[Non-paid advertisement based on personal experience]

When I arrived this morning at 10 am there was already a long line. I have forgotten that there are quite a few fairs going on at the moment at Messe Stuttgart and Babywelt Stuttgart is one of them.

Babywelt Stuttgart is located in just one hall but man, I was there for nearly four hours and could have stayed much longer. So when you decide to visit Babywelt Stuttgart this weekend, make sure you bring enough time (and energy :-)).

You will find many brands at the fair, from strollers to diaper bins, from massage oil to baby cloths and much much more. And at most of the stands you either get a discount for the products (10 to even 50 percent) and/or a free giveaway.

Babywelt Stuttgart: My personal favorite brands and stands

• If you need information about how to apply for Kindergeld in Stuttgart or need any other kind of advice around your pregnancy you can turn to Städtische Beratungsstelle für Schwangerschaftsfragen und -konflikte. They can give you advice in many topics in English – and even in other languages!
• The concept of hiring a doula is not well known in Germany yet so it might be hard to find one in Stuttgart or the area. At Babywelt Stuttgart I met Anne Gruhl, a doula from Korb, who is a member of Doulas in Deutschland. She told me she speaks English and can accompany non-German-speaking couples. So if you’re looking for a doula, you might want to check her or colleagues  from Doulas in Deutschland out!
• Lotties is a producer of baby cloths, diapers and more that works with 100 % organic cotton. I’ve talked to the owner who told me a bit about the history of his company. He actually came up with the idea of creating reusable organic diapers when we was on a trip to Vancouver Island in Canada and saw how huge parts of the rainforest were cut down because the cellular material was needed for the production of throw-away-diapers. So if you’re thinking about giving reusable diapers a go – or if you want to buy some organic baby cloths, you might want to visit this stand. Fun fact: All pregnant women get a baby hat for free! 😀
• Let’s stick with the diaper topic for a little longer: At the stand of Angelcare you get a waste bin for diapers for free when you show them your maternity pass. I am curious to try it out but I am also not sure if I will use it all the time because of the huge amount of plastic bags you need.
• A more environment friendly solution is the diaper bin from Diaper Champ. They also claim to keep the smell inside but their system doesn’t need as much plastic bags as Angelcare does. I didn’t get one at the fair but I am thinking about it.
• One stand really made me smile: Happy City Kids is a producer of play carpets. What makes their product special is that the carpets show different cities, Stuttgart for example! Definitely something I need once the little one is big enough 😀
• Babyone is a huge shop for all stuff kids related (we got our stroller from them recently). At Babywelt Stuttgart they offer 10 percent discount on everything you buy or order at their stand.
• When you already have children you might want to catch up with other parents and organize play dates. At Babywelt Stuttgart I learned about the App Barrio which will be available in English in a few months, too. Here you can get in touch with other parents from your area in an easy and hassle-free way.  Fun fact: When you download the app at their stand you get a cute little stuffed Brezel  for free! 😀
• I met a nice lady from fitdankbaby and talked to her about their fitness classes for pregnant women and new moms. She ensured me that it is no problem to attend their courses even if you don’t speak German. The instructors speak English and are willing to translate everything when you talk to them before the class starts.

Next to the stands you will find the follwoing at Babywelt Stuttgart:

• a lot of experts for various topics like Elterngeld, feeding the baby, sleeping problems and much more
• a competence center for kids safety
• a crash test dummy simulation
• a secluded area where you can change your baby or breast feed in privacy
• a babycare station where you get baby food for free

In conclusion I can say that I really liked Babywelt Stuttgart. I got a lot of useful information, discovered great brands I didn’t know about before and the many free giveaways are fun, too 🙂 I’ll definitely go again next year with the little one.

More information:

Babywelt Stuttgart

Transparency: As I blogger and journalist I got a free press ticket for the fair Babywelt Stuttgart. The content of this post and my opinion about the fair are my own.

Disclaimer: Please note that I am not responsible for the exhibitor’s offers.

Picture credit title photo: © FLEET Events

The post Babywelt Stuttgart – the fair for everything about your little one appeared first on Living in Stuttgart.

