Amidst all the unrest and uncertainty in Pakistan, life goes on.
While United States airstrikes are carried out nightly on targets in neighbouring Afghanistan, thousands of young Pakistani couples are rushing to get married before the start of the holy month of Ramadan and an escalation of trouble in the region.
Many couples who had planned to marry after Ramadan - when everything comes to a halt for prayers and fasting - have brought their wedding dates forward in view of the volatility in the country.
Every day in Peshawar, brightly coloured flower-decked wedding cars can be seen driving through the streets carrying brides in elaborate outfits for the beginning of the traditional Pakistan three-day wedding ceremony.
The weddings have resulted in this frontier city reverberating with its own bursts of gunfire. It is custom in the tribal border region to shoot off bursts of Kalashnikov gunfire to celebrate marriages.
It is also the wedding season in war-torn Afghanistan, where in former days in cities and towns western style nuptials were the vogue, even during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s.
This all changed when the hard-line Taliban regime took over five years ago. Now women cannot attend school, and risk a flogging if they appear in public wearing make-up, let alone be allowed a lavish wedding ceremony.
While most Pakistan businesses have been hit in the wake of the September 11th bombings in the United States, the rush for weddings has resulted in a boom for hotels, wedding palaces and gift shops.
Last week during highly charged anti-American protests on the streets, a number of wedding fairs featuring beautiful models wearing extravagant bridal gowns were held in hotels in Peshawar, Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore.
Thousands of dollars are being paid for jora, the traditional wedding dress worn only once in the bridal chamber before the consummation of the marriage. The standard bridal dress is red.
Butchers, caterers, tailors, beauty salons and gypsy dancers in Peshawar are reporting a bumper season.
So too are the floral shops and currency note sellers who make garlands of bills to string around the necks of the bride and groom. As a result many banks have run out of small denomination notes.
Crockery and tent-rental companies in Peshawar are booked to capacity. Shops selling pots and pans and quilts, traditional gifts that make up brides' dowries to fill the houses of their in-laws, are reporting a roaring trade.
"We have never been busier. Definitely the war in Afghanistan has encouraged lots of couples to get married earlier," a shop owner in the Saddar bazaar said. "People are spending a lot of money and many of my customers have borrowed to buy the gifts."
Jewellers and goldsmiths are also cashing in. A Pakistani bride is expected to go to her in-laws dripping in jewellery if her parents are rich. But even the poor go into debt to make sure their daughter is as good as the rest.
A 25-year-old hotel worker, Mr Tahir Zabih, was planning to get married in the new year. He told me he and his bride, Ms Parveen Agha, are now getting married in the first week of November because of the attacks on Afghanistan.
"We and our families agreed that this was for the better. It is impossible to know what is going to happen in our country," he said.
Tahir and his bride will have a traditional Pakistan wedding, which will last three days.
The first two days, he explained, are known as Mehndi. Day one will be held in Tahir's home, when the red dye, henna, will be put on both their hands.
Day two is the main day and will be hosted in Parveen's home. This event will be very colourful and full of traditional songs and dances.
"Wealthy couples will have this part of the ceremony held in a hotel or wedding palace but cannot afford this." The trees and lampposts outside Parveen's house will be decorated with lights and two tents will be erected, filled with hundreds of bright lights. "The men will dance and sing in one and the women in another according to the Muslim tradition."
Tahir will bring a symbolic gift to this ceremony for his bride.
Before the festivities, the wedding ceremony, known as Shadi, will take place.
Official paperwork will be signed in the presence of a Molvi, an Islamic priest. Tahir and Parveen will then be declared husband and wife, and a feast will follow. On the third day, Tahir and Parveen will host another feast in Tahir's family home.
There will be no honeymoon for the couple. Tahir explained that because every hotel in Peshawar is full with journalists covering the current conflict, he cannot get the time off.
He feels pessimistic about the future. "I love my country but feel very sad about what is happening here and in Afghanistan. If we are lucky enough to have children, I wonder what the future will hold for them."
miriamd@163bj.com