Writer Stefanie Preissner ties the knot with ‘perfect fit’ Noel

Stefanie Preissner and her husband Noel Byrne pictured after they got married on Friday. Picture: Gerry Mooney

Stefanie Preissner on her wedding day. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Noel Byrne and Stefanie Preissner share a joke after their wedding. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Happy couple Noel Byrne and Stefanie Preissner. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Noel Byrne and Stefanie Preissner. Picture: Gerry Mooney

Stefanie Preissner and her husband Noel Byrne pictured after they got married on Friday. Picture: Gerry Mooney

Stefanie Preissner on her wedding day. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Noel Byrne and Stefanie Preissner share a joke after their wedding. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Happy couple Noel Byrne and Stefanie Preissner. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Noel Byrne and Stefanie Preissner. Picture: Gerry Mooney

Stefanie Preissner and her husband Noel Byrne pictured after they got married on Friday. Picture: Gerry Mooney

Rodney Edwards

July 25 2021 02:30 AM

Writer and podcaster Stefanie Preissner began a new chapter in her life on Friday when she married Noel Byrne at a small and intimate ceremony in Dublin.

As a result of Covid-19 restrictions, just 30 guests attended the wedding, which had been organised almost entirely by Mr Byrne, a political adviser at Leinster House.

“All these bells and whistles are lovely but I am very laid back about the whole thing and just wanted to be married,” Preissner said.

Stefanie Preissner on her wedding day. Photo: Gerry Mooney

She spoke of “feeling nervous” but “very happy” to be getting married and being reunited with many of her friends and family who she had not seen during the pandemic.

“What works is that Noel and I are so compatible: we are like two little jigsaw pieces that just fit together because his strengths complement my weaknesses; my strengths complement his weaknesses.

Noel Byrne and Stefanie Preissner share a joke after their wedding. Photo: Gerry Mooney

“I don’t like gatherings of any description but I am happy to see people I haven’t seen since 2019. I definitely want to be married but getting married is a bit of a stressful process,” she said.

The Sunday Independent Life magazine columnist met her husband on Instagram in February 2019 after she reviewed the best-selling book Once More We Saw Stars by Jayson Greene about the power of love in the face of unimaginable loss.

She says she knew “very early on” they were going to get engaged and decided to set up a secret email account, which she filled with memories, pictures and “funny in-jokes” for 18 months.

Video of the Day

Happy couple Noel Byrne and Stefanie Preissner. Photo: Gerry Mooney

“The first email I sent to it said, ‘Noel if you are reading this – you’ve just proposed to me.’ When he gave me the ring I gave him this email and password. There were 150 emails in it.”

Dressed for the big day in an ivory dress that cost “half the price of Noel’s suit” and Adidas high tops trainers, a content Preissner beamed: “I knew this was the guy who was able for me”.

She described their relationship as like “two Venn diagrams overlapping” and explained how Covid-19 has “shifted perspectives and showed us what our real values are”.

Noel Byrne and Stefanie Preissner. Picture: Gerry Mooney

“My priority is home and family. The fact I can gather together all the people I love and who love me to show them that I am introducing a new person to my family and for Noel to introduce me to his family is what our wedding is all about.

“This is like the release of a pressure cooker of 18 months of restrictions, lockdowns and loss — it has rejuvenated us all,” she said with a smile.