Bride price is essential to marriage in West Africa and particularly in Senegal where, ac- cording to our data, transfers to the family of the bride characterize about 85% of marriages. The relationship between the bride price and the well-being of the wife in her household has scarcely been studied in West Africa. Furthermore, the simultaneous existence of other marriage payments, owing in di_erent directions between the stakeholders is also largely ignored. To assess the signi_cance of these marital transfers for women's well-being in Sene- gal, we use a unique survey that enquires separately about the di_erent marriage payments. We highlight the strength of the link between what is given to the bride herself and her welfare, contrary to the looseness of the relation with what is given to the family.