Please note: Something Blue Berry Farm has operated in as a family-run wedding venue in Bangor, MI since 2016. Troy and I are in the process of purchasing it (from family) and changing the name to Something Blue Wedding Barn. The former owners, Steven and Carolyn Rookus, and Troy and I will do our best to make the transition smooth and seamless for our guests. Steve and Carolyn will honor all contracts already made with them and participate in those weddings. Troy and I have mentored under them throughout 2026 and will continue to glean from their experience and expertise during the 2027 season. We’re confident we will bring the same professionalism and individualized attention to each couple who contracts with us for 2028 and beyond.
Troy and Michelle Isenhoff grew up half a mile apart and just missed each other for two decades. Troy used to trick-or-treat in Michelle’s neighborhood. And every day after school, Michelle romped in the same park where Troy played Little League Baseball. They even rode the same kindergarten bus—Troy to a private school on the AM route, Michelle to public in the PM. In their twenties, they finally met—many miles from that little town—and married in 1996. Together they raised three kids. Then, in their 30th year of marriage, they purchased Something Blue and embarked on a whole new adventure.
Adventure is something Michelle understands well. Drawing on her background in teaching, she braved homeschooling long before co-ops and online programs made it popular or easily accessible, often pitting her imagination against the state education guidelines to create her own curricula. That creativity also prompted her to combine her penchant for history—born of childhood rambles to national parks and historical sites in her parents’ Airstream—with her love of reading, to publish over 20 sci-fi and historical fiction novels. Michelle also spent seven years serving in the hospitality business. She now pours her creative vision, entrepreneurship, and organizational skills into Something Blue, eager to launch couples on their own bold adventures.
An avid sportsman, Troy gravitates to woods, water, and wide-open spaces. Purchasing Something Blue and its gorgeous thirty-eight acres offered a chance at a dream. He brings to it all the planning and problem-solving skills learned from 30 years in IT as well as practical knowledge in property management and maintenance gleaned from decades as a rental property owner. Additionally, his passion for and extensive background in landscaping have found a boundless new outlet. Troy works quietly in the background to provide new couples with beautiful grounds and a smooth-functioning, worry-free facility for their special day.
Troy and Michelle have been asked by upcoming couples who fell in love with Something Blue’s rustic beauty what they will change. Their answer is: not much. They will keep the facility’s color scheme, layout, etc. exactly the same. Some of their initial plans include updating the landscaping, updating the posts and lighting in the parking lot, and moving the gravel drive farther from the pavilion to create more useable green space on the east side of the barn. Chickens will still roam Something Blue’s barnyard, but the horses will follow Steve and Carolyn to their new home. (Those who contracted with Carolyn may discuss this with her.) As Troy and Michelle cannot live permanently on the property at this time, they cannot house larger animals, though that may change in the future after they launch their last child.