah Beth Christy:Oh, I went over to our my sister-in-law and my brother's house and they hosted.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh. It's great. But you you don't think that they had a spreadsheet?
Sarah Beth Christy:No. They do it every year, so it's down to a science. And so now the only thing we talk about is how good was the pecan pie this year compared to last year. And we all have settled into what our roles are and what you bring and everything. So it's it was really good.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I love that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And what about you, Shanon?
Shanon Murphy:I don't do spreadsheets. I don't just the only reason I do spreadsheets is if you make me do spreadsheets, they make me cross eyed. I'm not that person. I'm a pen and paper person. You know this?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I do.
Shanon Murphy:I write things down. I make lists. I'm a that's what I do. If if I can avoid the pen and paper and just keep it up here, I do that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I do not trust that at this point for me. I have too much to I'll forget something.
Shanon Murphy:If that fails me, then it wasn't meant to be. That's how I feel about it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:But you never let stuff drop.
Shanon Murphy:Usually, no.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:But you always take notes too. do.
Shanon Murphy:Yeah. But then again, as a rule, I don't like people very much, so I don't host a lot of things. I mean, that's the truth.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I'm laughing.
Shanon Murphy:When I was younger, I used this is so nerdy, but I used to host Guitar Hero parties.
Ricki Casper:Really? What? Where are they now?
Shanon Murphy:I love Guitar Hero so much.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I did too.
Shanon Murphy:And I would have people over to my apartment, and I would battle them at Guitar Hero.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh, that is hilarious.
Shanon Murphy:And I would buy these cheesy first, second, and third or place prizes, and I would usually end up winning.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So I had to make sure
Sarah Beth Christy:it was a really good prize. Yes.
Shanon Murphy:And so, that's really the last big hosting thing that I did, and it was just buy as much alcohol as I could fit in my trash can. That's so funny. I mean, literally, that's what I would do.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:But I think that's funny. Okay. So now how about your partner? Like, is is there something? Love or hosting.
Shanon Murphy:Loves hosting. We yes. In fact, a friend wanted to have their birthday party in our backyard.
Shanon Murphy:And so we had a prince impersonator back there and like 60 people.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:There's always 1.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I've never met. Always one of them.
Shanon Murphy:Yeah. Yeah. So, yes. Ragan loves hosting.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I love that.
Shanon Murphy:Very much. And I'm just like, I'm a germaphobe. And so if I'm gonna make a charcuterie board, everything's gonna be already cut when I buy it because I'm not gonna make other people touch things that I or eat things that I've touched. Yes. I have serious issues.
Ricki Casper:I saw her anxiety while I was I was making sure to double, triple clean everything because I saw her. She was like
Shanon Murphy:When I make the girls lunches every day, I'm washing my hands probably 3 times during the process. I have serious issues with germs and people touching my things and me touching their things.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I would too, but not to that Extent.
Shanon Murphy:It's a lot. Yeah. For me to have people in my space and me to touch things that are going in your mouth. But no. On the occasion that people do come over, it's just light and easy and just order some food, pick it up, and make it as as simple as we can.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yes. I like that. Yeah. And then what about you, Ricki? Do you because I know I make us function off of spreadsheets. Do you do that for yourself?
Ricki Casper:No. I have started a Christmas card spreadsheet inspired by you. My parties normally don't have more than 20 or 30 people, so I just create a little invite on Canva and shoot everyone a text. And mine are normally last minute. I may be talking about it for weeks ahead of time, but I won't send out the thing until a week or 2 before.
Ricki Casper:And then I get frustrated because the day before I have no RSVPs. So I'm like, how do I plan for this? And I'm like, this is my own fault.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:That was gonna be what I asked. Yeah. What what I was about to ask. How do you all do it if you don't use a spreadsheet and you don't know how much food to plan for?
Sarah Beth Christy:Fees. I usually have a good head count of who's gonna come. Yeah. Yeah. And then knowing that it can be plus or minus a certain percentage
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Mhmm.
Sarah Beth Christy:And and then trying not to overbuy because I am definitely someone that would overbuy rather than underbuy. And I'd rather be over prepared than not enough. So Yeah. And my husband prefers to do the shopping probably because of that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I love that. So we've talked about food. We've talked about lists.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:What about music? Oh, I grabbed this. Ricki, when did I give this to Monty? I think Few years ago. Like, 2 Christmases ago. Didn't I put it in a stocking? And so Monty loves to karaoke. I'm a former singer, so I have some singing and piano experience. Classically trained in both. So when we karaoke, it's really different.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:But we have I mean, we we karaoke all the time. And I know Shanon said that you walk around and sing. He Monty walks around this whole house just singing. Shanon pulls out her own Bluetooth karaoke microphone similar to Monty's) Stop it. Look. They're like little that's like the mini. Uh-huh. Oh my gosh. See? We are alike!
