fOlktales
Serbians have A LOT of folktales, they even have a whole book just about them! If you want to read some of them I would suggest you go to...
rights of passage
There isn't very many "rites of passage", but Serbians do take birth, marriage, and death to be the main turning points in human life.
family Life
Family is highly valued and almost everyone is expected to get married and have children. The average Serbian family has two children, but in rural areas families tend to be larger. Families focus on caring for all extended family members. Urban households hold one or two generations and rural households normally have three generations. After marriage, a couple in a rural area typically moves in with the groom's parents and urban couples might also live with parents briefly, but this is seen more as a lack of housing. Most married children who move into their own home continue to have a close relationship with their parents. In both rural and urban areas children are often cared for by grandparents, other relatives, or child-care facilities, these are generally seen as a necessity for children's growth and socialization. In rural areas, male children tend to be valued more than females, in part because sons inherit the family's Slava and are more responsible for caring for their elderly parents. Children have a responsibility to care for their parents when they grow old, and many houses in villages have separate living quarters for married children and elderly parents. The father is considered the head of the family. Men support their families financially and make most major decisions. Women in rural areas usually focus on housework and raising children. In urban areas, most families, the husband and wife both work, and young married couples share household chores with each other and with their children.
dating and marriage
They start dating around 16 or 17 years old. They're dates are usually going for walks or to cafés or to a party or simply to each other's house. Rural couples commonly marry in their early twenties and urban couples usually marry in their thirties. Marriage is becoming increasingly less important in the eyes of young couples. People commonly just live together instead of getting married. In fact, many couples only register as married just before the birth of their first child. Mostly commonly people have civil wedding ceremonies, which include a registrar coming to a restaurant or wedding hall to perform the ceremony, but religious ceremonies that take place in Orthodox churches are becoming increasingly popular. For rural weddings, parents do most of the planning, and the groom's family usually pays most wedding expenses. The celebration includes several days of drinking, dancing, and eating that often force the family into debt. They invite several hundred people to their wedding. Urban weddings usually include a civil or religious ceremony and a lunch for close relatives and friends. About 50 guests are invited, although some urban weddings invite about 300 guests and have a celebration with lively music and dancing. Urban couples usually plan their own weddings, and the costs are split evenly between both families. The bride traditionally offers the first piece of wedding cake to the groom's mother to show her respect. In rural areas, the bride's family gives the groom's family a dowry or a gift of home furnishings or cash, and the groom's family gives the bride a piece of jewelry. Divorce and remarriage are fairly common in urban areas, especially among younger generations, but in rural areas, divorce is considered shameful. Following a divorce, property is divided equally between the couple. The children normally remain with their mother.