What an event last Tuesday night! If you're in the Boston area, and you didn't attend the Biggest Baby Shower Ever, you really missed out! I met up with several friends and we all had a blast!! I was offered admission at no cost to facilitate this review, and I can't wait to tell you more about it, show you what the Swag Bag contained this year, and tell you about the next Biggest Baby Shower event in NYC next month! (Go get your tickets for NOW!)
Ok, let me start at the beginning. Each of my friends were able to purchase the ticket that was going to work best for them, based on price and perks. Some friends did a Couple Pass, where they were able to split the ticket cost and divide up the prizes. I chose the Standard pass which basically covered admission, a Bingo Card, and the gift bag. Most of my friends chose the Super or Ultimate Pass, where they received all the perks and prizes, early admission, AND a Lillebaby Baby Carrier and/or a Britax stroller, which well covered the cost of their pass and made it instantly worth the expense.
We all felt a little lost at first, not knowing where the seminars were or if we needed to fill our entire Bingo Card, but now that we know the drill, next time will be a breeze. With every pass except the Basic Pass, when you enter, you're given an empty Bingo Card, and as you visit each table or vendor, you can get that square signed off. It was a little unclear whether we needed to just obtain a "bingo", or if getting a "blackout" rewarded you with a bigger prize, but it was really only necessary to get around 25 signatures in order to turn in your card at the end. It was still of a fun activity to try and visit all the tables we could! Each was informative, attractively presented, and well-staffed, and we loved the chance to see and test out these products in person. I fell in love with Bellini's jeweled dresser drawer hardware and customized bedding sets and Joovy always has the neatest line up of strollers and trikes. I was really won over with Motorola's video monitors, and was so impressed with the latest models, I wanted to buy one right there.
The food was great, and there was just the right mix of catered appetizers, drinks, and sweets at nearly every table. As we went around to the tables and learned more about the best baby products on the market, we were able to pick up samples, enter their drawings, and win some goodies! The picture below is what I picked up from the tables, including a huge pile of coupons, booklets, product information sheets, and business cards. I was most excited about winning a 6-pack of Fiesta Fun Time bottles from Tommee Tippee, which is sold for around $29.99! I think most of my friends who took advantage of the early admission were able to gather more goodies from the tables.
A few tips: bring address labels to quickly attach to the dozens of forms and entry stubs you'll be entering at the tables. Instead of taking time to write out your address and phone number again and again, just peel off a label and stick. Business cards could also be a good idea for drawings. Don't bring a big purse! A small cross-body is all you'd want to be carrying. Also, don't even bother bringing a water bottle. There are plenty of drinks and food at the event. And think about how you'll be getting home! Some of us city moms came by public transportation, and going home that way with our caravan of treasures looked ridiculous. Get your spouse to pick you up at the end of the night!
Attend the seminars! We sat in on a "Navigating Boston as a New Mom" seminar and came away some good ideas, resourceful websites to look up. The panel was well chosen and Big City Moms did a great job keeping them timely and efficient. The seminars are informative, the perfect length of time, and you are able to win even more prizes just for being in attendance. TWO of my friends won some sweet items! Jamie won a Halo Bassinette and Brooke won a Maxi-Cosi Stroller! Lucky! If you happened to win a large item, Big City Moms took your information in order to mail your these prizes so you don't have to lug giant boxes home on top of everything else. As the week has progressed, emails have been trickling with even more wins! My friend has gotten emails this week saying that she's won 6 months of prenatal yoga AND $1500 of cord blood banking! What a lucky duck!
At the end of the night, you turn in your filled Bingo card and collect a prize! I saw people walking away with baby bath tubs, feeding seat systems, and all sorts of decently priced baby items. On top of that comes the overflowing gift bag!
When I got my gift bag, I was just tickled to see a pair of Pediped shoes on top! And in sparkly purple! Swoon! When I got home and unloaded it all in front of my very impressed husband, I really loved seeing some of the same products that we saw at the vendor's tables. After handling some of these bottles, swaddling wraps, and creams at the tables, it was a great surprise to see these exact treats in our bags since we had just fallen in love with them that night!
The Boston 2014 Swag Bag was a good one! Below you can see the assortment of feeding/eating/bottle products. I was impressed to receive FIVE different baby bottles, but I wish there had been a sippy cup or two, or something for the toddler in addition to the Baby Bjorn bib, which I'm pretty excited about. You can see that some things come in pink and some in blue, and that's when its fun to get together with friends afterwards and trade!
Next are some swaddlers, magazines, baby pants, and Pediped shoes! My friend, Amber, got a pair of a baby boots to die for!
We also have some products for pregnancy and breastfeeding. Disposable breast pads were well represented -- there are 100 here! The great thing about this swag bag is that nearly everything can be gifted as a baby shower gift, a new mother's bag, or even something you could resell on eBay if you really don't think you'll use it.
There was a good number of treats in the bag! The La Croix sparking water drinks were served throughout the night, so it was fun to get one in the bag as well, but it could have been dangerous, being placed in the side pocket of everyone's bag!
Here we have an assortment of baby wipes, creams, and disposable diaper changing pads. I love this Fresh Pod that you see in the middle of the pile. You can attached it to the inside of the lid to your diaper pail (any brand), and it serves as a natural odor eliminator and barrier for 30-60 days. This was also one of the items I liked being able to smell and handle at the vendor booth.
Last up are a few toys, a book, a growth chart, and this Skip Hop Stroller Handle that my toddler boys are so excited about!! They made me put it on our stroller immediately.
Note that the Boston ticket prices were lower than the New York tickets are listed at, and the vendor list is not the same, so I'm sure the New York bag will look different, and I'm guessing will retail at a higher value. So go! You won't regret it and you'll have a blast! Everyone in my group felt like attending the Biggest Baby Shower was a good decision and that the cost paid was well worth it for the prizes. I asked my non-pregnant friends if they still had fun, and they said that they probably had MORE fun than us pregnant ladies because they weren't so tired!
Big shout out to Big City Moms for putting on such a fantastic event! I think everything was organized well, displayed beautifully, run efficiently, and I would LOVE to go again!
Hey, hey, look who made it into that middle picture! 🙂
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Disclosure: I (Camille) received admission to the Biggest Baby Shower (Boston) at no cost to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own and may differ from yours.
Mare W says
This was a very interesting post as we're considering going to one hosted in CT later this month. Glad for all the tips too! Looks like tons of neat products and prizes. Really a nice surprise bag at the end too! Thanks for writing and posting pictures of all. Much appreciated.