By Haider Salahudeen

BAGHDAD, July 8 (Reuters) - It was probably not the wedding of their dreams. But for Iraqis surviving life in Baghdad, a mass ceremony in an anonymous hotel was a safer bet than running the gauntlet of car bombs with a traditional street procession.

Around 100 couples gathered in a spartan hall in the Babylon Hotel in central Baghdad for their big day, hosted by the Iraqi government amid tight security on Saturday.

Brides queued to receive white shawls bearing a map of Iraq. Grooms got an envelope stuffed with one million dinars ($800) from the minister of youth and sports. Not many people smiled.

"At least my bride and I could enjoy peace in this well- protected hotel," said Sami Waleed, sitting with other couples as musicians wandered among rows of plainly decorated tables.

Bombings, kidnappings and gunfire have become part of life in Baghdad since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, with mutilated bodies dumped on the streets every day.

Guests used to celebrate in the streets, holding up traffic or driving through the capital with horns blazing to advertise the impending union. Such high spirits have become rare, especially when militants such as al Qaeda seek to target large groups of people.

A car bomb on Thursday outside a restaurant hosting a wedding party in a southern Shi'ite neighbourhood of Baghdad killed 17 people, including a number of women and children.

In the face of such risks, a communal wedding after passing through tight security checks was better than no wedding at all.

"We are fed up with the blood," said Ali Shia, before tucking in to a massive wedding cake decorated with the legend "Ministry of Youth and Sports Mass Wedding July 7, 2007".

"I have joined this wedding with my wife to break the power of terrorism which is spreading grief among my people," he said.

Youth and Sports Minister Jasem Mohammed Jaafar said the event aimed to prove that life goes on despite the violence.

"Iraq is suffering under terrorism and a team wedding is one step to help impose peace and stability," he said.

The hall was hung with banners and balloons to create a party atmosphere and a some men danced to the music.

But joy at impending matrimony was hard to spot, along with most of the trappings of a traditional wedding.

There was scant evidence of presents, many guests couldn't enter because of limited space in the hall, and one of the few bouquets of flowers was handed straight to the minister, by one of the only women wearing a formal wedding dress.

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