I Do!: Katelyn Frisone and Jason Zelamsky, of Astoria, were wed May 23

It all started because of the Z in Jason Zelamsky’s last name. Katelyn Frisone and Zelamsky met in the spring of 2015 while both were attending Binghamton University. A friend introduced them, telling Frisone that Zelamsky could serve as the Z they needed to complete a clue for an alphabet scavenger hunt that was part of rush events for an engineering sorority.

“We have a pic of the three of us together, we were lifting him up the first day we met,” said Frisone, 28, originally from Commack, who works in medical communications. “But I first asked her [the friend] if the Z couldn’t be a zebra or a zucchini.”

They became friends that fall when they were on the same dorm floor, started dating in 2016 and graduated in 2018. They moved to Astoria, Queens, in 2021.

Zelamsky, 29, originally from Dix Hills, proposed Aug. 26, 2023. He wanted a location that was "velvety and romantic", he said, and discovered it in the Record Room, a vinyl speakeasy in Long Island City. He arranged to rent the cocktail lounge in the rear of the store for an hour, hired a photographer, decorated the room with candles and flower petals and asked the owner to play music by favorite artists Billy Joel, The Beatles and Bruno Mars. 

They made the lounge a stop during a city day with his brother, Justin Zelamsky. “Her family and my family were in on it,” Zelamsky said. “Then later we all met at an Italian restaurant in Astoria. It was a very special day for us.”

The wedding was May 23 at The Swan Club in Roslyn. It started with gorgeous weather for the photos before the service, then with a few minutes left in the ceremony it began to rain. “It was a magical moment — we had our first kiss in the rain,” Zelamsky said.

Justin Zelamsky officiated; Frisone’s brother Danny, 27, was a groomsman and the ring bearer and both fathers toasted the couple. While neither are big dancers, Zelamsky said they took lessons and worked hard to choreograph their first dance. “I’m super proud of the way it turned out,” he said. “We nailed all our steps.”