Traditionally in Iraq, women have tended to marry in their 20s at the latest, but now, according to government officials, difficult economic conditions as a result of a decade of international sanctions have forced a change in marriage patterns.
In Iraq, there are now said to be one million women over the age of 35 who are not married.
At a wedding party in central Baghdad, the bride, resplendent in white frills, poses for the camera, as family and friends cheer the new couple on.
Among the watching women is Regiha. At 35 she is way past the once traditional marriage age.
It is very difficult in Iraq nowadays because of the economic
situation and the costs. Getting married isn't at all easy,
she says.
Not at all easy, she means, for the women waiting for marriage proposals and for the men who are expected to pay for the dowry, the marital home and the costs of bringing up a family.
The problem is that after eleven years of sanctions most Iraqis are now desperately poor, relying on government food rations to survive.
Many men feel they have little to offer a potential bride.
Hassan is a 50-something civil servant who says he was on the verge of marrying when the sanctions were imposed. Now, he says, he cannot afford to.
Our life in Iraq before the sanctions was very good and the
government made houses and gave land, salaries were very good,
he
said.
I decided to marry before the embargo. I delayed to prepare
everything, suddenly the embargo destroyed all my dreams. My salary
for one year isn't enough to buy a kitchen or a refrigerator.
Help is sometimes at hand for a few lucky couples. At a mass wedding couples can be seen dancing beneath pictures of Saddam Hussein.
It is all organised and paid for by the Iraqi authorities, with a three-day honeymoon in a Baghdad hotel thrown in as well.
Held on special national occasions, mass weddings are an acknowledgement of what is increasingly seen as Iraq's marriage problem.
However it is not just the embargo that is to blame for the large number of single Iraqi women over 35.
In the corridors of a Baghdad University, many women students say they now want a decent career before they will consider marriage.
Doctor Bathenal Hilu, head of the psychology department, believes the high rate of unmarried women is, in fact, a positive phenomenon.
I see this as part of development, women now want to prove
themselves and anxiety about success is diminishing,
he said.
The embargo is part of the reason for the low number of marriages,
but I don't think it's the main reason. Now it's not a
problem if you're 40 and you want to get married, and this is not
just in Iraq.
In all societies there are lots of single people.
Among Iraq's new class of unmarried women is Dima Amin, an English teacher still single at 31.
I'm thinking of having someone maybe with characteristics which
are not really available, that's why,
she says.
However she denies that she is simply being more choosy.
No, it's not like that really, but actually I'm not worried
about it,
she said.
People are not thinking the same way like before, 10 years before
it was something different.
It seems, therefore, that it may be Iraqi men most of all that need the sympathy.
After more than a decade of sanctions, many feel they can barely afford marriage and if they do strike up the courage to propose, they could find themselves snubbed by a newly empowered woman determined to put her career first.
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