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Some choose a hotel or a beach as a wedding venue; this Iraqi couple opted for a protest tent.
Their wedding had no guest limit. Instead, dozens of protesters celebrated alongside the newly-weds.
The groom, Saif Ali Hussein, regularly protested in the mass demonstrations that have swept Iraq in recent weeks.
And even his own wedding was not enough to take his mind off the demands being made in the protests.
"Today, my wedding is taking place in Tahrir Square, God willing, and I demand a regime change and a change of the constitution." he said while sitting next to the bride.
Hussein decided to have his wedding ceremony in Tahrir Square to share his joy with the protesters there.
"I haven't come here for two days, so I said I must share my happiness with the protestors, God willing. They are my brothers and were happy for me, and God willing, victory is coming," Hussein said.
But while the wedding provides an occasional joyous moment for the protesters, the protests have also been sorrowful.
At least 320 people have been killed and thousands wounded in the capital and the mostly Shiite southern provinces since the unrest began.
Security forces have used heavy tear gas, live rounds and stun guns to repel demonstrators from reaching the heavily fortified Green Zone - the seat of Iraq’s government and home to various foreign embassies.
The leaderless, mass protests aim to sweep aside Iraq's sectarian system imposed after the 2003 US invasion and its entire political elite, blamed for massive corruption.
Reporting by Associated Press
Their wedding had no guest limit. Instead, dozens of protesters celebrated alongside the newly-weds.
The groom, Saif Ali Hussein, regularly protested in the mass demonstrations that have swept Iraq in recent weeks.
And even his own wedding was not enough to take his mind off the demands being made in the protests.
"Today, my wedding is taking place in Tahrir Square, God willing, and I demand a regime change and a change of the constitution." he said while sitting next to the bride.
Hussein decided to have his wedding ceremony in Tahrir Square to share his joy with the protesters there.
"I haven't come here for two days, so I said I must share my happiness with the protestors, God willing. They are my brothers and were happy for me, and God willing, victory is coming," Hussein said.
But while the wedding provides an occasional joyous moment for the protesters, the protests have also been sorrowful.
At least 320 people have been killed and thousands wounded in the capital and the mostly Shiite southern provinces since the unrest began.
Security forces have used heavy tear gas, live rounds and stun guns to repel demonstrators from reaching the heavily fortified Green Zone - the seat of Iraq’s government and home to various foreign embassies.
The leaderless, mass protests aim to sweep aside Iraq's sectarian system imposed after the 2003 US invasion and its entire political elite, blamed for massive corruption.
Reporting by Associated Press
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