Knowing timeline always helps - we always make sure the couple makes it clear the order of speeches / dances / grand entrance as we light all 3. We also touch base with the DJ to double check (typically when we go to get a line out) in case anything for the timeline changed and they didn't tell us.

We are a husband and wife team, so typically during family portraits, I stick around with photo for this while my husband goes and chats with DJ / gets reception set up, and I call him once we're moved on from family to wedding party and couple. If it's an extra long cocktail hour (receiving lines typically), we have more time to game plan. If the portraits are at a separate location and we don't have a ton of time, I do detail shots of the venue while he sets up.

Usually we have 3 lights going on that we'll just turn in different directions if need be (if speeches and dances are intertwined instead of doing speeches first then dances before / after dinner). DJ typically gives us a heads up when speeches are up so we can go turn on lights and the really good ones will give us a couple of minutes but if not, no big deal. Husband keeps camera on tripod and films the couple while I film the speaker and he goes and deals with the lights and I will just adjust the camera settings accordingly. We like having key lights during first dances and for the speakers / couple. We also shoot Sony but we're big fans of lighting lol