Hi, it does depend a little on the venue. And you need to know your “average” setup time. I put this in parenthesis because your average will highly depend on the venue. If you have to tape cables across door openings for example, all extra time. If you have to run large cable lengths, same story.
I tend to take average setup time and plan it such that I have 45-60 minutes before the gig starts. Time to cool down, freshen up (setting up can lead to some sweating), change (I never play in my setup clothes or v.v.) and do a bit of prep work (arranging business cards, cleaning up the cabling or such).
The big exception for example is if the wedding dinner is taking place in the same space. In which case I don’t want to be setting up during the dinner. I just move the schedule up to be ready about half an hour before the guests arrive. If music is wanted for dinner I’ll have an autoplay list all cued up and I will instruct someone from the venue staff (never a member from the wedding party!) how to start the autoplay list (or I’ll fire it up before leaving) and how to alter the volume.
I’ll then leave and go have a bite to eat somewhere near for example and come back when dessert is served. It pays to be friendly with the staff and ask them to txt you when that moment is near.
All in all it depends from gig to gig. But that is my m.o. in broad scope.
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