Ricki Casper:So there's some there are some commonalities between the big bash basics and the hot mess, whatever she is. So the high class hot mess and the big bash basics have some overlap.
Shanon Murphy:If I know if I know that the opportunity is gonna be there, this stays home, and I'll bring out my big setup. My big DJ setup.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Do you have pictures of it?
Shanon Murphy:I mean, I have it at home, so I can get pictures of it if I needed to.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Uh-huh.
Shanon Murphy:But like, I it's not my full setup, but I have a speaker that's this tall, and it literally could blast AT and T Stadium probably. And we can plug a microphone into it, and sing karaoke until the police are called.
Ricki Casper:On the streets of Dallas.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I'm sure that we would too. It's just no one can hear us. Yeah. Because we're out not in the kind of in the middle of nowhere.
Shanon Murphy:Yeah. Same.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:But we go till like 4 in the morning.
Shanon Murphy:Well, our limit is midnight usually with the neighbors before they get frustrated. Yeah. So, yeah, karaoke is so much fun. It's definitely my favorite.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh, I love and then I told you that even, J-SI like, was out of the house that mimicking karaoke.
Shanon Murphy:Oh, I taught him. We would sit in the studio during breaks when I was doing the morning show, and we would do acoustic versions of Eminem and any rap song we could think of. We would sit there and we would work it out with him playing guitar and me on the vocals, and we were amazing together. You should you should hear us.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh, my gosh. Well, I told him I wanted to battle. You know that we were talking about Eminem? And I told him that I wanted to battle my friend Jojo, who can rap Eminem better than any walking human alive I've ever known. Wow.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And she's like this she's like you. Like, she's very she's like blonde and really thin, elegant. And then and she can out wrap any person I've ever known. And then I heard J-Si and I was like, I need a I need a duel. That hasn't happened. It's been years. But okay, so back to the music.
Ricki Casper:Okay, I'll go up on the duel.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:You will? You can rap?
Ricki Casper:Yes, of course.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:No. Okay. Okay, people. If you did not watch our kind of the episode that we did together, Ricki, one of the main things, I hired her several years ago and she can build anything. She's a former professional oh, no. She's a she's a semi pro pool player. She used to deal poker. So she made Molly's Game look like like rags. And so but she used to hold these really high stakes, incredible poker tournaments in Houston. That's where she's originally from.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So the fact that she can rap Eminem , I am not surprised at all. But what? Depending on our karaoke night, sometimes I'll sing the Ave Maria. I swear. So who was there? That's, Oh, it was the Lieutenant Governor. I was like, who was there? And he was like, it was freaking Monty. He was like, Sarah, get up there and sing, get up there and sing. And I was like, fine. I'm only singing Ave Maria because that's the one song that I have sung and the national anthem.
Shanon Murphy:That's your go to?????
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:No, I think my go to for classical dance songs. That is what I have sang the most in my life in any performance venue, have been those 2 songs. But in karaoke, no, girl. I have other songs. I have a whole freaking karaoke list on my Spotify. Ready to go anytime. Yeah. You know what? Yeah. I'll, like, let you scroll that karaoke list. It's good.
Shanon Murphy:Oh, I wanna know.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Do you have a karaoke list?
Shanon Murphy:Yes.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:On what app?
Shanon Murphy:On my paper.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh, oh.
Shanon Murphy:I told you I write every thing down.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh. You walk around with a karaoke list?
Shanon Murphy:I walk around with a microphone.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:No. You don't. Oh my god.
Shanon Murphy:I have a little compartment in the back of my car.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay. I'm gonna pull up my karaoke list on Spotify. Hold up. You you you read some of your list to me. Hold on. Wait.
Shanon Murphy:Let me take a drink of water, and
Ricki Casper:Then I'll figure out what song I'm gonna rap. This is taking an awkward turn.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:But I love it. An awkward turn. I know. Hold on. Oh, see, the head of Girls Just Wanna Raise Funds?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:You you go. You go. You go. Crazy. Oh, okay.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So yes.
Shanon Murphy:Crazy *****. Buckcherry. Hey. You're a crazy.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I know the song that is not on my karaoke list. What? Oh, Stop. Oh my god. What the hell?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay. Let me let me read some of mine. Yeah .
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Don't Stop Believing. Dancing Queen. Living on a Prayer. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. I want it.
Sarah Beth Christy:I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh, I love that. I wanna feel the heat!
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yes. Sweet Caroline. Tell me. You don't know these songs, Shannon.
Shanon Murphy:How Many Licks?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Hold on. Do you not know any of these songs?
Shanon Murphy:Oh, I know. Everybody knows those songs.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Exactly. Walking on Sunshine, Sweet Home Alabama, Hey Soul Sister, Shot through the heart, and you're to blame. Come on. All of this you know. Okay. So what other songs do you have? Well, How will I know? I will yes. How will I know? Only Happy When it Rains.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Up Closer to 9 inch nails.
