Reuben Eric Herman and I were married by the Reverend Ted Noffs in 1980… a New Yorker, Jewish and he loved me… I brought much to him, he always said, however I think it was “calm and normalcy” after all the baggage of his overbearing mother… and “normalcy“ was everything I had disdain for, so, of course I was drawn immediately to Reuben as I was escaping my small town existence in Maitland… I had never met anyone like Reuben, and dare to say I never will… we met in Broken Hill, both English teachers, fell pretty much instantly in love and moved in together. Much to my parents’ horror, this was the late ‘70’s and context is everything…. We could have stayed forever in Broken Hill, it was that kind of place, it burrows into you and really never lets go; I was only there two weeks ago on a visit to finally scatter some of Robin’s ashes on the Mundi Mundi Plains…. he died in 2013.

Our wedding became an imperative almost, never one to disappoint my parents – I was the “golden girl” as my brother pointed out, it became apparent they were reluctant to visit us in Woollahra, where we now lived and so the notion of a marriage loomed on the horizon. We had moved to Sydney in 1980, after receiving transfers to take up appointments – the lure of Sydney was always there for me and Reuben followed. So, the notion took shape and we decided to get married, kind of immediately, and we would then have another “wedding” the following year – the whole 9 yards… white dress, bridesmaids and a reception. This was the ‘80’s and I wanted the whole deal… but my parents would not visit, they felt “uncomfortable”… And so, a wedding, but where? And who would marry us? We spent some time approaching Anglican churches, my family religion, and the response was a resounding “NO”, we cannot help you and a number of synagogues were approached, the response was “NO”…. a Jew and shiksa…. NO…. until we came to The Wayside Chapel… and here we were taken in… We met Ted Noffs and immediately knew he was the right person, of course he would marry us… why not? Why not, indeed? And so, it was…. witnesses were supplied and it was, just Robin and I…. our hearts were full of such gratitude, not that Ted Noffs sought this, he was a man in service to people, his humanity was without question. We sat and talked afterwards, he wanted to know our story… this came after our marriage… we parted, went off, pinching ourselves…. “we were married, we were married… we did it, we did it…” We headed down to Chinatown for dinner… found a phone box before going into the restaurant, called my parents… my Mother tearfully saying, when can we visit?

As in your story I am a Catholic and my wife Church of England. We were both divorced and no one would marry us. This sounds crazy but we knew the actress Jane Powell was married by Ted Noffs some time before, so we called in to see him and he readily agreed. We are proud to say we were married at the Wayside. He was a great man.

As a Catholic wishing to marry a protestant in 1979, I was caught up in a sh*t storm of bigotry from both sides. A Catholic priest warned Robert (my fiancée) to be careful because “we get them early and she will end up having a nervous breakdown later in life if she marries outside the church”. That didn’t help! Robert’s family hated Catholics and his father hounded me relentlessly to “be sensible” and follow his wishes.

What a relief it was to meet Ted Noffs! He really provided a refuge especially to me as I had been brought up a strict Catholic and had all the hangups and guilt imaginable. The nuns did a good job on me!

Family had said they would not attend the wedding if we didn’t tow the line.

We decided to give them one week’s notice of our wedding at the Wayside.

It was a nerve wracking time! But I thank The Wayside for saving me.

That was 50 years ago next April. We caused an uproar but I’m glad we had the strength to do it, with the help of Rev Noffs, a man ahead of his time.

Oh… I was pregnant!!! That went down a treat too!!!

Attaching some pics. Love your idea for telling the Wayside story.

Best of luck with it.

When my partner Peter and I decided to get married, we wanted my mum, a former wedding celebrant, to conduct the ceremony. To get around her not having current registration, we decided to split our wedding into two parts – our legal wedding, and our public facing wedding for our community (held in my hometown of Adelaide). We contemplated going to the registry, and just “signing the documents”, but we’d both been aware of Wayside, and loved the idea of being one of many couples married in the bohemian history of Wayside, and of having part of our wedding connect with our lives in Sydney – where we have made our life as a couple. I’d heard Graham Long speak and understood that some visitors at Wayside had not had many opportunities to go to weddings, and we wanted to have a moment where we could offer something to some people in community who have done it tough.

I guess we went into the wedding thinking we were giving something to others, but in typical Wayside fashion, we walked away feeling that really others had given to us.

We got married by Rev Jon Owen, and we completely left it in Jon’s hands how the ceremony would go. It felt like he understood exactly what we hoped for, which was a little spontaneous ceremony, where everyone felt included.

About five or six people from Wayside came to our wedding, none of whom we’d met before. When we arrived they all greeted us with real excitement. Jon had lined up someone to play acoustic guitar, and despite not planning to, I walked down the aisle (on the rooftop garden) to the music playing. (Although I didn’t realize until after that I actually also walked through a swarm of bees).

Steve and Lani, both Wayside Aboriginal elders witnessed us. This was particularly special for me, as I work for government with Stolen Generations survivors. Steve has now sadly passed away; and I found out in the news after that Steve was a survivor himself.

After the ceremony someone picked me a lavender bouquet. It was a small scrappy thing, but became more beautiful to me than the paid-for bouquet I carried on our other wedding day.

We were blown away by everyone’s generosity in creating our wedding for us. We were married on a Sunday and I went to work the next day, and couldn’t speak about the day without crying. It was a totally humbling experience. In a bit of synchronicity, one year later I went into labor with our son. In a few weeks time we will be getting our son baptized on the Wayside rooftop garden too 🙂

My husband and I were both married in the Catholic Church in the late 60s and early 70s. Both our spouses back then broke each of our marriage vows and ran off with other people.  In my case, I was deserted by my then husband and left with a 10 month old baby girl. In my husband’s case, his wife committed adultery. They had no children. We met 4 years after these events and as we both came from close-knit families, we also wanted to be members of a family unit. As we were both Baptised into the Catholic Church, we both went to St Mary’s Cathedral to apply for annulments of our first marriages. We were interviewed by a Senior Priest and handed paperwork to take home and complete. We were also advised that each application for Annulment would cost several hundred dollars. Before leaving the interview, we asked what the chances were of being granted an Annulment by the Catholic Church. We were told in no uncertain circumstances that the likelihood of both of us being granted an Annulment was very remote. To quote “One of you might get one but the other one won’t”. To say we were shocked was an understatement, as we both had the same grounds for divorce. We considered the questions posed on our application forms and found them to be overly intrusive. We could not understand why the Bishops in Rome needed to know all the minute details of our bedroom experiences. The facts were, that we were both deserted by our spouses. We were the innocent parties in this situation.

