It generally takes me under an hour to set up all of the sound & lighting equipment, and I will usually arrive at the venue just over an hour and a half before the start time. If that’s not early enough, you always have the option of an early set up.
Sometimes, due to limited space at the venue, the only time the DJ can set-up is when the room is “turned around”. This is when the tables are cleared, floors are cleaned etc, after the end of the Wedding Breakfast (often after the speeches).
At most venues this takes around one hour. However this doesn’t necessarily mean that the DJ has an hour to setup, because the DJ can not begin setting up, until the venue staff has cleared and cleaned the specific part of the room where he will set-up, and in some venues this may not be done until 1/2 an hour after they started turning the room around.
If you have a very limited time window for me to setup and require music ASAP, I am able to have the sound ready in around 30 minutes and the lighting 15 minutes later.