Shanon Murphy:Oh, I wanna **** you like an animal? Animal. Mhmm. That's a good one.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay. I have a funny story, and I'm sure she's gonna watch this. One time I was karaoking that at the ranch. Of course, every all the kids were asleep. I was karaoking it up there. My friend, Rachel Griffin, walks, walks in and she does this to me. Hold on. She goes, she was she was so mortified that I was singing it. But anyways, I I proceeded to sing it. And, yeah. So we had some of those songs as well. Monty really doesn't. Well, he walks around. He he's like Elvis. Okay. Prince.
Ricki Casper:Like some eighties or something.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah. He loves the eighties, loves seventies. So he's just, yeah. Just different songs, but this is his. I don't clearly I said that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Redneck Woman?
Shanon Murphy:Oh, yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I love that she pointed. Redneck Woman. You know that one. Okay. So we can karaoke that one together.
Shanon Murphy:Oh, for sure.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I'm the One by DJ Khalid. Yes. I love certain DJs.
Shanon Murphy:Yes. He's a good one.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Do do you all karaoke at your polished posh?
Sarah Beth Christy:Depends what time of the night it is, probably.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Really? So you guys do that?
Sarah Beth Christy:I mean, you can who doesn't love music? I do. I know. I mean, everyone can find a song. And then also it can be fun. If you're a good singer, it's okay to karaoke. But sometimes sometimes the really bad ones make the biggest impression. So it it's really fun anyway.
Ricki Casper:Oh, yeah. What if you think you're a good singer and you're not? I think I'm amazing.
Ricki Casper:And I don't think I am.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:If you can rap Eminem and you wanna take on my friend JoJo, we gotta do something. Because I and and J-Si like, seeing you guys up there, if you're putting yourself in that category. Yeah. Okay, girl.
Ricki Casper:I can just do them. I mean, I don't I don't have every song memorized, but I can like if I know the song, I can sing the whole song. I'm not saying I have every word of every Eminem song memorized.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Jojo does. She does. She does. She can sit there and get down. Yeah. We need to have her on one of these, like It'd be fun.
Ricki Casper:We should just do a segue to a battle at the ranch.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I'm ready. Hilarious.
Ricki Casper:I was born ready.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Tell me about your music vibe when you're not rapping Eminem.
Ricki Casper:It's normally like country rap or some country songs. We'll just pick a playlist and let it vibe from there and then we'll go swap it. Like, you know, the tailored playlist on Spotify. So if you pick a certain artist, it's probably gonna stay in that genre. So we'll do that. I don't have like my playlist is my liked songs. I just like a song. And so it could be so random and not have any type of flow.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Do you have any slow songs? Do you have any classical songs?
Ricki Casper:They're ran all it's all random.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And you'll play the classical songs in a
Ricki Casper:Not at my parties.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay.
Ricki Casper:Because I don't have any playlists. I just have liked songs in Spotify. I guess it's for the
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Do you have any liked classical songs?
Ricki Casper:Maybe. Maybe like 1 or 2. I couldn't tell you the names of them.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Got it.
Ricki Casper:I just added them because I liked them.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:That's why I could never just all my like songs because I have a whole classical folder. What's your classical, playlist? None.
Shanon Murphy:I have none.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Of course. Do you know any classical songs?
Shanon Murphy:None.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Really?
Shanon Murphy:0.
Sarah Beth Christy:I'm sure you know them. You just don't know you know them.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Exactly. Yeah.
Sarah Beth Christy:You know them. You
Shanon Murphy:Maybe. Maybe, like, a Nutcracker song or something, but probably not. Without music? Yeah.
Ricki Casper:Without singing word most of the time. Right? Not all the time.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Look at her. Look at her score change.
Shanon Murphy:I don't wanna say anything because I don't wanna offend people. But if I was gonna list, rank the music that I like from best to worst, that'd be way down here by the worst. I love a good pop song, like Sabrina Carpenter.
Shanon Murphy:Right now I'm listening to her album all I love Sabrina Carpenter. And then Taylor Swift, I love Taylor Swift.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I do like Taylor Swift.
Shanon Murphy:So much. And then like Drake, and Kendrick Lamar.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Drake.
Shanon Murphy:All of those, and then there's classical. And there's just not room in my headspace for that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:What about jazz?
Shanon Murphy:Just right above classical.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:What about like big band? I'm talking Sammy Davis Junior, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin.
Shanon Murphy:That live, not on the radio.
Ricki Casper:Really? Yeah. I find it calming. My grandfather always had classical band in my car. In the car all the time.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay. Yeah. I'm talking, like, big band and all that stuff.
Ricki Casper:Oh, yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:My I was raised on the Rat Pack. So for me that era is just so burnt into my Mhmm.
