BATTERED BAGHDAD-------BUSINESS BOOMS FOR WEDDING GOWN RENTAL

Maybe a lot of things reach an end or stop, but marriages never stop," said Mohammad Jawad, owner of another outfitter, who sells, rents and makes wedding dresses. "But a lot of my customers prefer to rent. Maybe because of the bad economic situation," he said, adding that he also imports gowns from neighboring Syria for sale at 120 dollars each. The day after each wedding, the dress is brought back to the shop where it is washed and dried in the open air in front of the shop, then prepared for rent to another customer. "If the dress is damaged then the groom must pay the price," Jawad said. According to traditions in Iraq, the groom is responsible for all the expenses of the wedding and buying personal effects for his bride. "The family of the bride is only responsible for doing an engagement party. The groom then has to pay everything from A to Z," said Atef, owner of the Rasha weddings shop. Oil-rich Iraq, once considered among the world's relatively wealthy nations with a robust currency that commanded more than three dollars to the dinar in the 1970s, is now plagued with uncertainty. Two wars launched by ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein against Iran and Kuwait and 12 years of UN sanctions have brought the country to its knees. Ten months after Saddam's regime was toppled, the US-led forces that invaded Iraq have yet to bring stability to the country that has the second-largest oil reserve in the world. "Marriage in this country is difficult, but life has to go on and we need to carry on with our business," Atef added.

So, like many Iraqis left impoverished by years of sanctions and conflict, renting a dress for one night is the best solution. "I am starting a new life. I wish I could buy for my bride a wedding dress, but there are more essential things that I have to get," said Firass, his future wife nodding in agreement as an assistant fits a wedding veil. Instead the search is on for an affordable dress to rent. "Twenty years ago everyone was able to buy a wedding dress for his bride, but now it is almost impossible," said Abu Rusul, owner of Baghdad's al-Hawraa wedding outfitters. "We hit upon renting as a way to continue our business and make everyone happy," he added, as he worked on cleaning a dress rented the night before. Renting a dress costs between 20,000 and 35,000 dinars (15-27 dollars), Rusul said. "Our work is going fine and we have lot of customers.