In other Cantons the wedding was a grand occasion, an imposing and public affair in which the whole village was expected to take part. In the house of the newly-married pair there were open tables, and drinking, dancing, and feasting went on all night. But these Pantagruel repasts are now no longer in fashion anywhere. The day fixed for the wedding, among the peasants, is always Sunday. In the morning, before going to church, the invited guests meet at the bride’s house to partake of wine, soup, and fritters. After the marriage ceremony, the party go in procession to the bridegroom’s house, where dinner is served; the priest delivers a long discourse, and other orators hold forth. In the evening there is dancing, and at the stroke of midnight the guests form a ring round the wedded pair and take off their crowns, and, after a few words of encouragement, they are left alone. In some places a man was not permitted to marry unless he had certain possessions, and could show himself able to defend his homestead from fire and robbers; he must have arms and uniform, hatchet, bucket, and ladder. Custom, at least, was law to a woman. She must have acquired a sufficient stock of linen and have learned many domestic arts; thus Swiss women became famous for their linen, and a girl would begin laying up her stock of household and domestic articles _pour mon cher petit ménage_ long before she met her partner for life. The custom of Saturday-night visits among the young peasant people, whose daily labors keep them away during the week, still prevails. On Saturday night the young Swiss comes under the window of the fair lady to whom he intends paying his addresses, or with whom he only wishes to become acquainted. Being visiting-night, and expecting company, she is at the window, neatly dressed, and admits or rejects the petition, for which her suitor is not at any trouble of improvisation, for it is according to a received form, learned by heart, and generally in verse; and the answer is in verse also. The young man, permission obtained, climbs up to the window, and there he sits on the sill and is offered some refreshments. According as his views are more or less serious, and he proves more or less acceptable, he is allowed to come into the room or suffered to remain outside.