Elza says that she knows little about weddings but agrees to recount what she knows about traditional weddings. She also talks about the life of daughters-in-law: A girl’s engagement required three visits from the groom’s side. At the first visit the groom’s side brought a bottle of vodka, at the second time two bottles and during the third visit three bottles of vodka. After that the two sides made a final agreement and arranged a date for the wedding. If the girl was underage, the groom’s side waited for three years for her to reach the marriageable age. Before a wedding it was customary to prepare a bed and curtains for the couple. The curtains had to be blessed. After that, the groom was introduced to the bride’s relatives. After the wedding itself, the bride’s mother sang a special song to her in-laws. The words included the following lines: ‘My daughter is not a horse, do not make her work too long/ She is as pure as silver, and therefore treat her with love and care’. Elza says that in the olden days, daughters-in-law were subjected to strict norms of behavior. A daughter-in-law had to stand up when her in-laws entered. She could not call them by their names, but had to address them as baazhaa or jeejee. She also could not call her husband’s relatives by their names but had to find name substitutions. For example, if someone was called Dorj, his name substitute could be Yorj; Tsagan could be called Gilyan; Sarn could be addressed as Yarn and so on. On top of this, a daughter-in-law even could not call her in-laws’ dog as a ‘dog’ (nokha) but had to use the word tyakhn. A daughter-in-law had to always cover her head with a scarf in the presence of her father-in-law and wear socks so as not to show her bare legs. Elza also says in her example that although she had a job, she as a daughter-in-law was never allowed to manage her own salary. It was her father-in-law who kept all the money and took her salary. Before his death, he gave Elza some money which she spent immediately the next day. In Elza’s own family too, it was her father who looked after the household’s finances. During holidays he travelled to Astrakhan where he bought gifts for his children and daughters-in-law. The recipients had to bow before receiving their presents.