I had the opportunity Tuesday evening to attend a wonderful event in downtown Alexandria (a beautiful place, by the way!) at the Torpedo Factory Arts Center.  T.H.E. Baby Shower DC was something of a “baby expo,” designed particularly to introduce new and expectant mothers to local businesses that cater to their needs.  This emphasis on local was amazing!  It was wonderful to be introduced to local boutiques, photographers, health care providers, providers of classes of several varieties, sleep coaches, and other service providers.  What a great opportunity to both be pampered a little bit and learn how we can keep our shopping dollars in the local economy a little bit more!

Upon entering, we checked in at registration and were given wristbands to indicate that we “belonged” there. 😉  Great attention was given to detail, as even these wristbands were reusable “rubber band”-style bracelets that (in addition to T.H.E. Baby Shower) have “left” and “right” on them so they can be used as nursing reminders!

My pictures will totally not do this justice, because they make the place look empty.  (That’s partly because I waited ’til near the end so enough people had left that I might actually be able to see the booths in the pictures.  There were a lot more people here earlier!)  There were booths lined up along both sides of both ends of this hallway, with just a little gap near the stairs so we could get to bathrooms, etc.

The folks running the booths had great information to provide, and in many cases were able to offer very personalized recommendations about which of their services would be the best fit.  It really was quite crowded for most of the evening (in a good way!); I hate that my photos make it look so empty!

Here (above) you can get a little better idea of what some of the booths looked like.  This is a children’s boutique (The Purple Goose, I think) booth, and the Murals by Linda booth.

Some of the exhibitors/sponsors had yummy (and healthy) goodies to snack on.  (Seriously – flavored waters, cheese, veggies & dip, chili, soup – and cupcakes. 🙂 )

At one end of the hall, there was a spot set up for mini-seminars to take place (or just to sit!).  Mini-seminars covered such topics as sleep solutions, breastfeeding, and pre- and post-natal wellness.

There were also lots of great raffles from fabulous sponsors (both local and national)!  This is the fabulous organizer and host, Nia (sorry, Nia, that your eyes are closed – but it’s because you were laughing!), along with the board that is full of raffle winner names!

(You can also catch a glimpse of goodie bags stacked on the stairs.)

You may have also caught sight of all of those wonderful men wandering around helping made sure we stayed safe throughout the evening – especially outside the door after dark.  (Thanks, guys!)

This event was a wonderful idea, and beautifully executed, as well.  I believe the ladies did a great job on this, especially for a first-time event, and I can’t wait to see how the next one turns out!  The only downside (if it can even be truly called a downside) is that I am not super-local.  I am close enough that DC is my nearest metro area, but that’s enough of a drive that many of these businesses are not practical places for me to frequent.  (I can’t drive that far to take my children to a class every week, for instance.)  I would love to see a “branch” of this get started out my way, because I love the concept of introducing mamas to the local businesses.

Kudos to you, Mommy Mavens, and thank you Inova & The Bump & all the other sponsors for making this such a successful event!

Disclosure: My ticket for attendance at this event was provided in order to facilitate this post.  As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.