I held my wedding recently at orchard hotel. During my selection of hotels, I also shortlisted novotel + orchard hotel. Novotel reception area is big and nice whereas for orchard hotel, there is a possibilty that u might need to share with other couple. Food wise, we preferred orchard hotel over novotel. Most importantly was the perks. Both were strict, but orchard hotel gave better perks like free flow of beer and wine. So end up choosing orchard hotel.
We were quite lucky. No other couple were holding their banquet on that day so we manage to get the whole reception area for ourself. Service was excellent and everything run smoothly on the actual day.
If u wish to have a better deal, it's better to sign up during roadshow.