Ultimately, we decided not to proceed with the Annulment applications. The funny thing was, that the Catholic Church would have married us if we had both been married (outside the Church) i.e. been married in another Church of a different religion, because then the Catholic Church would not have recognised our marriages in the first place. But because we did the right thing by them and married in their Church, now we were being penalised. 

Subsequently we approached several Church Ministers of varying religions and were told that they were not allowed to marry us because we had been married before, even though we were both legally divorced. Fortunately, one of these Ministers suggested that we approach Rev. Ted Noffs of The Wayside Chapel and the rest is History. We have been happily married for 43 years, have two beautiful children, seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. We are truly blessed.

I was married at the Wayside Chapel 50 years ago and at the time was working there as a volunteer receptionist one night a week. I eventually worked for 15 years, one night a week with the wonderful Ted Noffs. When I began working there my main job was to type wedding certificates and answer the phone. However, this was the time when many churches wouldn’t marry people of different faiths or were divorced and we didn’t have marriage celebrants.

Ted would marry people who, regardless of their religion or if they were divorced, wanted to be married with a church service, so over time the numbers increased. My role changed to being the welcoming receptionist. If the couple had been divorced or their previous partner had died, I checked their documents before they went in for an interview with Ted. One night we had over thirty couples! He spoke with each couple as if they were his first and had a genuine interest in providing a worthwhile service to them.

I would have been working there for at least five years when we were planning our wedding date/place, so naturally we chose the Wayside Chapel.

I’m sure that many of our guests had never been to Kings Cross before, but each one thought the service was beautiful. By then Ted to me was a lovely mixture of friend, mentor, uncle all rolled in to one. I knew of the other excellent work he was doing in the community and respected his willingness to take on difficult issues and provide a welcome mat for those with problems or whose lifestyle was not classed as the “norm”.

In many ways he was ahead of his time and so became a forerunner for going beyond traditional church functions. I feel privileged to have known and worked with Ted Noffs and to have been able to have my wedding at the Wayside Chapel.

Just like you Alana, my mum, Valerie, was married to my stepfather, Frank, at Wayside Chapel by Ted Noffs in 1987. My parents had separated when I was 16 and later divorced. Mum was pretty miserable being single but when she met Frank at work at UNSW (she was a secretary) they were a match made in heaven. They became inseparable, lived together in Mum’s home and then decided that they wanted to get married. It was a joyous occasion at Wayside Chapel. At the time, I was married with 3 sons; a 4-year-old and 2-year-old twins. In 1984 my eldest son, after coming out of ICU at Camperdown Children’s Hospital, having been intubated for 8 days was named by Ted Noffs. I am not religious but the naming ceremony was just beautiful and allowed us to give thanks for our baby’s renewed health. I had never been christened so I also was named by Ted Noffs at the same ceremony. He named our twins in 1986. I have delightful photos of my Mum’s wedding. Cheers and good luck with your project. It is great to write and produce our stories.

I first met Graeme when he was 20 and I was 18 years old. My friend Linda lived in a share house in Mosman and Graeme was working at Channel 7 as a technician. On a day I was visiting my friend Linda, Graeme was moving into the same share house. I opened the front gate, as he struggled in with his LP’s and record player. I looked into his eyes, fell instantly in love and felt in that moment that this was the man I will marry. We did indeed both fall in love at the same time. Twelve months later while discussing a long held plan of mine to holiday in New Zealand, Graeme looked quite puzzled and asked “what about me” and announced he’d like to come too. I told Graeme that my mother wouldn’t like us travelling together (although it was 1969, she was born in 1917 with that generations moral compass) and that prompted this proposal – “well why don’t we get married”. I thought that was a great idea, we’d been together for just over a year, were madly in love and marriage seemed the logical next step. Fifty years later and we have just celebrated our Golden Wedding anniversary on 1 November 2019 amidst friends and family. As our families had limited means, we decided to finance the wedding and small family dinner afterwards. We wanted a church wedding, in a small, welcoming atmosphere. Rev. Ted Noffs’ ideals and work in Kings Cross aligned with our views of the world so we chose the Wayside Chapel for our small intimate wedding. We rang the Chapel booked the date for 6 weeks hence; and shortly thereafter we were asked to meet with Rev. Noffs. What a remarkable man; he interviewed us very closely taking note of our youth and satisfying himself that we were indeed in love.

On the wedding day it rained and I was very nervous. Rev Noffs met me at the door of the Chapel and held my hand. I felt his kindness radiate through me. I instantly felt at ease and comforted by his presence. As we were so young, we spent the next 10 years travelling around the world, studying and had many adventures.

After we finally settled down, a son James arrived 10 years into our marriage and was christened by Rev Noffs at the Wayside Chapel in 1979. We both feel very privileged and proud to have been married at the Wayside Chapel. At the time it was a radical thing to do amongst our suburban peers, including both sets of parents, however it was right for us.

In 1972, my now husband of 48 years and I wanted to get married. He had been one of the miniscule number of university students in Australia from (South) Vietnam and a lapsed Buddhist. I was a lapsed Christian who had met him at university. His postgrad internship had been completed and he was due to return to Saigon at an interesting time in the war. The department of immigration had kindly offered to deport him if we broke our engagement and I was encouraged to ring them straight away if we parted ways. It was also rare then to be married outside a church building, but Wayside marriages also occurred when Ted did open air ceremonies. As we would not have been comfortable in a church setting, we asked Ted if he could marry us at the local harbourside park and he said yes. And he officiated. My conservative mother had thought our arrangements slightly dubious until she met Ted. The rain held off and our international party of 18 or so enjoyed the wedding and the view.

My bridesmaid wore a beautiful kimono and I designed a lace dress over a crepe underdress to follow the lines of a traditional Vietnamese ao dai. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant near Cleveland Street then known for its many Labour Party functions and excellent food, and left for Tasmania with $100 between us. We had a girl and a boy and are now proud grandparents to our daughter’s child. Our son will be married next month. So thanks to Ted we had a long and productive family life.

