The First Radio Wedding

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 30, 7 February 1930, Page 3

The First Radio Wedding

_ The widespread influence of radio ‘broadcasting was evident by the interest centermg round the wedding of Miss Gwen Shepherd, ‘‘Aunt Gwen," of 2YA, which event took place Wednesday. last, when some two thousand interested spectators assembled in and about the Pro-cathedral, Wel- . lington, to witness what proved to be, the largest public wedding for very many years. It is estimated that the vast audience to that event numbered over 30,000.

VER since. the inception of Station 2YA there has been an "Aunt Gwen" who has gladdened the hearts of thousands of children through the medium ‘of the microphone. There was probably no personality bet-

ter known ‘to the children of New Zealand than "Aunt Gwen’ ‘of 2YA, and it is not surprising then that herwedding and the consequent departure from her post was filled with interest. éalising the widespread interest of this event; the Broadcasting Company Wisely suggested a broadcast of the wedding. Such a broadcast had not been attempted before, with the result that the interest in Wednesday’ $ event was twofold. The ceremony was scheduled to take place in St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral, Wellington, at 3 p.m., Wednesday, but long before that time a. great crowd had collected, and by 2 p.m. there was scarcely standing room in the large cathedral, Just before the ceremony there were collected outside the ehureh a erowd that stretched from the doors right across and down the wide street. There were probably 2000 spectators. A mighty cheer went up as the bride approached, and the interested spec"tators crowded forward to catch a ‘glimpse of one many , knew only through 2YA. "THE broadcast from the cathedral commerzced with the strains of the organ, at which 'Mr. Robert Parker officiated. ‘This part of the broadcast was not the least interesting of the afternoon’s relay, for it was one of the very rare occasions when Mr, Parker, who is probably the most noted musician in the Southern Hemisphere, has _ broadcast. Listeners who are musically inclined would appreciate the feeling and technique which characterises Mr. Parker’s renderings. WHE wave of excitement that was set up with "Aunt Gwen’s" approach to the church ran through the church as she moved up to the altar on the arm of her father. Interest Was not Seely on "Aunt Gwen," for there was a very large number of visitors who were anxious to see Mr. Stennett, the bridegroom, who was attended by Mr. R. 8. Allright (of the Melodie Four) in the eapacity of best man. The service, performed by Archdeacon Inues-Jones, came over the air perfectly, and listeners were- -for the first time in broadcasting history able to hear the decisive words "I will." At the conclusion, the Archdeacon. gave a short address, adjuring: the to keep their faithe in and to practice prayer, and to neglect no opportunity that may occur to join God's people in praise and‘ worship. HH bridal pair left the church to the strains of the Wedding March from "Lohengrin," and the chatter of the vast concourse. gatherec utside was distinctly audible, The bridal party looked very beautiful as they left the church, and it

needed a television equipment to convey to listeners the colourful scene, ‘The bride was wearing a gown of ivory net and Honiton lace over georgette. The long skirt of the net reached in deep points nearly to the ground. The gown was finished wit: a large bow of shell pink and white satin on the left side. Her yeil of ivory net, was, lightly embroidered in silver and fell

from a coronet of pearls. She wore a string of pearls and carried a beautiful bouquet presented by Mr. R, A.. Nicol. Mrs. Claude C. Moss ("Aunt Huia," sister of the bride) was matron of honour and wore a frock in a deep shade of pink silk. net over'crepe de chine. French flowers in pastel shades decorated the frock, and she wore a wide hat of crinoline straw. She carried a bouquet of rose pink sweet peas. Three small bridesmaids, Ailsa Woodward, Sonia Findlay, and Patricia Luke, attended, wearing frocks of frilled pink taffetas all in the same shade, wide pink crinoline hats finished with band and long ends of blue ribbon. They carried Victorian posies of. pink sweet peas, QNCE outside the church the’ whole scene was one of great animation. Photographers with their‘ tall’ unwield‘ly cameras seemed to be everywhere, and-confetti covered far move than the bride and bridegroom. On. all sides there was a pressing crowd, and there was great difficulty in negotiating the car through it. The car finally es-

