For six years, Nam Soon Ham painted faces, styled hair and picked out gowns for Korean brides from her home in Glen Burnie.
After 300 weddings, she knew she could launch a business. Two months ago, she opened Won Ang Wedding Center in a space once occupied by a miniature golf course in a strip shopping center in the 7000 block of Baltimore and Annapolis Blvd.
"She kept trying to have this kind of business," said Albert Ham, 27, her oldest son, who put his college studies on hold to help manage the business.
Mrs. Ham, 50, moved from Pusan, South Korea, with her husband, Young Sung, and their three sons six years ago. She had studied cosmetology in Korea and said she always enjoyed making people look beautiful.
She saw the brides she worked with get married at halls such as La Fontaine Bleu in Glen Burnie or Martin's West near Security Square Mall. But she had never seen a Korean wedding house, where all matters matrimonial can be taken care of under one roof.
Sandwiched between an Asian grocery store and a Chinese restaurant, hers is one of the newest Korean businesses to open in downtown Glen Burnie, an area where a thriving Korean business community has emerged in the past eight years.
Won Ang, modeled after wedding houses in Korea, provides area Koreans with a one-stop shop. The business includes a beauty salon, a dress and tuxedo rental shop and a selection of 100 "hahn bok," traditional silky, embroidered wedding robes. There also is a bakery, a florist and a banquet hall for 300.
Won Ang also provides the photographer, the video recorder and the limousine.
But most critically, Won Ang will serve bulgogi, galbi and kimchi.
"A lot of times, the problem is food," explained Kenneth S. Lee, vice president of the Korean Society of Maryland.
"Martin's West's cannot provide Korean food with the same taste."
For at least one couple, authentic cuisine proved to be the clincher.
"Food. That's where it is," explained Chae Cha, who stopped at Won Ang last week to finish plans for his sister-in-law's Christmas Day wedding.
He got married at Martin's West.
Young Shin and Chung Han, who are getting married at Won Ang today, said they chose the center because they didn't want any surprises on their wedding day.
"If we go to other places, sometimes we're misunderstood," said Mr. Shin, 33, who moved to the United States 13 years ago.
The Owings Mills couple wanted to carry on Korean traditions in their wedding.
They wanted to wear the hahn bok, lime green for her and purple for him, kneel at a low table with platters of traditional Korean wedding food, each one symbolizing a wish for the future.
They wanted the simple ceremony that consists mostly of words advice to the bride and groom from parents or a mutually respected person, also dressed in hahn bok.
And they wanted their guests to eat Korean food during the reception.
They looked at other catering halls, some of them bigger and fancier, Mr. Shin said, but they settled on Won Ang. "Here it's not much bigger," he explained. "It's comfortable."