When we were married, I came from a Catholic background and my husband had been divorced previously. The Catholic Church were just not interested in this arrangement at all. The Wayside Chapel were about the only ones to consider our request for the service. We still remember the day fondly, as we look forward to our 50th anniversary next January.

The story of the marriage of Madeline and Jake Simcoe which took place in 1970.

On Valentine’s Day 1968 Jake (John) Simcoe set sail for Australia on the Fairsky landing in Sydney in March. In October of that year Madeline Graham flew to Sydney to catch up with her boyfriend Jake. They were both £10 Poms – what a bargain. Half way across the world for only £10.

Following a year or so of happy days exploring Sydney and surrounds, Madeline decided she’d like to explore more of this wonderful country and gave Jake an ultimatum, marry me or I’ll go travelling alone.

The date was set, 50 years ago last month, at 10.30am. I was the clueless bride who knew nothing about weddings. It was such a difficult time on a Friday morning that only 6 of our friends could attend. The guy who was supposed to give me away didn’t turn up so a friend who had dropped by in his tea break was seconded for the job – shirt sleeves and all.

My mode of transport to the wedding was a yellow cab and because I arrived at the chapel before the groom, I insisted that the taxi driver go around the block a few times until the money that I was clutching, alongside my bouquet, had been spent. Apparently my future husband was in the pub being persuaded, by an American guy, not to go through with it.

Well he did and following the ceremony we went for an omelette at a local hotel. The clueless bride had heard something about wedding breakfasts following the ceremony.

The reception, catered for by the bride, was held at the flat that I shared with 3 other girls. It was very meagre, sandwiches and stuffed tomatoes, a recipe from my only cookbook, as I remember. But we did have a lovely wedding cake which my friend’s mother had bought.

The honeymoon was spent on the beautiful Hawkesbury River in a little flat bottomed houseboat which I’m sure would now be considered unsafe. It rained for most of the holiday and at some stages it was difficult to see the river banks. On one day the waves were literally washing over the boat and I lay on the floor crying and waiting for certain death. I thought we were on the ocean.

Anyway we survived and so has our marriage. Last month for our Golden Wedding anniversary we revisited the Wayside Chapel and the Hawkesbury River before boarding the Indian Pacific for a great celebratory holiday.

My husband Jeremy Rea and I married at the Wayside in 1995. I was pregnant with our first child. I seem to remember it was a compromise position between his religious leanings and my atheist. It also appealed to our social consciences. I am a GP who sees a lot of people who are homeless or have few social supports, and Jeremy works as a criminal solicitor for the Homeless Persons Legal Service. The wedding was very relaxed. I caught a cab there with my twin sister and we had no practice run. We returned later to have both children’s naming ceremonies there, administered by the same (lesbian) minister.

It was a great time in the early 70’s my wife Nola & I met at our workplace, ABC TV, Gore Hill Sydney. Nola was a contract wardrobe mistress, I was a staff studio cameraman.

Blessings, Bruce & Nola Hogan.

Just 49 years ago, Peter and I were married at the Wayside Chapel.  It was a 6pm wedding shared with close family and a handful of trusted friends. We had met at our workplace and there was a considerable age difference. Of course, the place was rife with gossip and because we felt it was none of anyone else’s business, we kept our relationship quiet. As non-believers and doubters neither of us would have been comfortable to be married in a church. A garden setting or favourite hang-out would have been perfect but marriage celebrants did not exist then nor would a church minister step outside his domain. It was either a church or the marriage registry. My mother, being religious, expected a church wedding for her only daughter so we approached Ted Noffs, knowing his reputation for fairness and inclusiveness. We explained our position and he told us he didn’t care that we weren’t believers – he had a broad mind about such matters. A chapel wedding met my mother’s expectations and the service was intimate, beautiful and emotional. I wore a short dress, had no bridesmaids and my youngest brother “gave me away”. We were very happy with our decision to have an unpretentious, simple, small wedding and a casual gathering afterwards to celebrate the occasion. When Ted Noffs had his stroke in 1986, we sent him a telegram saying “You married us 20 years ago and we are still hanging on, we know you can too”.  And he did for a while. We are still together.

My husband and I both worked Saturday nights in the coffee shop and were married the first Saturday in February as Ted always had January off. We chose selections from ‘Sound of Music’ and as my husband had no family in Australia, Ted bought his two sons in to record the service. Unfortunately, the recording was not successful but Ted insisted we go through the whole service again to record it. Late on Saturday night Ted, the organist Kay Edwards, Ted’s two sons and Chris and I went through the whole service in the chapel in our street clothes with the chapel locked to prevent the sightseeing crowd from coming in.

We were married in 1971 at 6.30pm, there were weddings every 30 minutes. The Cross was a fantastic place full of soldiers and navy personnel on leave from Vietnam. We also renewed our vows after 8 years. Ted declined to do the service as it was a weeknight and he had a heavy schedule and did not do weekday marriage services. I reminded him he had just married Ita Buttrose on a weekday, was it because she was a celebrity and I wasn’t? He then changed his mind and married us again. Very nice guy.  

At 30 years of age neither my husband, Duncan, nor I were ‘young’. I was a country girl; my husband was a 10-pound Pom. I had been working in the city and he in Australia for just three years or so. We were both raised in the Methodist church, but neither had become part of a church community in Sydney. As well, Duncan had no close family living in Australia. So, when we were looking for somewhere to marry, although we were both fairly conservative in our lifestyles, we thought The Wayside Chapel, which we knew took in waifs and strays, would be the perfect place for two people who did not ‘belong’ anywhere else. I remember, in our interview before the wedding, Rev Ted, talked about ‘vibes’, which amused and confused us at the time. As we understood it, that meant that on the day, if the vibes were good we would all connect and have a good and joyful marriage ceremony. We were convinced that the vibes were good that day as we had a wonderful ceremony during which Rev Ted sent wishes to Duncan’s mother, absent in England and celebrating her birthday, which she would hear when she received the tape recording of the service. Allowing the service to be taped was one of Rev Ted’s ‘innovations’. In every other way it was a conventional service. We felt so welcomed at the Wayside Chapel that, five years later when our daughter was born, we took her to be part of the Naming Ceremony. After the ceremony we gathered outside with just enough time for photographs before we were hurried away to make way for the next wedding group already waiting.