caped, and the vast crowd melted far more quickly than it had collected. ‘Here a kindly and considerate thought on the part of the bride and bridegroom must be noted. Although Wednesday is normally a silent day at 2YA, Mr. Collins, the operator, was perforce in attendance, and. "Aunt Gwen" performed a characteristically gracious and kindly act in ‘stopping at the

studio, looking very radiant and beautiful, to receive personally Mr. Collins’s congratulations and good wishes. HE reception at the home of the parents of the bride was another feature of the unique broadcast, and while the host and hostess were receiving the guests, Mr. Drummond, announcer of 2YA, described very ably the brilliant scene as the yisitors moved to and fro on the lawn, meeting the bride and bridegroom. Hosts of congratulatory telegrams were now being received and read out from all over the Dominion, from Sydney, Melbourne and other parts of Australia, and one pathetic one, complaining, "We kids don’t like that naughty.man who is taking you away, Aunt Gwen." Another from Taranaki read : "Please convey to Aunt Gwen heartiest congratulations and. best wishes from all Taranaki listeners, All sets will be in tune with 2YA this afternoon." On behalf of the Radio Broadcasting Company, Mr. W. R. Harris, wired: "Members of the staff of the Radio Broadcasting Company in Christchurch

are very 7 interested guests at yours, the first radio wedding in New Zealand, and join with me extending .to’ you best wishes for a yery happy future." The guests then assembled: and _ honoured the toasts of the day. ‘There _ _ Were a number of speeches, and these were all broadcast. Archdeacon InnesJones was chairman. ‘The toast of the "Bride and Bridegroom" was proposed by Captain A.V. Hale Monro, and replied to by Mr. Stennett, Mr. Guy Monro’ proposed the toast of "The Bridesmaids," and Mr. R. 8. Allright replied. Mr. H. A. Huggins proposed the toast of "The Bride’s Parents," which was endorsed by Major Bric Reeves and replied to by Mr. Shepherd. N behalf of my wife, said Myr. Bruce Stennett, and myself I want to thank you for the cordial manner in which you have honoured the toast to our health and future happiness. We seek happiness in. our new life and I feel that the good wishes you have expressed will contributé .in a large measure towards accomplishing that end. You have all helped to make this occasion one to be long remembered and cherished by us and, indeed, it will form part of the basis of our future. I want to.thank those Radio listeners who have bestowed so many kind acts and who have sent messages of kindly ‘thought. Particularly do: I want the children to hear my. words of thanks. All those boys and girls who have listened to the Childrens’ Hour with :. much interest and who have made Aunt Gwen’s work at 2YA such _ a pleasure. We give. them our best wishes and hope they. shall be very happy always. I also want to express my appreciation of Mr. Allwright for the excellent manner in which he has carried out the responsibilities. of best man. Hisassistance has been invaluable in helping to bring this event to such a happy conclusion. Above all we extend our grateful thanks to you for the delightful presents. We accept these gifts with the good wishes accompanying them. We look forward to the future with high hopes and the graciousness of all will be cherished as a lasting memory. HE station director, Mr. J. Davies, addressed a few appreciative words on behalf of 2YA:"It gives me very much pleasure, as station director of 2YA, with which Aunt-Gwen has been’ associated for nearly two years, to convey to her-the heartiest good wishes for her future happiness and prosperity from the staff of ‘the station and: myself. "In her position of organiser of the children’s session, Aunt Gwen speedily’ attained a high standard of efficiency and established through the microphone a wonderful intimacy with her youthful listeners. Thousands of letters regularly received convey the appreciation evoked by her sincerity and sustained enthusiasm. "A very remarkable expression of interest in her was afforded at the Radio Exhibition last winter, when, at short notice, it was announced that Aunt Gwen would be available to meet the children and parents, and on the two afternoons she was the centre of

