MyNorth Wedding 2023: Willowbrook Mill

Willowbrook Mill

BY ELIZABETH EDWARDS

PHOTOS BY DAN STEWART PHOTOGRAPHY

Kiley Hogg & Mike Heberlein

WILLOWBROOK MILL, NORTHPORT | OCTOBER 15, 2022

On a november evening in 2018, Mike Heberlein had no idea that when he and a friend walked into The Pearl of Germantown, a dive bar in Louisville, Kentucky, his life would change for the better. Way better. After a snarky exchange with a sarcastic bartender, Mike exclaimed, “Give me a break. I'm from Chicago.”A luminescent blonde a few seats down overheard the exchange and interjected that she, too, was from Chicago and she was moving back there.

Her name was Kiley Hogg, and after the two got talking they found plenty in common. For example: Mike’s roommate at the time was his cousin, Will DiFrancesca, who it turned out was also one of Kiley’s college friends. Together, they called Will and had a laugh over the meet-cute. After completing her master’s degree six months later, Kiley finally made her move to Chicago. By that time the pair was a definite couple.

In March of 2020, with the pandemic beginning, Mike and Kiley chose to escape their city apartments for Mike’s parents’ Northport home in the peace and quiet that is the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. His family also owns the village’s charming wedding and event venue Willowbrook Mill and the couple often worked remotely from its empty ballroom.

In January of 2021, Mike took a knee in Chicago’s Oz Park, a favorite picnic spot, to ask Kiley to marry him. Though she also researched venues in Chicago, it soon became clear that Northport was perfect for their wedding. “We realized that Willowbrook meant so much to both of us,” Kiley says. “It’s a beautiful destination and I loved the idea of having everyone in one place for the whole weekend.”

They set the wedding date, and with all of the Heberleins’ connections in the area, plans came together quickly and beautifully—including hiring wedding planner Stacy Horn of Juniper & Lace Events. The couple booked the nearby 16-bedroom Northport Bay Retreat so that many of their friends could stay there together and the space could be used for a welcome party hosted by the Heberleins.

October ushered in a spectacular color season, and many of the 120 wedding guests from all over the country arrived early in the week to take advantage of it, enjoying Leelanau Peninsula activities from wine tasting to hiking Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Beautiful weather held until Wednesday, when the temperature then fell and rain moved in, putting the plans for an outdoor ceremony at Northport’s waterside Haserot Park in jeopardy. But they had a backup plan: the quaint, white (with a steeple, of course) Trinity Church just a short walk from Willowbrook Mill. The little church was just exactly big enough to fit all the guests. “There wasn’t one seat left but everyone was warm and cozy,” says Kiley.

The moving and funny ceremony, officiated by friend/cousin Will, included an acoustic duet performed by Kiley’s brother and sister-in-law, Seamus and Kyna, who were spontaneously joined in singing by their 2-year-old son, Cormac.

The newlyweds then boarded a golf cart clad with a “Just Married” sign and cans in tow for the short trip to the enchanting Willowbrook Mill where guests were greeted by a “Bourbon and Bubbles” table filled with welcoming glasses of Mike’s favorite bourbon pours and flutes of Prosecco. As if it were staged, guests thrilled to the sight of the seasonal salmon run viewed from the footbridge as coho and Chinook salmon made their way up the Northport Creek that flows directly beneath the ballroom.

Inside the rustic-elegant venue, Christina Pfeufer, of Field of Flowers North, had created a stunning arrangement of white roses and greenery cascading around the fieldstone fireplace. White fairy lights and chandeliers twinkled from the rafters while the flames from warm gold candles cast their glow on gold Chiavari chairs. The newlyweds opted for their own sweetheart table set in front of the fireplace; an intimate perch for them to share their dinner while enjoying the happy scene of family and friends before them. And what a dinner! Dan Kelly of Catering by Kelly’s personally oversaw the serving of braised short ribs, salmon, and mushroom pasta ensuring the picture-perfect plating arrived piping hot. Dinner was followed by a blueberry-lemon wedding cake and a table filled with matching flavored cupcakes made right in Northport by Kate LaCross, owner of The Baker’s Gamble. “She’s the new baker on the block and she is phenomenal,” says Kiley.

After dessert, tables were moved to make room for dancing to the five-piece Bluewater Kings Band from Grand Rapids. The couple’s first dance was to “Beyond” by Leon Bridges. And from then on, the dance floor was packed— with Kiley leading the fun. “Quite literally, she never left the dance floor,” laughs her husband.

After the reception, the party kept going at Garage Bar-B-Q, a Northport favorite where the staff graciously stayed open late just for the wedding guests. A bit after the stroke of midnight, the storybook wedding, in the storybook venue, in the storybook village wound to a close.

resources

Venue Willowbrook Mill willowbrookmill.com

Photography Dan Stewart Photography danstewartphotography.com

Videography Montage Media Films montagemediafilms.com

Wedding Planning Juniper & Lace Events juniperandlaceevents.com

Catering

Catering by Kelly’s cateringbykellys.com

Flowers & Candles Field of Flowers North fieldofflowersnorth.com

Music

Bluewater Kings Band bluewaterkingsband.com

Cake The Baker’s Gamble facebook.com/thebakersgamble

Rentals & Décor 307 Events & Tents 307events.com

Event Theory eventtheory.com

We realized that Willowbrook meant so much to both of us.

Wedding Notebook

J. Zevalkink photo

J. Zevalkink photo

Photo by Anna at Dan Stewart Photography Mike & Kiley 10/15/22