A very hot & steamy late Summer day, with showers that just made it steamier. A flat tyre, a double wedding booking at the Chapel sorted out by a very calm & reassuring Reverend Noffs and a visit from the police later in the night…

42 years later wouldn’t change a thing (hmmm well maybe I would?)

A beautiful December Saturday afternoon for a 3pm wedding.

Rev Ted Noffs was presiding and today 48 years on we remember his words “give them enough trouble to soften them but not enough to make them bitter.” In March 1973 our son was Christened at the Chapel again by Ted Noffs.

On our 40th anniversary in 2011 we revisited the chapel and were made very welcome by the staff and given a conducted tour. In 2021, God willing we wish to revisit the Chapel on our 50th anniversary

I emigrated from London UK as a 10-pound pom back in 1966. I was just 19 years old at the time and recently married a bad boy from Bermondsey. Following a breakup of the marriage I commenced working with Qantas Airways as one of their first Ground Hostesses at the old Sydney International Terminal in 1968. I was immediately attracted to one of their Junior Cadet Trainees, Geoffrey (Geoff) Dolman. However he was in many relationships with young attractive ladies and I thought I would have little hope of being one of those privileged gals. I then ran into a young Canadian Boy on Bondi Beach and fell madly in lust. In, 1972 I quit my job and followed him to Vancouver, Canada where I was re-employed by Qantas to start up their Reservations Office. Following my Canadian boy dumping me, I received a telegram from Geoff asking if he could come and visit me and perhaps stay a while. At that stage I was already accepted as a Canadian Landed Immigrant. Geoff arrived on my doorstep about a month later and to my surprise had actually quit his job (I had assumed he was visiting me on holidays). We moved in together and Geoff commenced working with a Canadian Domestic Airline. He then applied for his Landed Immigrant status but was refused and the authorities asked him to return to Australia in order to apply from there. We were fairly sure that his qualifications would not be suitable and therefore we tossed around the idea of marriage in order to continue our relationship. I contacted my best friend who I had been flatting with in Sydney (Mia Fiszman) and asked her to enquire from The Wayside Chapel as to whether they could officiate our marriage as Qantas was sending me back on a training course in August of 1973. They agreed and so we both returned to Sydney and following a get together with The Rev Ted Noffs, who was very sympathetic to our story, decided on a date. The Rev was so kind and accommodating and even on the day took Geoff and his brother Ken (Best Man) up to his rooms for a “settling” scotch before the ceremony. My friend Mia’s mother and father Esther and Sam Fiszman had kindly offered us their home in Vaucluse as a reception venue and although we are not of the Jewish faith, Esther went above and beyond by ordering Kosher food which she had flown up from Melbourne as she was unsure as to our requirements and didn’t want to disappoint. Following a wonderful day our friends and family bade us farewell as we flew back to Vancouver to continue our lives together. There we remained until 1979 when, together with 1 baby, returned to Sydney.  
We have such fond memories of Ted Noffs and how he welcomed us into his Chapel that I felt I would like to share this experience with others. Such a mixture of friends and faiths… and here we are 46 years later (2 children and 2 grandchildren) wanting to tell the story.

I was a Kings Cross boy before I met my wife (Joan) and sometimes homeless. We met after she had moved down from the North Coast, and she was my saviour, putting me back on the straight and narrow! As I was an Irish Catholic and she was English Protestant, our parents didn’t agree with us being together, plus we couldn’t get married in the Catholic Church unless she converted. So we decided to marry at the Wayside Chapel, we also lived in the Cross, a great place back then, and we knew lots of people from all walks of life, from local crims to TV personalities. We told Rev Ted we were broke, he told us not to worry about it (whew). So he married us, and it’s been now 51 years married. We now live in Northern NSW and went back down to the Cross a couple of months ago and talked to some of the staff there at the Chapel, and loved it!

My husband Ian and myself were married by The Reverend Ted Noffs on the 12th of July 1980.

I came from a fairly strict Catholic family and was the eldest of four children. Ian was 12 years older than I and much to my parent’s distress had been married twice and had one son. Given my background it was expected that I be married in the Catholic Church. I attempted to get advice from clergy as to how we could go about having Ian’s two previous marriages annulled. Ian was even willing to convert to Catholicism. This proved a disaster as what was required was nothing short of the “Spanish Inquisition” plus it would probably cost a great deal of money, something we did not have at the time.

After much soul searching and discussion we visited Ted Noffs at the Wayside Chapel to see if he would marry us. Ted agreed readily and we then advised our families accordingly. Ian’s mother was not phased and my parents though disappointed accepted the compromise as I would still be married in a church of sorts!!

On a fairly chilly July Saturday, Ian and I were married in a beautiful ceremony by Ted and we were presented with a cassette recording of the service. (No Videos in 1980)

One of my sisters was telling a friend that I had been married at the Wayside Chapel and the friend asked if I had married a very infamous Bank Robber who according to The Sunday Telegraph had also been married at the Chapel the same day. My sister replied no but a scoundrel just the same. It was a standing joke in our family for many years.

Ian and I had a wonderful marriage until he passed away in 2015. I still miss him very much and I know he would be thrilled to know I am sharing this with you as we both had a most beautiful experience at The Wayside Chapel.

I was either the first or second person to get married at Wayside Chapel in December 1966 – I have a few photos (in black – no colour photography in 1966!) – I have funny stories (how the bridal cars crashed outside Wayside before I’d got out of the car); how the Catholic and Jewish sides of the family were divided (and potentially could be offended) and how Ted Noffs diplomatically solved this problem with his words and a clever bit of rearranging; sad story about why my mother was unable to attend (or my sister); I wore white (don’t ask me why – I’d been living with my husband-to-be for some time); I had 1 bridesmaid & 1 Matron of Honour!!!

We were young journalists and well aware of the work of the Reverend Ted Noffs who was then running the Wayside Chapel, in Kings Cross, having set up it six years earlier. We knew Rev Noffs to be socially aware, compassionate and fond of young people. He extended much care to the community through his pastoral care, he understood the diverse community. We both admired and respected him. My husband had been married before and while we wanted to have a marriage ceremony, we did not want a traditional Christian ceremony. We knew Rev Noffs would marry us. I would welcome the opportunity of talking about that era, the Wayside Chapel and the general love and respect for Ted Noffs.