The First Radio Wedding

— @ very happy throng that was de- | ugnted to make personal acquaintance . ‘real true Aunt. "The time has now arrived when that charming personality, which has been diffused over a wide field through the microphone, is to be concentrated upon one happy individual, and I can assure Mr. Stennett that we think him a very lucky man. "In conclusion, I would like to take the opportunity of thanking Aunt Gwen for the unfailing courtesy and concentration she brought to her work, and wish her and her husband the very, very best for the future." Me. MOSS, proposing the toast of the Radio Broadcasting Company, sajd: "It it my _ privilege’ to Ey you ‘to -honour’ the _ toast of the Radio Broadcasting Company of New Zealand, Limited, and as I have been asked to make my remarks brief I will only ask to have your interest for about three-quarters of an hour or perhaps a little less. We all know what a wonderful service the Radio Broadcasting Company gives to all its listeners, far and near. Their service to the community is a unique one, inasmuch as it reaches all corners of the Dominion and beyond. Your radio audience is composite and cosmopolitan. It contains thousands of people representing as many interests as all kinds of theatre audiences combined, and it is no small task to please such an audience as the Radio Broadcasting Company certainly has done. "What a wonderful gift from God to humanity is broadcasting, particularly ‘to those who are not well enough to leave their homes and those in hospitals! "Referring again to the Radio Broadcasting Company of New Zealand, | think of the Rotar:an motto "Servic before self." The Broadcasting Company must have a great amount of Rotarian spirit in its organisation and staff, for it certainly gives us "Service before self," as we know of many 0ci

casions when they have not spared — their staff or their equipment to give service, even "All through the night." RESPONDING on behalf of the Radio Broadcasting Company, Mr. J. Ball said:-‘"I desire, first of all, to gratefully acknowledge the kindly and appreciative sentiments which have been so nicely expressed by Mr. Moss and so enthusiastically endorsed by this happy company. "This is neither the time nor the place for a representative of, the company to speak at any length of the service which we are striving to .render to the community, Suffice it to say that by all who have the honour to be associated with it-from the directors and general manager down to the youngest recruit-it is looked upon as a service fraught with almost illimitable possibilities and grave responsibilities, and that back of every feature there is on the part of all concerned a sincere and lofty ambition to make this most wonderful, potent and intimate medium for the communication of pleasure and enlightenment of the utmost use and benefit to the people of this Dominion. © "At the moment, however, we are concerned with the broadcast service only insofar as it has. served to make the nume of Aunt Gwen a household word throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand. Our thoughts this afternoon are all for that winsome lady, and I esteem it a privilege to be permitted to join with you in the felicitations and good wishes of which she is the happy and worthy recipient. "The Radio Fairies never fail. Night after night for months and years they have been faithfully doing her bidding, flitting here and there, north, south, eust, and west, with innumerable gifts "or countless Radio Cousins. They. have, as it were, followed her muchyyved voice into the listening homes, and crowned her ever-welcome messages of cheer and good-will with their loving tokens. "And now, when in -response to the (Coneluded on page 38.)

The First Radio Wedding

(Concluded from page 5.)