DEKUMO 2014 is a temporary platform for artists and designers. Most of them have their studios in Stuttgart and many are still one-man enterprises and not huge brands. Thus, you’ll find things at DOKUMO you won’t find anywhere else.

Looovely stuff! I could have spend a fortune… Only the fact, that some artists didn’t accept credit cards saved me…

At the end, we discovered the kids corner… and had lot’s of fun there, too

DEKUMO 2014 is on until Sunday, 8th of December. The fair is open until 8pm tonight and tomorrow from 10 am to 6 pm. Entrance fee: 8 Euro for adults, families pay 14 Euro

You find the DEKUMO close to Milaneo Shopping center, U-Bahn-station “Stadtbibliothek (Handwerkskammer)” at:

Kulturniederlassung SÜDWEST
Türlenstraße 2
70191 Stuttgart

More information:

DEKUMO 2014 (only in German)

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This weekend, the fair “Wir heiraten!” (We’re getting married!) came to town. I thought this is a great opportunity to start the preparations for our big day next year. I asked three of my very good girlfriends to join me, and yesterday we went to the fair at the Messe Stuttgart, close to the airport.

More than 130 exhibitors showcased their products and services. You found everything that makes a brides heartbeat rise, from wedding dresses (obviously :-)) to video productions, from confectioners to caterers, from decoration to DJ-services – and much more.

We first set out to have a look at the different shops that offer wedding dresses. I have not decided yet what style I prefer, so it was very interesting to see so many different dresses and be able to touch the one or the other. At the stand of “Hochzeitshaus” they had a wheel of fortune where you could win gift coupons worth 50, 100 or 200 Euro. And I won the jackpot! Of course, I made an appointment with them to try on some dresses in their shop in Stuttgart straight away ;-).

Moritz and I already have the location and catering for our big day, but for all of you looking for a special place to get married in Stuttgart, I found the “Buddha Lounge” very interesting. And when it comes to food, we tried samples from  the Reutlingen based caterer “Uwe Förster” – and they tasted stunning! They offer “food tastings” every month where you can go and try their creations.

We also found a very “sweet “- and I mean that literally 🙂 – young company called “DeinBonbon” (YourCandy). They offer different kinds of candy in different wrappings. They follow the idea of mass-customization, which means the customer can select the type of candy and the type of wrapping individually. Their products looked very cute:

But the one I liked the most was the “Candy Shot”:

You choose your favourite candy, they put it in the little bottle, fill it up with Wodka and – congratulations – you have just created your own, individual Candy Shot! Great idea! 🙂

Next stop: print products. We found the company “wunschprint.de” that showcased I think several hundreds of save-the-date-cards, invitation cards and menus at their stand. Very inspiring.

We have spent three hours at the fair and I got a lot of ideas for our own wedding. Even though the fair doesn’t look big at the beginning, you’ll find yourself not being able to have a look at every stand in the end. So I think the entrance fee of 12 Euro per person is a good investment – especially because you will get a lot of gift coupons from different companies and if you use them for your wedding related shopping, preparations or the wedding itself, you will safe a lot of money.

Before we left, I quickly put Moritz and my name up on the loveboard for good luck. Can you spot our heart? 😉

Last but not least, some interesting information for everybody from the US, marrying in or around Stuttgart: Ever thought about driving to church with a car from the New York Police Department?? Maybe decorated with flowers? Well, here is your chance! The “Royal Service GmbH” offers all kinds of cars for special occasions. One of them is a SUV in the design of a NYPD car. Isn’t that awesome?!

For me, the wedding fair “Wir heiraten!” was a success. Next step will be to show up at the two shops I made appointments with, to find a dress. There will be another wedding fair called “Trau Dich!” in January 2013. If I haven’t found everything for our wedding until then, I might go to this one as well.

More information about:

Wir heiraten!

Hochzeitshaus Stuttgart

Buddha Lounge

Caterer Uwe Förster

DeinBonbon

wunschprint.de

Royal Service GmbH

Trau Dich!

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