We were married at Wayside Chapel on a Saturday in January 1990. It was a memorable day for me the bride (Eveline) and the groom (Gerard). A celebration that we shared with all our family and friends. We all gathered for this grand occasion!

A Rolls Royce was hired for the wedding couple and the cortège. We waved the “Royal Wave” as we were driven by a full liveried chauffeur from our home in Bondi to Wayside Chapel. Where on arrival all our family, friends and a professional photographer were waiting to snap photos of us as we stepped out of the Rolls Royce. The atmosphere was electric and there was so much love for us we were all bursting with the excitement of being together.

The witnesses were chosen amongst our dearest friends, others were recording the ceremony, flower bouquets, flower girl, the children wore matching tuxedos with red bow ties. I have video footage of this memorable day that is imprinted in my mind like it was yesterday. 

My mother’s dearest wish was coming true to see her daughter tying the knot after a 10-year relationship. Sadly, she passed away 6 months later, but with some kind of peaceful resolve as far as her family was concerned.

I have two beautiful photo albums and two video cassettes. One of the entire ceremony and the other of the reception which was held in the garden of our house in Bondi.

Thank you for bringing back this wonderful day. Life passes and with this project it has brought up a very special memory that I have not reflected on in a long time.

We don’t have a particular story to tell other than we were married at The Wayside Chapel on the date stated above. I remember when we were talking to Ted Noffs he asked if we were related to the two Tredinnick gentlemen who were Methodist Ministers. Graham said, yes, they were his Uncles, his Fathers brothers. The reply we got was well you better call me Uncle Ted then as I know both of them very well. It was a lovely day the Chapel was full with family and friends, but very hot. We are very lucky to still have 3 of the 4 in our wedding party still with us and we are blessed with 2 lovely children and their spouses plus 4 beautiful grandchildren. Thank you for allowing us to share this with you.

In 1960 my mother and stepfather were married by Ted Noffs at the church near the Lyceum in Pitt Street, Sydney. It was, according to my mother, the first wedding he did after his return from study in the USA.  He was asked to perform the wedding because the then minister Rev Alan Walker, good Christian that he was, refused to do so on the grounds that my mother was a divorcee! I was present at the wedding aged 6. They went on to have a wonderful marriage and the love they had for each other continues to be something to emulate.  They have both since passed. I believe this would have been before the Wayside was established. My mother was Betty Margaret Malcolm and my father was Ramon Francis Sketchley.  But the story of Ted Noffs and the Wayside continued in our family.

In 1980 My husband and I were married by Ted Noffs at the Wayside, and 4 years later our Daughter Eliza had a naming ceremony also officiated by Ted Noffs, where instead of calling it a christening it was a “Welcome to the Family of Man’, this was also performed at the Wayside Chapel.

I always remember as my husband and I were filling in the required paperwork a few days before the ceremony when Rev Noffs asked our names we answered Jane Elspeth Sketchley and Alexander Bonnyman Scott, he turned with a very wry smile and said “Presbyterian I presume?”.

He was a wonderful man and the service he gave to the community and the care and support to those in need has continued and grown, what a legacy to leave.

As a young 26-year-old I wanted to be married in a traditional manner but this was not to be. Falling in love with a Kiwi who had been married twice before and unconventional we had to find a solution. The church refused to marry us as my fiancé had been married before and twice at that. After visiting with Ted I knew we had found a caring and sympathetic man whose heart was full of compassion and love for all. I will always remember him asking me if “daddy was going to give me away” and his warm smile that followed. We are still married today after 33 years – Ted could always pick the stayers.

There was misty rain in Kings Cross on the evening of 25th November 1967, our wedding day. I was early for the 6:45pm wedding at the Wayside Chapel, and Norma, the bride was fashionably late. The wedding before ours was running late, so Norma, her bridesmaid Jacqui and chauffeur, Val drove around the corner for a cigarette. As you did in those days.

It was a very laid back wedding, no invitations, the best man took the photos and a reception back at the flat Norma shared with four other girls at North Bondi. Norma had spent that morning helping to prepare the “lavish” reception feast. When she put out her hand for her wedding ring her fingers were still stained green and red from the cocktail pickled onions. I’m sure Ted Noffs wouldn’t have noticed the stains, or cared.

We had about thirty-six guests attend the wedding, even though some were quite apprehensive about coming to “The Cross”. They all thought the Chapel was beautiful and Ted Noffs amazing. His ceremony was totally unlike the conventional weddings our friends had had. After returning from signing the Wedding Register he asked everyone to applaud the new Mr and Mrs McKeown. The standing ovation was memorable.

He christened our elder daughter at the Wayside Chapel and our younger daughter at a park in Como, Sutherland Shire.

We were married at the Wayside Chapel because I was Jewish and my husband was Christian, and Ted Noffs was the only person we knew of in Sydney who would marry people of different religions in a meaningful ceremony – the only other choice then was the Registry Office. My father refused to attend the wedding as it was in a Christian Church – although Jesus was not mentioned only the “Family of Man”. My father did attend on the day – but have to admit it was a somewhat stressful lead up to the day.

My husband and I are still married and have three children and one grandchild with another on the way… so Ted must have done something right! Our 3 children were all also “named” at the Wayside Chapel.

We were married at the Wayside Chapel in April 1973. At the time while Christian in belief, I was looking for a non-denominational church. When we went to visit the Chapel, it was beautiful – I was mesmerized by the uniqueness of it both inside and out. Reminded me of a little country chapel. Rev. Ted Noffs was welcoming and kind and we decided then and there that this was the place we wanted to begin our lives together. Relatives were not too thrilled about it – they had never heard of it, there was no parking (and they had to drive past the Royal Easter Show traffic at Moore Park) and some asked “What were we thinking? Kings Cross, a terrible place, with all those strippers and gangsters!!!” (We thought it was pretty trendy in the 70’s.)

But the ceremony was everything we wanted it to be, and the rellies came around and enjoyed the experience. I made my dress (still have it) and that of the flowergirl (my little sister) – nothing too fancy, and we went to the city and found a dress on special off the rack for the Bridesmaid/Matron of Honour (best friend and sister of the groom – we met at High School). We didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg on the wedding – borrowed the veil and headress, I made the bouquets – a round “ball” of artificial roses for the flower girl, and on the Saturday morning I went to the florist and bought white roses for the bridesmaid and myself and one for my Nana. No hairdressers, nails or makeup – we all did our own. It was great fun at home getting things ready!

