Dina and Jay had a lovely Biltmore wedding at the amazing Lioncrest venue on the Estate. Michael and I got to spend a lot of time with this couple over the course of their wedding week. We even enjoyed getting to eat some of Jay’s amazing homemade deep dish pizza. This couple was super generous to us and even sent us home with a bottle of champagne as a thank you gift. We hope you will enjoy taking a look back on their wedding. We loved sharing in their day… I mean days!
First here is a bit more from Dina and Jay themselves!
A bit about Dina: She loves to be active, travel, laugh, dance, eat and drink! Felt like I finally began living again with I met Jay, he is truly a gift from God. I adore Josh and Daniel and our fur babies, Luke and Laci.
A bit about Jay: Athletic and and easy going, down to earth guy. Loves to laugh and joke around but has a serious side when appropriate. Overall, a kid at heart and a dad who loves his boys, dogs and most importantly his Bella (Dina).
How did you meet? We met at the hospital where we worked. It wasn’t love at first sight as Dina thought I was a jerk 🙂 but we soon became friends and that friendship blossomed into what we have today.
Describe your first date? It was actually my son Daniel’s idea that I ask Dina out. I didn’t think I was ready for dating after a year of being single. He’s actually the one who called Dina and asked if she’d go out with me. Of course, she couldn’t say no! 😉 We went to Sullivan’s for my birthday and had such a great time. We joked and laughed like old friends. We both knew it was the start of something.
How long have you been together? We’ve known each other for 9 years and dated for 4 1/2 years
What are your favorite hobbies and activities to do as a couple? Love to travel and experience new places and food. We also love just hanging out together with friends or with the boys (Josh and Daniel) and watching a movie or playing with our dogs.
Who popped the question and HOW? Jay popped the question a few hours before we were going to a Christmas party. I had put a slideshow together of all our times together over the years to different kinds of music. At the end of the slideshow, I had a couple of pictures of me on one knee with the ring to the song ‘Marry Me’ by Train. At that time, I got down on one knee in front of her and popped the question. It actually took Dina a bit to give me an answer because she couldn’t believe I was asking her! Thankfully, she said yes!
Why did you pick Asheville and the Biltmore? We had been to Biltmore prior to my deployment and just fell in love with the mountains and the area. We feel at home here in Asheville.
What adjective best describes your spouse on your wedding day? For me the adjective I (Jay) would use to describe Dina would be stunning. Jay to me (Dina) was charmingly handsome.
What tangible detail of your wedding day did you love the most? For us, it was the ceremony itself. We were both pretty emotional and ecstatic that we were finally marrying our best friend!
How many guests attended the wedding? 120
What did you and your guests eat at the reception? Started off with appetizers (crab cakes, vegetable tartlets, chicken cordon blue bites) then at the reception were sweet potato raviolis with Alfredo Sauce, followed by prosciutto wrapped grilled romaine lettuce followed by filet mignon topped with crab meat and a bearnaise sauce with potatoes and asparagus.
What was the flavor of your wedding cake? I know one part was chocolate. We really didn’t get to eat any of the cake as we were having so much fun!
What is the one of the funniest things that happened on your wedding day? Jay: For me not being ready b/c of the Michigan game being on. When Michael got there I hadn’t even showered yet! I got a call from Dina’s best friend Cheryl who asked what I was doing and when I told her watching the Michigan game she said I’ll tell Dina you’re almost ready 🙂 Dina: I think the funniest thing was watching our friends dancing barefoot and lip syncing and watching my parents dress up for the photo booth pictures!
What was your first dance song and why did you pick it? 1000 years by Christina Perri. This song is just us. We’ve found a love in each other that will last forever…if you really listen to the words of this song it can be taken as two hearts telling each other not to be afraid and he/she has been waiting for the other and has loved the other one for 1000 years
What stood out to you the most when you think of your wedding? Just how much fun everyone had and how everyone said it was the best wedding they’d ever been at, including their own!
Dina and Jay decided to do their first look 4 days before their actual wedding! We Mozingos actually loved this. Biltmore has SO much property and so many photo opportunities that there is often not enough time on the wedding day to visit all these amazing locations. They had their first look and then we went around Biltmore to capture the awesome moments with the diverse scenery.
We love this place. Check out the difference between this shot and the next shot. The first shot is Michael’s. He is shooting with a zoom lens (70 – 200mm) and is standing waaaay back. The house looks huge in the background.
This shot is mine. I am using a 24 to 70mm lens and am much closer than Michael. Both of these moment are so much fun with two totally different perspectives. I love having my husband as my side kick!
This is probably my favorite moment between these two love birds.
The beautiful Dina.
Another great thing about doing an extra session is Dina and Jay were able to bring their pups along. We had time to photograph these sweet pups with their momma and daddy.
So Dina wanted to dip Jay… we have never had a bride want to dip a groom. We all laughed so so hard.
Now, about that sunset… This may be one of the most unique, beautiful sunsets we have ever seen at Biltmore.
Onward to the wedding! We loved Jay and Dina’s invites.
Dina had a moment with her sweet friends sharing gifts.
This is Jay helping the Father of the Bride with his tie.
Jay’s two sons were also a part of the festivities.
We just love you Dina. These pictures make me tear up a bit!
A lot of people remarked that their favorite part of the ceremony was when Jay’s son’s did readings.
We all cried.
Then Jay’s eldest pretended to forget the rings.
We laughed so hard!
Congrats Jay and Dina!!
I love that this crowd got a little crazy during the family formals.
I love love love some fall color! These flowers by Luck at Asheville Flower Gallery made me swoon.
Shout out to Mary from Mary Bell Events for making the table numbers and the seating cards! We loved them.
Biltmore’s pastry chef makes all the wedding cakes. We love all the detail on this one!
Since both Jay and Dina are Italian they had to serve Italian style desserts!
The wedding favors were wine glasses.
Now introducing…
The Mr. and the Mrs.!
The prayer for dinner had a little speech with it. It was so good and this pastor had amazing advice for the couple that involved writing scripture on baseballs! (One of Jay’s favorite sports)
This was such a jolly crowd. So much laughter and joy.
Let there be cake!
Toast time!
First dance.
Dina has such an amazing sense of humor. Did I mention that I love this bride yet?
Ok, this band… THIS BAND called Cashmere tore it up! Michael and I do enjoy a good band and they covered some of our favorite wedding songs.
Everyone else seemed to love the band too. The dancing was hilarious at times!
Dina and Jay had our “Photo Fun Center” at their wedding. We love how everyone gives us such funny moments and genuine smiles when they get all dressed up.
Congratulations again to Dina and Jay. We are excited for you guys to start this new adventure together.
Shout out to these wedding professionals that made this day awesome.
BettyWOW!!! Those were amazing.