From the Washington Post:
Freed of an onerous Baath Party bureaucracy that sought to regulate even the most fundamental aspects of Iraqi life — such as who married whom — Iraqis lately are tying the knot in numbers not seen in recent memory. Before President Saddam Hussein was toppled, the ruling party imposed a complex and strict set of matrimonial rules on Iraqis, particularly on members of the military…. “Because Saddam is gone, now I’m getting married!” said Wasim Adel, 27, beaming beside his bride, Sheelan Shafeeq, 18, in a crowded corridor at Karrada city hall, which serves a neighborhood in central Baghdad. The hallway was jammed with couples making their way from the office of the registration clerk to the office of the judge who would perform a civil ceremony.