Family Colours

Earlier in the year I somewhat cryptically announced that I’d been asked to be best man by Neil, one of my oldest friends.

Since then, two other friends who are getting married next year have asked me to usher at their weddings: Ian, and just this week, Malcolm.

Is there a points system for wedding honours? Can I persuade my Mum that once being best man and twice an usher is equivalent to one trip to church as the groom? Thought not.

I’m delighted to have been asked on all counts, and have happily accepted. Malcolm’s appointment does present something of a quandary; in his email about it, he said:

“I promise not to make you wear a kilt […] On the other hand, if you really want to…”

I must admit, I’m quite tempted. Although I’m descended from two fine Scottish families (both the McEwen and the Hardy* families have their own tartan), and not too removed from Scots blood (my paternal great-grandfather was a Scot), I am an Englishman and so don’t feel it right to wear a kilt for formal events. Being an attendant at a Scottish friend’s wedding, however, is surely a suitable occasion.

Then there’s the whole “what does one wear under one’s kilt” issue; my modesty probably contributing most of my reticence. If I did wear a kilt, it would have to be my tartan, probably the modern McEwen rather than the traditional, “shortbread tin” style, and that gave me a loophole from which to escape the decision - my kilt might not match the groom’s.

But Malcolm called my bluff: “My best man […] is a Scot, and will be wearing a kilt which doesn’t match mine, as will my Dad and maybe a couple of friends from home.”

And isn’t applying any pressure to the decision: “There is no danger of [the other ushers] deciding to wear kilts. The choice is yours.”

Consulting with a friend who is very experienced in her kilt-lifting has somewhat assuaged my sous-kilt fears, so I’m tending towards wearing one. Whaddya reckon?