The Wedding day, June 5, 1948

One member of the Smart family had such a severe case of wedding nerves they needed help getting dressed! Not the bride, but her dad, my Grandpa Bert. His hands were shaking so hard that Mom had to knot his tie.

Mom was at the height of fashion and perfect example of the New Look in her blue crepe dress with a pink hat and matching gloves. Dad was quite the dashing American in the suit he had bought in New York. She carried a bouquet of yellow Gladiolas, always one of her favorite flowers, and Ruthie carried a bouquet of pink roses.

At the St Mary’s Cathedral
in the Cardinals Chapel a friend sang as Mom walked down the aisle and was married to Dad in front of family and friends. One notable absence was the mother of the bride who had chosen not to attend the wedding in protest of it being held at the Catholic Church over her severe objections. The reception, held at the Bondi Beach Lifesavers Hall, a popular venue for dances and special events, had all the traditional elements; toasts, cake, dancing and best wishes from family and friends. The one untraditional and even shocking element was the dress that my grandma Madeline wore. She came to the reception dressed in black, a color reserved for mourning and not at all appropriate for a happy occasion in the 1940’s.

The newlyweds spent their wedding night at a fancy hotel in King’s Cross, a suburb of Sydney. The next day they went to the Kingsford Smith Aerodrome and Mom went on her first airplane trip to Brisbane, Queensland. Then they traveled by train to Rockhampton on what is now called the Gold Coast for a two week honeymoon.