Then – before I arrived my husband to be had to ask my dad for a loan! The price he was quoted for the service had changed and he didn’t have the extra. Provided a lot of laughs later when Dad did his speech! I think we paid him back, but we never lived it down! Rod was so embarrassed but we all had a laugh about it. My uncle drove his car for us and off we went to South Coogee Bowling Club and had a “kick your heels up” party.

The Wayside Chapel is such a wonderful memory to me, one I will treasure forever.

My father (Chandor) is a Hindu, my mother (Dell) was a Christian and Wayside was the only church that would marry them back in the day. It was a very well celebrated wedding, it featured in both the newpapers and on the television news that evening. My parents were Sydney socialites in the late 60’s early 70’s, they both worked in fashion and there were a lot of interesting people that attended their wedding (Kamal sang at the reception and my mother was given away by the then fashion mogul, Joseph Brender). Later when they had two female friends who wanted to get married they also did it at the Wayside, with my mother as a bridesmaid and my father giving away the bride. I can’t imagine there were too many female/female weddings back then.

We were married at the Wayside Chapel, Kings Cross by the Reverend Ted Noffs at 5pm in February 1968. We were both 21. I had a full time job in the city and my fiancé́ was in his final year of university

On a Saturday afternoon in July 1967 my fiancé́ formally asked my father for his permission to marry me. I can remember my mother telling my fiancé́ that I was of very delicate health and asked if he was sure he wanted to take on that responsibility! My parents were very happy to sanction our engagement and suggested we go across together to share the happy news with my intended “in laws” and invite them back for an impromptu celebration. My father dashed up the road to buy chilled champagne and my mother did a flash tidy up while we drove from Hunter’s Hill across to Lane Cove.

My future mother in law, a devout Catholic, was clearly not impressed with our announcement. She did not offer her congratulations, nor did she express any happiness instead asked the question “Is it going to be a Catholic wedding”? The suggestion we were considering being married at The Wayside Chapel with an ecumenical service created an emotional event of major hysteria in my fiancé’s mother, including her refusal to meet my family that evening. This hysteria and rage was maintained for the entire six months of our engagement with continued threats to boycott the wedding, encouraging others in her family to do the same. My future father in law who was not of the Catholic faith, remained silent offering no comment at any time. It was not the happiest engagement period for us.

My fiancé́, an only child, had attended a Catholic boy’s schools school but did not want a Catholic wedding and no longer attended mass. I had attended a Church of England girl’s school and we both occasionally attended a Church of England service near my home, but found the minister to have very narrow attitudes to women and of marriages of mixed religions. The Wayside Chapel appealed to us as a wonderful compromise. We both loved this groovy church and the work of Reverend Ted Noffs and his liberal and loving attitudes.

My dress cost $20 which was half of my weekly gross salary of $42. My shoes cost another $20. I was a lover of fashion, and embraced the sixties fashion scene of Mary Quant, Carnaby Street London and the international designs in the Vogue dressmaker pattern books. I had no interest in the white wedding dress and veil. Most of my clothes were made especially for me by a dressmaker who was accustomed to my avant-garde fashion sense. Skipping the wedding and evening wear pages in the Vogue pattern book, I went straight to the French designers Guy La Roche and Yves St Laurent. I chose champagne coloured silk for my dress, two silk fabrics for the bridesmaid’s dresses – watermelon pink bodice and the same champagne coloured silk of my dress for the skirt. My going away outfit from an Yves St. Laurent pattern was a fabulous floor length double breasted coat which was made in ice pink silk and worn over the top of my wedding dress. My dress was empire line, elbow length sleeves with large playful bow at the back in champagne cream silk, a tiny ruched fabric pillbox hat in the same colour purchased from June Millinery, Dent brand nylon lace gloves which are still in their original packet, champagne coloured fishnet pantyhose and antelope low heeled court shoes in the same colour purchased from Edward Meller Vogue Boutique.

From the florist I ordered a single rose as my bouquet, and two gorgeous large balls of flowers in cream and deep pink flowers, held by a pink ribbon for my bridesmaids. My best friend from school, who I met in 1959, was one bridesmaid, and we are still best friends. My sister, two and a half years younger than me, was also a bridesmaid but she was less than enthusiastic at the bridal fittings and very uncooperative in helping with wedding preparations.

My mother-in-law turned up at The Wayside Chapel, though was clearly still upset. The Rev Noffs met us at the entrance to his church and when he saw my father’s Rotary badge shared a few words about Rotary. Rev Noffs was also a Rotarian. My father walked me down the aisle and the 12 minute ecumenical service with the lovely Rev Ted Noffs is still etched in my brain and the vows we took seem as clear as the moment we took them. We are coming up for our 50-year anniversary and planning to take our three adult children and their partners and our two beautiful grandbabies away on a family holiday to celebrate our marriage.

When Rev Noffs suffered a stroke, I wrote to The Wayside Chapel expressing my sympathy and thanks for his work and received a lovely reply from his wife to say that she had read the letter to her husband in the hospital.

My parents (both now deceased) were married at Wayside. I do not know very much about it except it was both their second marriages. I have attached photos but I think there are more if I look and the best man and bridesmaid are still in touch who I could ask some questions.

My parents met in Papua New Guinea while working in a Hotel and returned to Australia and were married.

Pop was born in 1912 and was the baby of 13 children, Grandma was born in 1922 and the eldest of 8 children. My grandparents were married at the Wayside Chapel in 1942 during WW2. Grandma took leave from the WAAF and her and Pop were wed and then had a few days leave in Katoomba. They were happily married for over 60+ years. They had 6 children (1 sadly died from lupus aged 17), 13 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. They lived on a farm at Parkesbourne and are the definition of eternal love. Pop passed away in 2007 and Grandma in 2011.

I was in Sydney last year and visited the chapel on their wedding anniversary and it was truly an emotional experience. The dedication that the staff show to people less fortunate is what my grandparents were like with our family.

My husband’s brother, Bob, and his wife Helen were married at the Wayside Chapel in 1973. I was overseas at the time (doing the “Grand Tour” as was the custom for young people in those days), I had met a boy (Paul) just before I went away and he must have missed me a great deal because I received a phone call at 3am on a freezing London morning and he proposed! I came home about six months later and we became formally engaged and then also married at the Wayside Chapel on 1 March 1975.

