Our Amalfi Coast Themed Baby Celebration

ICYMI: we’re having another baby!

And while things have been extra different this time around – ehermmm, thanks COVID – we knew we wanted to find a special way to announce baby’s name and celebrate.

The catch was that we’re still essentially in quarantine, so no friends and no extended family. We weren’t going to let that dampen the mood, so we chose to have a little celebratory luncheon just the three of us – mama, dada and Rora.

We’re disheartened that we couldn’t celebrate in person with everyone, but the plus side is that you didn’t have to put on pants or leave your house. So, you’re welcome.

But like, this is still a quality excuse for you to drink. So please grab a glass + toast to Baby Tomacchio as you scroll through this post. We can’t wait to meet you, Ivy Essex Tomacchio!

Naturally, we pretended this shindig was a full blown party, complete with a balloon garland and cute-ass theme that paid homage to my husband’s Italian roots.

We wanted the whole vibe to feel like we were having a relaxed, sun-drenched lunch on the Amalfi Coast.

We chose a color palette that reminded us of an Italian sunset over the sea – shades of pink, yellow, orange and blue.

For this particular balloon garland, I used 46 balloons – 20 in hot pink, 15 light pink, 15 yellow, 3 larger 17” balloons in pink and 3 in yellow. I picked them all up at Party City, deflated, for a cost of around $25.

I never ever get balloons blown up at the store. They charge an arm and a leg, and, you do not need helium for a garland. Simply blowing them up by mouth works fine, or, invest in a hand pump like this one.

Then, I used this garland tape and balloon glue to arrange it. It truly is the absolute easiest way to do a garland, but there’s also this method.

I put a couple of small nails in the wall and used twine to secure the balloons to the nails.

I did my garland the night before the party and all in all, between blowing up and arranging, it took about 2.5 hours.

The morning of, I added some fresh eucalyptus leaves that I picked up at the grocery store.

More than a week later, the garland is still up and going strong! It’s a great reminder every day of our little girl.

Since this was such a small affair, I didn’t want to spend a fortune on floral like I normally would. Enter: Something Borrowed Blooms.

This is an amazing company that rents out faux, prearranged florals for weddings – we’re talking gorgeous centerpieces (complete with vases), bouquets, garlands, you name it.

I was ecstatic to find that they offered an arrangement in our theme colors, called The Kinsley, and I knew it was the right one for us immediately – the description even mentions how the colors are reminiscent of an Italian sunset (ummm hi, perfection).

It was extremely affordable, arrived the day before the event, and even included return shipping in the cost. Super easy.

Not only that, I loved that there was no minimum spend – most companies require that you order a specific minimum of items or dollar value, in order to use their services. Something Borrowed Blooms let me rent this ONE gorgeous centerpiece, no strings attached.

If you’re hosting any kind of party, shower, event, or especially your wedding, I highly recommend checking out this company. They have quite a few options for color schemes, plus, there’s the ability to order a preview kit, so you can see the goods well in advance of deciding on them.

Not only is it a way more affordable option than real flowers, but it’s more environmentally friendly and reduces waste. Check them out!

To add length to the tablescape, I picked up a few tiny indoor plants in bright yellow and hot pink, grouped them into bunches of three and planted them in two white 6” ceramic pots that I had laying around. That way, we got to enjoy them well after the party ended (they now have a permanent spot in our kitchen)!

To fill in the blank space in between the pots and the one large centerpiece from Something Borrowed Blooms, I added a few fresh lemons.

I used our existing white dishware as chargers, then added these Chinoiserie paper plates from Oriental Trading Co. on top.

As a place card, I tied hand painted card stock circles with each of our names onto fresh lemons.

Now for the food!

We wanted it to be light, refreshing and seaside inspired, so we served:

Burrata with a homemade pesto as a starter.

Followed by a Shrimp, Corn and Arugula Salad with a lemony olive oil dressing.

For the main course, my lovely chef husband really outdid himself with these Creamy Bacon Lobster Tails and Roasted Stuffed Oysters.

The oysters were my absolute favorite!

We also served a grapefruit Italian soda (found at Trader Joe’s) garnished with lemon wedges and a sprig of fresh rosemary from our herb garden, and lemon water.

We followed up our meal with these delicious and gorgeous cookies from Rock City Cookies. Here’s the listing for our specific cookie set.

I highly recommend ordering from her for all your cookie needs! The cookies were extremely tasty (pretty sure I ate like 10 of them) and obviously, they’re super cute. The owner was so sweet and really easy to work with. We’ll definitely be ordering from her again!

All in all, it was a perfect celebration for Baby Ivy and we had a wonderful time together as a family.

Ro’s adorable two-piece outfit can be found here, and her headband is actually mine! It came in a package with several different colors, and fits both mine and her head just fine. You can find the headbands here.

My shirt and skirt are both from J.Crew Factory – I’m wearing a size medium in the top and a size large in the skirt.

Anthony’s pants are from Target; they’re the Goodfellow brand men’s slim chinos, size 32×30. His v-neck is from J.Crew Factory in a size medium.

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