Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1908-12-23

along for a chaperon. A clever
Frenchman knows it is far more i'm
portant to- court the mother than the
daughter.
But courtship plays minor part in
the marrying of a French girl. After
La girl has spent two or three seasons
in society the parents look around
for suitable man for their daughter.
In making a choice many things are
considered though with most parents
wealth is given preference to family.
|Generally, the daughters opinion car
ries littleweight; she is expected to
|abide by the better judgment of her
parents 1t is not unusual for the
parents of the young people to ar
range the match alone. When d
young man makes the advances he
must get the consent of the parents
before asking the girl The wedding
portion the girl gets is also an i'm
portant consideration. Without for
tune a girl cannot hope to make any
kind of marriage. Her share is usu
ally the same as or more than the
young mans fortune.
Busy weeks are those between the
engagement and marriage, with par
ties and dinners given in their honor.
The receiving and paying of calls take
much of their time. The most i'm
portant and pleasant task is the Sc
lecting OF a trousSeau. Nowhere do
girls get handsomer trousseaus than
among the wealthy French families.
French women ever believe in pretty
clothes and at no time more than
when a girl is to be married. Her
mother and herself find their engage
ment book crowded with appoint
ments to dressmakers, milliners and
shops of many kinds. A few days be-
fore the wedding their intimate
friends are invited to see the trous
seau. 1t is certainly pleasure to
see so many lacy. fluffy petticoats
soft negligees, chic hats and smart
gowns. Even more interesting is the
corbeillede noce the jewel casket,
the gift of the groom, which contains
his presents and those of his parents.
There are other gayeties before
the wedding, including the luncheons
and dinners the bridesmaids give to
the coming bride and her dinner for
her bridesmaids.
Oh, -,
thusiastic creature. She not only looks
for new happiness but many privileges
she could never have as an unmarried
woman Weddings usually take place
at noon. when the procession drives
to the Hotel de Vile, where they are
united and the marriage contract is
signed Congratulations over, they
drive to the parents home, where a
breakfast is served. The honeymoon
is short, for the French are not trav-
elers, preferring their own country to
places abroad. The wedding trip over,
they go to housekeeping at once. In
France it is unknown for young people
to board for while. The woman
ing a burden because her maids ac-
cept responsibilities willingly.
To please her husband. is her daily
gospel. She believes that she has ex-
her parents word for those
of her husband. She is pleased with
the idea of going about unchaperoned
allowed to see all the new plays and
read plenty of romances.
More difficult is the position of |
French girls belonging to old families |
with small fortunes. Their parents
believe it is disgrace to have them
work. They find it more difficult to
marriages because they can
no. give them a dot. So these girls |
60 on dreaming Of unknown princes.
who may seek them in marriage be
cause of their family and beauty. !