My sister-in-law remembers the pre-marriage meeting with the Rev Ted Noffs and recalled that Bob was incredibly nervous; this prompted Ted to say to him “don’t worry son, it only takes 15 minutes!” I’m sure this would have helped Bob no end.

On the day of Paul’s and my wedding in 1975, an old family friend had offered to drive me and my bridesmaids to the Chapel in his XJ6 Jaguar. As we pulled up outside, someone ran up to the car door to inform us that the wedding before us was running late and could we please go around the block a couple of times! Luckily by the time we pulled up again the previous wedding party was just exiting. This of course made our wedding run over too, and as we were leaving after the ceremony, the next wedding party was sitting waiting in the foyer outside! My memory of the whole situation was that everyone could see the humour in it and no one was in the least bit angry. I somehow think this might not be the case with some of today’s brides and their quest for the “perfect” wedding if it were to happen now.

I also remembered that the Rev Ted had said during our pre-meeting that Saturdays were always busy and that their record was 28 weddings in one day!

I recently came across photos of ours and Bob & Helen’s wedding days where we are signing the register after the ceremony. It amused me that they were almost identical – even if they were 2 years apart!

Don and I were engaged and wanted to get married so I approached my local Church of England church where my parents were married. Myself and my siblings also went to Sunday School there as children. But because I was a divorcee the Minister refused to marry us. I then approached another Church of England church and the Minster said the same. I asked if, in the future I wanted my children baptised there he would baptise them and he said yes, he just wouldn’t marry us! As I couldn’t understand his reasoning and also because I had heard that Janet Leigh, an American actress, or it may have been Jane Powell was married at the Wayside Chapel, we made an appointment and met Ted Noffs and he told us he would be happy to marry us. We were married in April, 1967 which was also my 28^th Birthday. We have now been married for 52 years and we have one daughter, one son and one grandson.

Sydney in the Sixties was at last coming alive and catching up with the rest of the world. I was Jenny Kennedy then, designing clothes for a Paddington boutique, working at Frank Mitchell’s boutique in Queen St Woollahra called “My Husband and I” and modelling on the side. I was living with a young Irish photographer Bobby Stapleton, who was also doing up Paddington terraces that were becoming sought after. The Windsor Castle in Elizabeth Street Paddington was the pub all the art and fashion crowd hung out at. Amazingly my parents gave us permission to marry and we were married by the wonderful Ted Noffs. Driven to the Chapel in a vintage Rolls Royce owned by Eric Dare. We had the after party at my grandparents house at Cremorne Point and I think a couple of my aunts were offered a joint and got slightly stoned. I remember my mother saying the lawn was littered the next day with some very strange looking butts. We spent the wedding night in a suite at the grand Australia Hotel sadly now demolished. Unfortunately/fortunately the marriage did not survive. Sadly I was too young and eventually we separated and I took off for Swinging London and did not return for many years. Until a few months ago I still had the dress but decided it was time it went to Vinnies.

My husband Ken and I were married at the Wayside Chapel in June 1972, at 7.30pm, by the Reverend Ted Noffs. We had been engaged for only two weeks following a 7 year romance. I was studying Midwifery at Manly Hospital and was on night duty. I came home from work on the Friday morning went to bed for a sleep. Ken picked me up at about 4pm to get my hair done. We travelled to the Chapel together, met our family and Rev. Ted Noffs. Interestingly we signed the register before the wedding with our parents as witnesses. We walked down the aisle together, no bridesmaids or groomsmen, and got married. Simple, quick. 

We returned to the Chapel after a meal at the French Tavern to pick up three flower arrangements which we delivered to our parents before heading home to sleep. Up early the next morning so Ken could play Rugby Union. Headed off to Taree for a two night honeymoon before I returned to night duty on the Monday.

Forty-seven years later we are still married.

I first met Iris, my future wife, at the Granville 50:50 Dance at Granville Bowling Club at Petersham Town Hall – 50% were old time dances e.g. Pride of Erin, Canadian Three Step and my favourite, the Swing Waltz and 50% were modern dances e.g. Barn Dance, Rock and Roll.

Mainly, we went dancing on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. We danced to music played by a great organist at Granville Bowling Club. I only knew Iris casually at that time.

We courted each other from 1973 to 1977 when we decided to get married. It was the same year as the Granville train disaster. We chose the Wayside Chapel as the venue for the ceremony.

I drove in for an appointment to make the wedding arrangements with Rev. Noffs whom I had known for some time.

I first met the Rev. Ted Noffs at the community hymn singing that he conducted at the Lyceum Theatre in Castlereagh Street. There were 20 in the choir and we wore blue/green robes. Membership was open to everyone. This half hour session was broadcast on 2CH. I used to listen to this program with my mother on a Thursday. My favourite hymn was Just as I Am.

Ted also initiated meals for homeless people on Christmas Day.

The Rev. Ted Noffs, whom everyone liked, married us in February 1977 at the Wayside Chapel. We were both 43 years old. Our birthdays were only 6 days apart. Iris wore an ice blue dress instead of the traditional white. There were about 100 guests. The organist played the Bridal March and the ceremony lasted about 30 minutes. Anyone from any denomination could be married at the Wayside Chapel.

My Best man was Brian Stewart, a former postman. I was also a postman. My two nieces, Robyn and Narelle Charlesworth, my sister’s daughters, were the bridesmaids.

Our reception was held at Ranwick-Botany Harrier’s Club at Pagewood.

Our Honeymoon was at Surfers Paradise. The first week was great. We went on canoe trips on the canal. We also went to Currumbin Bird Sanctuary, a bus trip to South Port, Robina shopping centre and Brisbane. The second week was a disaster. I had mouth ulcers. I could not talk. I had to write everything down. This ruined the second week. We were planning to have a steak on a BBQ. That became impossible due to my mouth ulcers.

We returned to Mons Street, Bankstown, to begin our married life together. A broken side fence greeted us upon our return. Another car had slammed into the fence as it took the “S” bend too fast. Welcome home!  

We relocated to Dapto in 1996, when we were both 65. Our 40 years of marriage ended when Iris was tragically taken from me on 6 March, 2017. This was the saddest day of my life. Not a day that goes by where I do not miss Iris. I create a memorial to her on every birthday, wedding anniversary and anniversary of her passing.

