So what do the owners of Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo do for fun locally, to get away from work from time to time?
Anyone who owns a family business knows that time is one of the most precious resources. Although it can be challenging to cut out time for yourself, it is vital to your health and well-being.
Since the store is located in the Valley Gate Shopping Center in Warrington Bucks County and only 8 minutes from Doylestown, it’s convenient to go to this delightful town!
Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo has amazing staff members who are relied on to take care of our customers and they certainly do a very good job at it. This allows owner and life-long Bucks County native, Wendy Ianieri-Salerno and owner Franco Salerno to take some time for themselves. Let’s see what these best friends are doing when they’re not helping brides and grooms with their wedding attire!
What We Do
Two of our hobbies are international travel and great dining experiences. Over the years, we’ve seen and experienced many amazing things all over Europe and Southeast Asia and have many places on our list of “where to next”. One thing we both agree on – there is no food in the world like Italy.
But let’s talk specifically about pizza.
We have spent a substantial amount of time in Italy and there is never a bad meal. Finding authentic, quality regional Italian food is a challenge, outside of Italy. Anyone who has been to Italy most likely understands this. However, we do have a local pizza place that we enjoy regularly!
Where Is Our Go-To Spot in Doylestown?
Weekly we can be found at Spuntino Wood Fired Pizza. It’s the closest thing to Italian pizza that we’ve had in the US.
The pizza is the same size, about 10 inches in diameter for each person and has a similar thin crust charred by the wood burning pizza oven. We often encounter people from Italy dining at Spuntino. If that isn’t proof how authentic this pizza is, we don’t know what is?!
We prefer to sit in the main dining room that is usually open for dinner. There are more informal tables located outside the dining room. They offer take-out as well.
What Are We Eating?
We usually start our dinner with a Caesar and arugula salad and then each of us orders our preferred pizza.
Wendy likes the Regina and Crudo. Franco, in the colder months will order the Carbonara. In warmer months, Roberto, the owner, is often kind enough to come up with a lighter special for us. Or we choose the weekly special listed on the board since the ingredients are in season and freshest. The asparagus one was ridiculously delicious.
Spuntino’s staff is very kind and we always like seeing them.
The restaurant is a BYOB. We usually bring a small bottle of red wine to enjoy with our pizza.
A Surprise at Spuntino
One of the most joyous events was when our family went to Spuntino in November 2019.
One of our family’s traditions is to buy our Christmas tree on Black Friday and decorate the house and officially start the Christmas season. However, on Black Friday in 2019 we had something else up our sleeve and took a Christmas tree shopping ‘detour’. We went to Spuntino in Doylestown for lunch with daughters Daria and Deanna.
We surprised them with the announcement of a trip to Italy at that lunch. However, the bigger surprise was our daughters thought they were surprising Wendy with a family trip to Italy in the summer (6+ months away). At Spuntino, we delivered the news that we were actually leaving in 3 days and spending that Christmas season in Rome and Florence!
They were confused, shocked, and euphoric once they understood what was going on. We can honestly say that that Black Friday lunch was one of the most incredibly special memories for us and we still speak about it to this day.
Note: Darianna® is the combination of our daughters’ names.
Once Business Owners, Always Business Owners
When we are visiting Spuntino, you will often see us maintaining the store’s customer experience by answering the online chats on our iPhones or answering text messages being received and sent from the store’s telephone number. After all, we are assisting people with their wedding day and our customers deserve immediate answers.
We receive so many text messages to our store’s telephone number that often the entire staff is answering them. We want our customers to have a wonderful experience whether we are in the store or not. (And they don’t know we have a phone in one hand and a slice in the other!)
We highly recommend this hidden gem for an authentic Italian pizza. We are sure you will love it, especially if you enjoy how pizza is served in Italy. Spuntino is located at 22 S Main Street, Doylestown, PA. 18901, inside the Main Street Market Place. Telephone 215-340-7660. Social Media: @spuntinodoylestown
If You’re Up for a Movie
Wendy and I have been members of the County Theater in Doylestown for decades. Sometimes after having dinner at Spuntino we will catch a film at the County, and their matinee show times are good for us, too. They also run classics and last year Wendy took Deanna to see Purple Rain (Deanna is a huge Prince fan) that was showing in the large theater they now have.
The theater is walking distance from Spuntino. We’ve always liked the theater and it’s offerings, but you must see it after the expansion and refurbishment. The place is fabulous! Movie tickets can be conveniently purchased online and are delivered to you by email.
The County Theater can be found at 20 E State Street, Doylestown, PA. 18901. Telephone 215-345-6789
Art and More In Doylestown
Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo is also a Corporate Business Partner of the Michener Museum. When time permits, we will visit to see any new exhibits and enjoy the long running exhibits.
Recently, we were excited and honored to spend the afternoon at the Michener with famed Bucks County artist George R. Anthonisen and his wonderful wife and business partner, Ellen Anthonisen. His exhibit is called Meditations on the Human Condition and runs until October 13, 2024.
The Michener Art Museum is located at 138 S Pine Street, Doylestown, PA. 18901. Telephone 215-348-9800
Shop Local
As Bucks County business owners ourselves, we know the importance of shopping locally and helping other local business owners and organizations. It feels good to spread the love when we have extra time to purchase from our neighbors. Whether it’s books from the Doylestown Bookshop or waffles and ice cream from Nina’s, we do shop local.
Since our formal wear store is located in the Philadelphia region, when we have a little extra time, we head to Philadelphia to hit some of our favorite spots. Stay tuned for our next fun blog on What The Owners of Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo Do In Philadelphia.
There’s a lot of choice in Philadelphia, so you will be surprised by some of our Philadelphia traditions that we have created over the years.
What’s your favorite spot in Bucks County, Philadelphia or the surrounding counties? We’d love to hear. Send us a note and maybe we can feature the business in a blog!
About Franco & Wendy Salerno
Wendy and Franco are the co-founders and co-owners of Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo. They opened their original location on January 7, 2013. The launch of the store was an immediate success and within 6 months of opening the store, they were out of room. Two years later, they built and opened a store three times the size. All this was done with no bridal, tuxedo or retail experience. The couple focused on the customer by providing kind and honest services in a no pressure atmosphere. Today, they continue to be the best bridal store in the Philadelphia region and offer beautiful bridal gowns, mother of the bride and groom dresses, tuxedo rentals, suit rentals and prom dresses.
Now that Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo is an established, successful business, the founders work as the visionaries and strategic planners of the business. Their daughters and the large staff run the day-to-day operations. Much of the blog content for the store’s website is written by the founders, drawing from a ton of experience. Wendy and Franco are also active members of the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce, the Lower Bucks Chamber of Commerce and the Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. The store and owners have been featured on Apple’s website on Apple News, in Apple’s advertising, and the US Chamber of Commerce’s co publication.