Sarah Beth Christy:My love. You? Yeah. Do you? I like, I mean, I like everything that these are, but I was classically trained in piano.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So Chopin?
Sarah Beth Christy:Yes. Everything.So that those would be on my list.
Ricki Casper:So you just start at white trash and it just comes out of the way.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And we're like
Ricki Casper:My aunt worked at, Houston Symphony Orchestra for years. All my family's rooted in things musical, but I'm just I don't know a lot about them because it was before Shazam was invented. So I don't I couldn't tell you the name of a song or who sang it, and I could sing every word. Like, that's how my brain works. Yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah.
Ricki Casper:So I probablyknow a bunch of songs, but I couldn't tell you what they were.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Well, I like that. So we have the music covered. What about the fun activations that we have? What are some of y'all's funnest activations that you like to do? Remember you had talked about the activation in Aspen?
Shanon Murphy:Oh, yeah. Like there was a sushi table, and an ice sculpture. This was obviously a huge thing with like 200 people. At her (my nieces) wedding reception, where you walked into the door, and you rang a bell, and then somebody with a white glove, you couldn't see them, they were behind curtains, but somebody with a white glove would hand you a drink based on what bell you rang. So it's like beer, booze, and the drink that they have at, Texas Tech. I forget what it's called. But it was so cool. I I know it happens places, but I'd never seen it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I haven't done it. We've never done that.
Shanon Murphy:You never see anything but the hand. And it was amazing to me. I just stood there and kinda watched it for a little bit.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:The way that I imagine that would be set up is that that would be on the backside, someone taking the orders. Right. But then on the fronts, like, the bar would be on the other side of it, kind of facing away from that backboard with people behind it. Sorry.
Shanon Murphy:That's okay. Talking this up. It was really cool. And it was a small space. It didn't take up a ton of space, and you immediately walked in. You get your welcome drink, and then you go walk past the sushi tower or whatever it was. It was pretty amazing.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:That is neat. Yeah. And we've done, like, the we've done the donkeys. We've done the photo booth setups almost always.
Ricki Casper:Oh, yeah.
Sarah Beth Christy:That was so fun.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:The those kind of fun revolving ones.
Ricki Casper:We did a water games in the backyard. Water games. Like a almost like a water balloon arena to go 1 on 1 because I set it up equal sides, like, if they were having, like, a battle.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Are there any top tips that you all wanna share with viewers and listeners?
Sarah Beth Christy:I like making everyone feel comfortable and trying to make sure if someone is coming that doesn't know someone else that we do introductions. And sometimes the most fun parties can be when nobody knows each other. New friendships are formed, and it's just a really good time.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Mhmm. I love that. How about you, Ricki? For personal or for any of our parties?
Ricki Casper:Well, we didn't touch on it much, but I would say always having, a kid activity.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:If people have kids. Well, yeah. But most of your parties have kids. So I just wanted to mention that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:But it you're right. Okay. You're right. Because we do.
Ricki Casper:We might moms watching that wanna,
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I like that though because we do a lot of stuff for kids.
Ricki Casper:We always have an activation at least for the kids.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Any other useful tips?
Ricki Casper:I'm not good on the spot. I can jump in and say stuff, but that's the thing caught me off guard too. Sing the song now. I was like, oh.
Shanon Murphy:Can people hire you to help?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:It's a good question.
Ricki Casper:For what? For planning and stuff.
Shanon Murphy:Like, do you do any of that stuff for anyone other than Sarah?
Ricki Casper:Not really. We might do down the line when we have more time?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So we have, because we have so many plug and play, spreadsheets. But different events that we've had hosted everything. A lot of this stuff, Sarah Beth asked before, we have it all in storage. We always have, I think, stuff for kids, back to your point. But the one thing I would say is figure out the vibe first. And then from that vibe, then you can kind of back it out from, the budget. Budget kinda determines everything. It'll determine location, how many people, food, board on budget or not, and all that stuff. But aside from that, it's the vibe. And for me, I always place comfort and warmth first. Mhmm. That's really important to me. And, yes, kind of the feng shui just falls naturally from that, but I love people to be comfortable. And like you'd said, we do so many different kinds of events, a lot of corporate events at the ranch, fun, relaxed events. It's the vibe that drives everything. And for me, it's always kinda centered around people you you enjoy. Right?
Sarah Beth Christy:Right. Yeah. And in addition to the vibe, it is almost like what is the goal of the event? And at the end of the day, are you trying to, celebrate somebody or just create a relaxing environment for moms and, so there there's so many different reasons but then you can build based off that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yep. I agree. Well, you guys. Thank you so much for being here. I can't wait for everyone to hear about, WAP and the other I can't wait for everyone to watch and learn some useful, fun, practical things, depending on how you like to host. Thanks for watching.