Russian proverb about a girl meeting her husband in her own kitchen?

[Strider]

I remember reading that there is a Russian proverb that a girl could meet her husband sitting on the kitchen stove.  I think I read that from someone here, but I can't find it now.  Can someone confirm, correct or give me the direct quote in Russian?

Thanks!

[Strider]

Well don't everyone jump at once...

I could swear that someone here used that saying.  I just can't find it.  I am wondering if it's somehow related to Baba Yaga, who was often sprawled out on the stove inside her hut.

[Strider]

It must have been this, or something related to it:

Here is some basics of our traditions.

By the way don't you, guys, already suppose to know them? I was under impression you liked FSUW because they are such traditional women. 

http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20081/90
Betrothal rituals
When it was a young man who did the proposing, the first thing he was supposed to do was to find a respected person who knew well all the rituals. This man, svat in Ukrainian, was sent to talk to the prospective bride’s parents (this mission was called svatannya). The chief svat usually had other svats to accompany him. Properly dressed (their dress proclaimed their purpose), the svat delegation would begin their “performance” from the moment they arrived at the door of their destination. Their mission was variously described as “a hunt” or “trade” in which they were the merchants asking for the “goods” — that is the girl.  At the time when the svats were declaring their purpose, the girl was supposed to be standing by the pich (a combination of a cooking stove and a heating installation) and silently addressing the ancestors with a request to bless her marriage

[Boethius]

The story isn't a proverb, it's a way proposals were made.  This is something that occurred throughout Ukraine.  A svat was also common in parts of Russia. 


In Ukraine, if the proposal was not accepted, the young man was given a baked pumpkin.  If you hear a Ukrainian say "Oh, he/she gave you a pumpkin", it means you were rejected.

[Strider]

The story isn't a proverb, it's a way proposals were made.  This is something that occurred throughout Ukraine.  A svat was also common in parts of Russia. 

Right, so the girls didn't need to leave the house to find a husband.  They did commonly get betrothed in front of the kitchen stove/pich.  I've seen those things in museums.  They were big masonry structures for cooking and heating:
http://ukrainian-recipes.com/interesting-facts-about-ukrainian-pich-stove.html
They could also have clay tiles or pipes to increase the surface area for heating the house, or even a little bench built in to sit and get warm.

In the villages the marriages were arranged for good reasons, including making sure that they didn't get inbred.  In Galicia, the men couldn't legally marry until after completing their military service.  They would get married after that, or if they made a career of it after they had achieved something.  They married the girls off young.  Fifteen was a good age for a girl to marry so that she didn't get into any trouble.  The engagement could be broken, although that may not have happened often.   I know of cases where even after the male left for America, they still sent back for their betrothed to marry.  Once in America, the practice stopped with the next generation.  My Aunt was born in Galicia.  She remembered older men visiting with bank books wanting to arrange a marriage, but it never happened. 

In Ukraine, if the proposal was not accepted, the young man was given a baked pumpkin.  If you hear a Ukrainian say "Oh, he/she gave you a pumpkin", it means you were rejected.

A pretty girl would need to have quite a garden, as she might get many offers.  Usually, the parents arranged things, and their children needed to agree.