We were young in our peer group to get married. Neither of us cared much for tradition, except to give my beloved father who was dying some comfort to know his daughter would be ‘looked after’ following his passing. Sadly he passed away before the wedding date, but we decided the show must go on and it would be a celebration of love and life… and just one big party concluding at the Sebel Townhouse!

It just seemed apt to be making a love commitment on the first day of Spring, 1990.

We were very much believers in equality for all. With no religious affiliation, and with the utmost respect for the work of Rev Ted Noffs and the Wayside chapel, it was a no brainer to be married there.

It was such a hilariously disorganised wedding. No rehearsals. No tradition. No idea.  It was fabulously Vegas. The white pews and the lovely lady playing the organ. And my gold $50 Wendy Heather dress (remodelled from a Barbie Doll dress catalogue) even matching the chapel’s gold curtains. We even had some of the Wayside regulars mingling with the old aunties at the entrance. 

It was totally rock and roll 1990’s style. We didn’t even have a wedding photographer. Instead, everyone was given a disposable camera to capture their experience.

29 years later on and we are still happily married. Still strong believers in equality for all. 

Marrying at the Wayside was definitely a defining moment in so many ways to our life journey together.

My late husband Robert John Ryan and I were married by the Rev Ted Noffs in 1982. I was Church of England and Robert Catholic. We were finding it difficult to be married in the Church as Robert was required to get dispensation from the Bishop. We decided to make an appt to see Rev Noffs. He was wonderful! He said “he can be blue and you can be pink and I will still marry you” he was so welcoming and the service was absolutely everything we wanted.

My Dad John Grant Egan (RIP) and my Mum Anne Coralie Prebble

Short story: Married 1969 at The Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross, Sydney by none other than Reverend Ted Noffs

My Mums brother, had a broken leg in a cast.

My Aunty Loris had a broken toe.

Dad’s best man Daryl left the wedding rings in the motel where they got dressed, so my Mum was married with her Mum in law Nanny Egan’s ring.

The most traumatic thing was St George was playing Souths (big rivals back then and still are) South won 36 – 15 at the SCG so there were a lot of transistor and car radios being listened to hahaha

My Nana Preb was in mourning she lives and breathes St George.

The Wayside Chapel are doing a play about brides getting married there in the 60s, I’ve sent them these photos and story.

I’m 1 very proud daughter. My Dad would love that I’m sharing this.

We had both been married before. I unfortunately had married a bigamist and my husband was previously married to a New Zealand lady. We had no children from our previous marriages. My Mother and I lived in the Cross for some years. My mother was a barmaid at the old Rex Hotel near the fountain. I had a day job and part time jobs at the old Metro Theatre and various coffee lounges. Was a great place to live in those times. I admire the work of the wonderful Ted Noffs. My husband was Italian and was very happy to marry at the well respected Wayside Chapel. Was a fabulous day and had a great reception after at the Bronte Charles. We remained married and had two amazing daughters. Sergio, my husband sadly passed away in 2003.

We were married by Ted Noffs in my brother-in-law’s garden. We asked Ted to marry us because we felt his views were most compatible with ours. It was a simple wedding with the reception back at our tiny flat in Kirribilli. We paid $70 for a friend to do the catering, and had a case of champagne which was a gift. The morning after, another friend crept around the flat cleaning up for us, whilst we awoke to a shattering thunderstorm, which made us wonder if we had made a terrible mistake. Our first son was born in February 1972.

I am the 10th child of a working class family from Glebe. All ten children were born and raised in a 2 bedroom single fronted slum.

My Father, Thomas McDonald died suddenly following a work accident. I was only 5 years old. Mum, Elizabeth McDonald (nee Davis) promised my Father when she married him that any children would be brought up as Catholics and married in a church. My Father born in 1899 was a Catholic and my Mother born in 1905 was never baptised.

When I announced I was to marry Mum asked that we marry in a church (I am sure she meant a Catholic church but she just said a church).  

My soon to be husband, Rex Hewett was an atheist but out of respect for my Mum and her promise to my Father, agreed to marry in a church if we could find a church and someone to marry us who would conduct the ceremony without mentioning God or religion. 

We found the wonderful Wayside Chapel and Ted Noffs and he agreed to marry us and not mention God. Ted Noffs loved the challenge and did a great job talking about each of us, respect, personal growth and development, commitment, family, love and friendship. He was a man before his time – who made everyone feel welcome, valued and loved, and importantly he saw the value in difference and diversity. 

It was a wonderful wedding ceremony – the atheists didn’t notice they were in a church and the Catholics didn’t notice God was missing. 

We celebrated our 50th Anniversary in March 2019 and we cherish our memories of the Wayside Chapel and Ted Noffs.

My first ploy in wedding planning was to ring St Marks, Darling Point. Of course, was the response. Why did you choose us? Well you had a shot ten years ago and it didn’t work out too well so I’m trying to get a redemptive opportunity to marry again. Well in that case, we can’t help you. I soon found out that the alternatives shared similar roadblocks. So the Wayside Chapel became Plan Zulu. We thought hard about our ceremonial clobber, knowing that if we turned up wearing gorilla suits not an eye would be blinked or an eyebrow raised. My best friend Frank and I were both serving Lieutenant Commanders in the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy so we were quite familiar with the less salubrious ends of most harbourside cities. The time of year called for the donning of the full white rig, swords and medals. Now the question of suitable transport. Our next door neighbour both owned white Mini mokes. We decked them out in shaster daisies selected from our convivial Mosman neighbour’s gardens. On arrival at the Wayside Chapel we found that parking was at a premium so I berthed on the footpath. The family just disembarking from its celebration before us mustered for their family wedding album. Whoops! We had to borrow their photographer. Now Reverend Ted began briefing Frank on the bridesgroom’s duties to meet the ceremonial requirements. Like me he was a submariner and quickly said, ‘He shouldn’t have any trouble, it’s his second go. He’s survived enough risks in his career!’ The enjoyment of these moments is a measure of the fun we had and provides enduring memories of Ted Noff’s accommodating and personal enthusiasm. Even my Mum joined in with the occasional tears, she loved the traditional choice of naval hymns. At the grand finale everyone clapped!