OREGON — Don’t tell Krista Heng dreams don’t come true. She’s not only living hers, she’s making a living at it.

Krista and her mom, Karen Harmon, are helping couples make their wedding wishes come true at Honey Bee Haven, where the dream team runs an event venue that combines comfort and country class with all the amenities needed to make getting hitched go off without a hitch. Together, they’ve transformed a historic farmstead into a venue where their planning expertise, restored barns, landscaped grounds and personal backstories all help shape how couples experience their wedding day.

Located on a 16-acre farm site a few miles south of Oregon, Honey Bee Haven offers space to spare for weddings and special events. When clients come for a visit, the mother and daughter duo shepherd them through barns, trails and photo nooks throughout their spread, showing them a farm with charm. And on the big day, they guide each wedding with practiced calm and quiet intention.

Their hands-on guidance helps steady a hectic day, which gives couples confidence as their schedule takes shape and plans come together. Heng leads each coordination of the planning, while Harmon works behind-the-scenes, helping with setups and tending bar.

“We’ll sit down with our couples, create a timeline for the day and send it to vendors to get everybody on the same page and keep everyone on track,” Heng said. “On a typical wedding day, I’m walking around 10 miles, so I’m literally running around the whole time just trying to make everything come together the way that it should.”

But Heng wasn’t always walking around acres to keep a wedding day on course. She works full time as an accountant, balancing spreadsheets by day and bridal timelines by night. But a dream had been following her since 2017, when she married her husband Matthew in a rustic venue that sparked something that stuck with her.

That dream grew and she later became the de facto wedding planner for her friends, and then handled her younger sister’s wedding.

“I loved the whole wedding planning process for my own wedding,” Heng said. “It was always a dream of mine to own a wedding venue. It was on my husband and I’s dream board.”

After Matthew became sick and later passed in 2023, the spark of that earlier idea was rekindled, and then one night of idle Zillow scrolling changed everything. She found a listing for a property in Oregon, then known as Oak Lane of Oregon, and texted her mom.

Harmon, a full-time nurse, didn’t hesitate. “I’ve always supported her dreams,” she said, “so I told her, ‘Let’s do it,’ and here we are.”

They closed on the property in April 2024 and immediately began envisioning the venue’s new life, and its new name. Honey Bee Haven came up on an online name generator after Heng inputted some key words, including one that’s a nod to her future plans to both plant wildflower fields and eventually keep honey bees on the property.

Working together has only strengthened the mother-daughter bond, they said.

“I’m a full-time nurse and she’s a full-time accountant, so we’re constantly doing everything by phone, email and text messaging to get things going,” she said. “We really do complete each task together. We get along real well, and because we’re so different, we get along even better. We just mesh well. It’s easy for us, and we don’t have any difficulties.”

“We balance each other out really well,” Heng added.

Honey Bee Haven sits quietly on nearly 16 acres, the kind of place where the landscape does half the talking before anyone from the venue even speaks. The property opens in a long sweep of mowed trails, and farm antiques are scattered like quiet reminders of the land’s past. Couples often wander these paths, pausing beside rusted plows or weathered wheels that now serve as ready-made backdrops, not only for events but for photos.

At the center of the grounds is an open lot used for outdoor ceremonies, as well as an outdoor bar. Nearby stand two barns that anchor Honey Bee Haven’s charm. The older structure in the back, an 1800s barn original to the farm, houses a small chapel. It’s where wood beams speak to a time before electricity or sound systems were ever imagined. Many couples book the space for its intimacy; others simply appreciate knowing that if their outdoor ceremony gets washed out, “there’s always a backup plan,” Harmon said. “It’s really nice for our couples.”

Just across the way is the main barn, built around the turn of the 20th century and restored with a soft hand, modern where necessary but content to show its age. Downstairs, long tables stretch across an open floor where guests can mingle between the indoor bar and the grounds. Upstairs is the primary reception area, a lofted space with its own bar and round tables filling the space. Elevator access makes it accessible for guests with mobility needs. Need cash for the bars? An ATM is available next to the first-floor bar.

The venue feels like a small village when wedding weekends reach full swing. The yellow 1860s Victorian home on the property is an Airbnb large enough to sleep 25. With eight bedrooms spread across three floors, it becomes a hub for wedding parties; one night often reserved for the bride and bridesmaids to get ready, the next for everyone to unwind and crash after the celebration.

Many couples wander to the concrete silo in front of the back barn. Vines and young trees have claimed the interior, making it one of the venue’s most unusual and sought-after photo spots: a quiet, circular pocket of nature inside what once stored grain.

Whether it’s the outdoor bar, the fire pit coaxing conversation from guests, or rows of antique wooden chairs set out for a ceremony, the venue leans into its rustic roots. Ensuring the first impression makes a big impact on aspiring customers is important to Harmon, she said, especially from the grooms. Harmon says the venue’s ease and friendliness often surprise people.

“My favorite thing is when the guys look at it and go, ‘This is really cool,’” she said. “The girls always have the vision, but when the fiancé is in agreement, it’s really refreshing.”

What couples don’t always see at first glance is how much of the venue reflects Harmon’s love of fussing over the small things. She has filled the front of the property with flowers and pops of color to brighten photo backdrops.

“I love being able to decorate and put flowers out,” she said. “We’ve put in tons of flowers and tons of plants to make it more attractive.”

Couples often book Honey Bee Haven a year to 18 months out, usually as the first major step in their planning process. Heng sits down early to guide them through color schemes, the various vibes (rustic vs. formal), wedding party size, or head table layouts. Their wedding management package includes vendor coordination, day-of implementation, and bar staffing, plus whatever last-minute fixes are needed if something goes awry.

“When I start asking questions, the wheels start turning,” she said. “Then they can actually envision what their event is going to look like. We’ll be as involved as our couples want us to be. If someone forgets something, we’ll pull everything together to make it what they’ve dreamed of.”

In nearly two years of owning Honey Bee Haven, Heng sees couples shaping the venue’s story as much as she and her mother do. One pair who arrived imagining a winter wedding changed their minds after seeing how the barns and trees glowed in autumn light, Heng said. Others wander the mowed trails, drifting, Harmon says, “like butterflies—fluttering here and there."

Every wedding weekend transforms the former farm into its own small village, with the Victorian house filling up, the smell of the fire pit filling the air, and music drifting across the acres.

For Heng, whose idea went from dream board to dream come true, the most rewarding part is simple.

“Being able to help people create magical moments for their special day is our goal,” she said. “We’re aiming to have an stress-free day, and will go above and beyond to make sure of that.”

Honey Bee Haven is located at 3261 S. Daysville Road in Oregon. Go to honeybeehaven2024.com, email honeybeehaven2024@outlook.com or call 815-994-1846 for wedding packages or for more information.