Iraqis rushing to get married

BAGHDAD, Iraq – In Baghdad, business is booming for the wedding DJ.

Overwhelmed by the demand for marriage contracts, two judges in Basra are turning away would-be brides and grooms.

The party planner at the capital’s upscale Hunting Club can’t find enough floral designers to keep up with decoration demands.

And a reality series following couples as they plan their weddings is among the most popular shows on Iraqi TV.

Since Saddam Hussein was ousted two years ago, the number of nuptials in Iraq has soared, say party planners, judges and clergy members. Although there are no reliable countrywide statistics, those in the business estimate that “I do’s” have doubled since the uneasy months before and after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Some say a better living standard is driving Iraqis to the altar. Others speculate that many weddings were postponed because of the war, and couples are catching up. And there are those with a more existential bent, who see wedding celebration as a retort to death itself.

“People tend to compensate for their losses,” said Nagham Azzawi, whose sister is getting married later this year. “This is the natural response to all the deaths we’re facing.”

Beneath crystal chandeliers, Wisam Hajjaj was spinning a funky mix of traditional and Western music. At 48, he claimed to be “the oldest DJ in Baghdad.”

At a recent engagement party, he sounded like the loudest as he cranked the sound to deafening levels. Heading for the dance floor, older women with hennaed hands and flowing black abayas grabbed younger relatives in colorful – and tight – clothing, their heads bare.

At the back of the marble banquet hall, the bride-to-be, Azzawi’s sister Marwa, and her fiance sat on a small podium draped with white and sky-blue chiffon. In front of them, table decorations and cake frosting matched her turquoise dress.

“I’m very happy,” Marwa said of her upcoming marriage, which, unlike many in Iraq, was not an arranged one. “I love him, and he loves me.”

Although the wedding was months away, Marwa, 25, and her fiance, Adil Kamil, could start living together as man and wife if they wanted. Kamil had waited a long time for this moment – the official announcement of their marriage.

“She was always on my mind,” said Kamil, 29. “I liked her for years. But the financial situation, and the general security situation, hindered me from proposing.”

A steady job as a clerk in the Ministry of Oil had allowed him a little nest egg, and the outlook was better, he said. Six of his seven close friends were also engaged or had wed recently.

“The environment has become much more suitable for young men to get married,” Kamil said.

Ali Mukhtar, the Hunting Club’s party planner, said the first four months after the invasion were slow. There were no wedding parties at the club, a former hangout of the late Uday Hussein, one of Saddam Hussein’s sons. But slowly business began to pick up, he said. These days, Mukhtar – who color-coordinated the bride and cake – arranges about a dozen weddings a month.