Communist Party

Wedding Traditions of Bosnia

The history of Bosnia is as diverse as the people and religion of the nation. They are a synergistically independent group that is Orthodox Christian, Islamic, Catholic, and Atheist. The country is a mix of Bosnian Serbs who are Eastern Orthodox, Bosnian Croats who are Catholic, and Bosniaks who are Islamic. The intermixing has tended to blur the unique heritages of the separate groups. The people of Bosnia intertwined the wedding customs of each religion and yet kept some separate and exclusive of their own.

The name for Muslims in Bosnia is a Bosniak. Their weddings are quite simple, and although they can request getting married in a mosque, very few use the option. The real marriage takes place at the justice of the peace so any other marriage is just for show. The weddings are very quick. Normally, once the man pops the question, his wedding is in less than a week, and always on the Saturday after he asks. The marriage is actually more of a fictitious elopement. The bride and groom have dated for a period of time, most of their friends know a wedding is coming, and the groom tells his parent long before he asks the bride to marry him so they have a chance to get her gifts and prepare for the feast when he brings her to their home.

The woman’s clothing for the wedding isn’t like the lavish wedding gowns seen in the U.S.; instead, a modest plain white suit may be worn instead. Normally she wears her most attractive jewelry as bridal jewelry. This might be a necklace and earring set that the groom brings as a dowry for the bride. This is different than the traditional Muslim wedding; the bride does not wear a veil or have to sit in a corner during the reception. They usually have their hair and makeup done on the morning they get married. The man wears a suit and often a cape.

When the groom arrives at the house on a Saturday, he’s comes with his family in other cars. It indicates a planned wedding if they go into the house and the neighbors are invited to come to the wedding celebration. When the groom stays in the car it means that only the family is invited to the celebration and the couple plans an elopement. They go to city hall to be married while both sets of parents prepare the feast at the groom’s home.

On the way home, they decorate the cars, beep their horns loudly, and wave to the people on the street that often throw money to the bride and groom. Te groom's parents give gifts to the bride and the evening's celebration begins with food, music and dancing.

Many of the wedding customs of the Catholic and Orthodox Christians have gone by the wayside or become intertwined. Both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches value a marriage in the church, but the location within the communist country of Yugoslavia for many years broke much of the church's traditions. There still are many flowers, bridesmaids, drinking, music, and good food at the wedding and reception. One traditional food is the Bosnian biscuit. It is more like a brekfast cake with nuts,raisins and chocolate.

Today in America, if the groom is Bosnian, he and his family can maintain some of the customs by offering to help pay for the cost of the wedding and buying gifts for the bride. The best gift is a keepsake of the wedding day and what could be better than a beautiful pearl or crystal necklace and earring set. This wonderful custom is sure to start a family heirloom and set an American-Bosnian tradition for many generations.

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