Five Serbian Traditions – Get to Know Serbia

By now, you are probably wondering what you can expect when you arrive at WordCamp Europe in Belgrade in a few months? Well, to start with – you can expect a fantastic and welcoming atmosphere. Serbs are known to be funny, sociable and friendly – and this is something that’s even more visible within the Serbian WordPress community.

We started our article series with a timeline of Belgrade’s history and with recommendations on what to do in Belgrade if you’re visiting with your family. Today we are writing about Serbian traditions that were influenced by both religion and historical turbulence in the region. Even today, when some of these traditions have profoundly changed, Serbian people value love and family above all. And they are having a good time while doing so.

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But before we mention five of the most important customs, let’s share some common beliefs (so you can get to know Serbia and its diverse culture a little bit more):

• It’s not good to enter the house with your arms crossed. 🙅‍♀️🙅‍♂️
• If you hiccup, someone is talking about you. 😱
• If you bite your tongue, someone lied to you. 😳
• If your left palm is itching, you will get money, but if it’s the right one then you will give money. 😎
• If you are moving into a new house, you should move in during the full moon, to have a house full of kids. 🏠👶
• If you are building a new house, it should not be built at the same place where the old house was. 🏚
• If you hit a male child with a broom, on purpose or accidental, he will stay short. 👦
• Never whistle in your house, you are inviting mice. 🐭
• You shouldn’t borrow anything from a pregnant woman. 🙋‍♀️
• You should never say no to a pregnant woman, all her wishes need to be fulfilled. 👩

Now that you know the basics, let’s see what these traditions we’re talking about are, shall we?

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Wedding – Celebration of Love and Understanding

It might be easier for you to understand what Serbian weddings are like if you ever watched the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The wedding is the most important ceremony in Serbia. Weddings in Serbia are followed by many customs from proposal to the wedding ceremony.

In Serbian tradition, the boyfriend should visit the future bride’s house in order to propose to her. He needs to bring an apple, with the golden ring and golden coin pushed inside. If the future bride accepts an apple, a wedding will be organised the first following autumn.

For the wedding day, you should invite people in person and not by sending an invitation, and when you’re inviting people you need to have a special decorated bottle with you named Buklija – filled with the best Rakija Sljivovica (it’s plum brandy or schnapps).

An apple will take centre stage again on the wedding day. The bridegroom and his guests come for the bride but, before she is allowed to go, the bridegroom needs to shoot the apple, which is positioned so high that shooting can be fairly difficult. Traditionally, this was to show that the bridegroom could protect his family.

During the rest of the wedding day, after the official part is over, everything is pretty much similar to other nations – music, dancing, drinking, the wedding cake. However, at the end when newlyweds get to their home, the bride’s father-in-law “gives” her the youngest kid in the family and she needs to take the kid in her arms, turn him around three times, and gift him. This is to bring good luck to the happy couple.

There is also an old custom that’s mainly present in rural areas (and less present in urban areas) to show respect to tradition and ancestors. A day after the wedding, the bride prepares lunch to show that she will take care of the household, and both bridegroom and bride’s parents are invited.

As society continues to change, it’s good to mention that some of these wedding traditions have changed over time as well. In Serbia, the most important part of a wedding is celebrating the love two equal individuals share.

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Slava – Time to Spend with Your Family

There is no translation for this word because this ceremony exists only in Serbia.

Once a year, every family in Serbia celebrates their Saint. The biggest number of Serbs celebrate Saint Nikola but there are many more Saints celebrated by other families. On the Saint day, the oldest male in the family goes to church early in the morning and brings with him bread, candle, wheat cake, and red wine for the priest to bless it.

After the ceremony in the church ends, he goes back home to prepare everything for guests. If the Saint’s day is on Friday, Wednesday, or during the Christmas or Easter feast, then all the food that is served needs to be without meat (fish is allowed).

Slava should be carried out in peace and with positive thoughts, with no alcoholic drinks if it’s during the feast.

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Childbirth – A Parent’s Happiest Moment

Childbirth is always one of the happiest days in anyone’s life and, in Serbia, it is followed by music, a huge party, and a lot of dancing. The father’s shirt, or whatever he is wearing on his torso, will be ripped off many times, so they are mostly preparing dozens of t-shirts for that day. 😬

This tradition comes from days when women gave birth in their houses, on the field, or forest. Since the baby needed to be wrapped up as soon as possible, they would rip off the shirt from the father to wrap up the baby.

There is another belief that ripping an old shirt off liberates the father from the old energy and gives him a new strength for his new role.

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Babine – Time for Parents to Be with Their Newborn

When a baby is born no one should visit the family and see the baby until the baby is 40 days old.

This belief comes from older days when the baby needed to be protected from transmissible diseases. When the baby is 40 days old, the first to visit the baby are the mother’s family, godfather, and the closest relatives.

Everyone should gift the baby and, in most of the cases, the gifts are either gold or baby clothes. There is also a custom that if it’s a baby boy, you should put money under his pillow and it’s a good practice to put a red piece of fabric or string on his left hand to protect against curses.

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Easter – Get Ready for the “Egg Fight”

As you might know, the rabbit is one of the most important characters in Easter – but that’s not the case in Serbia.

Serbs boil chicken eggs and colour them many colours, the red colour being the most frequent one. During Easter, everyone competes by cracking eggs and that is done by strongly holding it in the hand while someone else tries to crack it with their egg.

The winner takes the egg from the person they defeated so they can eat it. We are so strongly passionate about it that we have a World Championship in cracking eggs for which people prepare months in advance, by a special technique of cooking, feeding chickens so they lay eggs with a harder shell, and so on.