Therefore, I should have suspected my selection of wedding attire would prove no different in either respect.

I don’t recall an exact date as to when the idea hit me. All I know is at some point during college I decided I’d prefer to sport a kilt rather than a tuxedo on the big day.

Going in, I knew this venture would raise some eyebrows. That was part of the appeal. It also seemed like a cool way to celebrate my heritage, since I’m half Scottish.

Any time someone would mention a friend’s upcoming wedding, I’d mention the kilt.

People always thought I was kidding. When they discovered I wasn’t, they were split pretty evenly. Either they thought it was a neat idea or that I was nuts.

Then, I took it a step further. Not only would I refuse to wear pants, but all my groomsmen would be required to wear kilts as well.

Things were going really well, but it was mainly because everything was planned out in my head. Then I got engaged in May.

Problem: Jen, my fiancée, wanted to pick out her bridesmaid’s dresses. She needed to know what colors the kilts would be, so they wouldn’t clash with the dresses.

So, Jen started doing some preliminary research, and asked if I planned to choose my clan’s tartan. I’d figured that’s the route I’d go. All I needed to do was type my name in online and there it would be.

Problem: Despite the fact that my grandparents moved to America from Scotland, Ryan is an Irish name. So, to get the information I needed, I’d have to find out what county in Ireland my relatives had originally been from.

Problem: My grandmother would have been the best person to ask about this, but she passed away in January. As for my father, he’s an only child and incredibly busy all the time with his job. It’s hard to get a hold of him for more than 20 minutes most weekends.

Problem: Ryan is one of the top 10 most popular names in Ireland. So, without the exact data I’d never find the right county.

Problem: I had a ton of genealogy homework to do and a deadline from Jen of approximately two weeks.

I had a lot to figure out. I tried expanding the search from just Ryan, by using my grandmother’s maiden name and my grandfather’s mother’s maiden name. In addition, one of Jen’s friends said she had a subscription to a great genealogy site, so I shared the information I had with her.

Problem: Jen’s friend’s subscription expired and everyone else who was helping me seemed to be coming up empty.

With time running out, I decided to pull out all the stops. Last Friday night after attending a company party, I dedicated six hours to Internet research.

Since the name Ryan seemed to be represented in almost every county in Ireland, I finally decided to just choose the one it was the most prevalent in. I read that Tipperary is considered the home of the Ryans, so I hope they’ll have me.

Problem: To rent or to buy.

Kilts are expensive. The outfit a person would need for a wedding can cost thousands of dollars, so renting is a significantly cheaper route.

Problem: There are about five tartans to choose from when renting a kilt. To get the tartan of your clan, you have to buy.

I don’t want my friends going broke from dressing for my wedding. Instead of my clan’s tartan, they’ll rent something with similar colors. Renting a kilt package doesn’t appear to be much more expensive than renting a tuxedo.

My father, my brother and I will all purchase our own kilts, which means spending roughly $250 a piece. We’ll just rent the rest of the outfit like everyone else. That way, we can wear our clan’s tartan without spending thousands of dollars, and have something to show for it after the ceremony.

Problem: Jen had wanted the bridesmaid’s dresses to be coral, which kind of clashes with the kilts. The colors of the Tipperary County Crest tartan are red, gray, blue and yellow. Ironically, the dresses she originally wanted and which started this whole process have been discontinued.

Resolution update:

Weight: 148 (-12)