) eall of Love itself she needs must leave our, shores and bid a fond. farewell: to ' Radioland, her unseen multitude of ' fairy. helpers have hallowed the marriage altar with their presence and placed on her bridal finger the gift of gifts. . "Beyond the unseen fairies there are the thousands of unseen listeners who throughout this joyous afternoon have been, and are.still, with us in spirit. All Radioland has come to the wedding! Boys and girls and fathers and mothers all, over New Zealand are lis-tening-in and sharing with us in everything but the delights of this wedding breakfast. They were with, us at the church. They are with us here. Unseen and unheard, they are as one with us in the sincerity of their kindly thoughts and generous wishes for Aunt Gwen and her husband. "What a wonderful army of * wellwishers! Was ever bride more greatly honoured? Boys and girls and fathers and mothers of Radioland, may I, in conclusion, speak for you and invite the company here assembled to join with you in a nation-wide ‘Auld Lang Syne’ for dear Aunt Gwen? She is here, bright and smiling as ever. She is about to leave us and exchange her bridal robes for her travelling trappings. She is waiting to say good-bye to you all. Come now, before she speaks-‘Should auld acquaintance,’ " UNFORTUNATELY during _ this Speech of Mr. Claude Moss the crowd in the reception room kicked the plug out of the microphone and a large part was lost. This unfortunately happened a second time; otherwise the broadcast was perfect. At intervals, the beautiful chimes of the striking clock presented to the bride by 2YA were heard, and attention to this fact was drawn by the announcer, who surprised listeners by saying, at seven minutes past five, "You will now hear the five o’clock chimes." In diffidence to the announcer we shall not repeat a query. that came over the telephone following this rather startling announcement.. It was a thrilling moment when Mrs. Stennett, but "still Aunt Gwen," as she told them, rose to bid good-bye to all her radio friends over the air, She exhorted her young friends not to forget what they had promised together, to do one good deed each day, and to be unfailingly kind to animals. "Uncle Bruce" also said a few words to the children.. He told them that although he knew the children were sorry that he was taking Aunt Gwen away, and she was sorry to leave them all, that ‘she wanted to go and that he would bring her back to speak to them again some day, but that she Must go away with him now. Finally Aunt Gwen came to what was plainly the most difficult task she had yet to perform-actually to say good-bye, and then could do so only by promising to send messages to Aunt Molly. "Good-bye all Radio Land, good-bye"-and "Aunt Gwen" had ceased to be, , ON view at the bride’s home were the very beautiful presents which had been sent from all over New Zealand. Again a televisor would be necessary if a just impression of the presents

had to be conveyed. They ranged from delicate crystal to a massive bookstand. The total number of presents displayed must have numbered ~ over 100. "Good-byes" and "good wishes" were received from .hundreds of little ones throughout the country. The most unique and _ successful broadcast closed with musical items rendered by well-known broadcasting artists, and as a grand finale almost all the gentlemen present joined in a ‘mighty "Auld Lang Syne." Concerning this, we must tell a. little story: This: well-known chorus had been sung earlier in the proceedings, and in order to hear more clearly the items that were being broadcast several of the guests assembled in a room in which there was a wireless receiver. When the final item (which, of course, was not scheduled) came through, one of the gentlemen became very bewildered, and remarked, "Well, that is marvellous, they must have had that bottled up somewhere from the last time." : It took quite a few seconds. for the truth to dawn that this was a second rendering. Appreciative Correspondence. J UDGING from the correspondence received by the Broadcasting Company, the broadcast of Aunt Gwen’s wedding was celebrated in many homes. . Numerous children’s parties were Le One of the letters to 2YA reads: "T cannot let to-day’s relay pass without sending you our thanks and appreciation. Reception here was perfect. Although we have no children here we are often listening’to the children’s session. We have been eagerly looking forward to this day, and in honour of Aunt Gwen’s wedding day my wife decorated the room with flowers, and I charged all the batteries. We invited some friends and opened a bottle of wine and drank the toasts standing. We heard everything clearly. Mr. Parker’s playing of the "Wed+ ding March" was simply wonderful. We heard Aunt Gwen’s ‘laugh many times, so we know she was happy. You see how real radio brings things to us and how much it means in the lives of people words fail to express. Many times I have intended to write to you, but one good thing follows another so often I should be writing all the fie. The good things you give us ares numerous to mention. I am very grateful that I have the privilege to enjoy this most wonderful thing radio. The company and all the staff may feel proud of their work in giving to listeners so much pleasure. We are not interested in sport ourselves, but seeing that we hear so many thines we like we are pleased that you can give the sports news for those who (lo like it."