He was going into a highly respectable family, with a name supported by property and business standing.

The promised dowry was considerable, the presents were generous, the trousseau would be liberal, and the bride was fair and capable.

The bridegroom would have years before him in which he need do nothing but eat free board, wear his new clothes, and study Torah; and his poor relations could hold up their heads at the market stalls, and in the rear pews in the synagogue.
My mother's trousseau was all that a mother-in-law could wish.

The best tailor in Polotzk was engaged to make the cloaks and gowns, and his shop was filled to bursting with ample lengths of velvet and satin and silk.

The wedding gown alone cost every kopeck of fifty rubles, as the tailor's wife reported all over Polotzk.