Skytop Lodge October Wedding in Pennsylvania

April 21, 2023

Skytop Lodge, in Skytop, PA East Stroudsburg, PA Pennsylvania Sophia Tolli from La Bella Moda Bridal Shop Azazie Joseph A Bank

Jess and Bill had a quintessential fall wedding at Skytop Lodge, in Skytop, PA on October 1st! The foliage was still fairly green, but some leaves were beginning to turn out in Pennsylvania. The couple wanted a woodsy, but classic and timeless wedding with photos that felt “in-the-moment.” We think these two did an incredible job of going with the flow and enjoying the day. But of course, we had to do *some* editorial posing in front of Skytop’s large, Palladian windows and “library” room. Jess and Bill chose Skytop after looking at some South Jersey locations, such as LBI. Once they pulled up to Skytop to check it out, they were like “this is it!!” Lodging would be easy, the price point was great and they both love the Poconos area. They chose this time of year for the foliage up in Pennsylvania and the mild temperatures.

The Vision

“We are hoping to create a romantic, classic wedding vibe with fall colors as our inspiration. The color of our bridesmaid dresses and flowers are terracotta and white, with accents of greenery.”

The planner was Keira Gallagher of Simple Elegance Event Co. The bride’s dress was Sophia Tolli from La Bella Moda Bridal Shop. The terracotta (swoon!) bridesmaid dresses were Azazie and the groom’s suit was from Joseph A Bank.

The bride and her girls prepped in the Cunningham Suite at Skytop Lodge. The off-site ceremony was held at St. Matthew’s Church in East Stroudsburg, PA. Although it was a more traditional day with a church ceremony, the couple still opted for a first look. This way we could get the bulk of their important photos done early and only take a few more creative shots of the couple later when we returned to the venue.

You may recall Jess and Bill’s engagement session at Jockey Hollow, which was one of our all-time favorite fall engagement sessions! We just knew it’d be a breeze to work with them. They make loving each other look easy. 😉

How they met:

“We met during the summer session before our first year at Penn State University through mutual friends. I guess you could say we “fell” for each other then.”

First date:

“We didn’t go on our first date until our sophomore year at PSU. We went to a restaurant called Cozy Thai when I was still a vegetarian. Bill pretended to love the tofu appetizer I ordered and I remember thinking, he’s a keeper. However, I learned several years later after dating that he thought the tofu tasted like a wet sponge and only pretended to like it to impress me.

We spent the rest of college showing off our impressive dance moves at formals, spending Valentine’s Day at Fetty Wap concerts, vacationing at both of our family’s favorite spot (Long Beach Island, NJ), and making some of the best memories of our lives together.

Our jobs brought us both to Philadelphia after graduation. We couldn’t decide which cheesesteak place we liked the best, so we chose to live in Manayunk, South Philly, and Plymouth Meeting over a span of 5 years.”

The engagement:

“We went out to eat the day before Valentine’s Day in 2020 in Society Hill, Philadelphia. It seemed like a perfectly normal night until Bill wouldn’t let me get a take-home box for the dinner I only ate ¼ of (extremely unusual behavior for him as he always eats my leftovers). He told me after the dinner that I was too full to finish that we were going for ice cream. The path to ice cream took a different route, as Bill led me down a beautiful walkway and asked me to marry him. Never got my ice cream.”