Schedule Santa at Your Event

Scheduling

I usually begin scheduling appearances in October of each year. There is no charge for churches, schools and other non-profits. If elves, provided by your non-profit, have assisted me, you may if you wish, offer them a gift card or other token of appreciation. If there is time in my schedule, I will accept a few dates from businesses. Use the form below to request a date.

Two Modes

Seated Santa

When children are given time to present their Christmas lists and wishes to Santa, space should be provided for Santa’s chair (supplied by Santa). The front of the line should be about 10' or more from Santa so that children and families are not crowded while getting their photo’s with Santa. Try to allow space at the photo area for an elf or two. For seated events,  I supply a chair I use for Santa photos. It’s not grand, but easy to transport and looks nice. If you have something you prefer, let me know and I’ll leave mine at home. Your church, organization or business is responsible for all other decorations.

Roaming Santa

Some venues are better suited for a roaming Santa rather than a seated Santa. In such a case, your photographer will accompany Santa to groups of people to interact with them. Santa will suggest that he pose with your guests for photos, and your photographer will snap several pictures. Because this is casual and fast paced, a smart phone will serve well enough. If the roaming Santa is in a store or mall, the photographer should be in uniform or wearing a t-shirt to identify him/her as the business representative.

What I Need From Your Venue

Line Manager

This would be the person in charge of the photo event who would choose the location, manage the line, give direction to participants and more. You can make this photo opportunity available to kids only or families, or kids, then the family. I think it would be good to include families.

Photographer

Try to supply a hobbyist grade or better photographer if you plan to give a print of the photo with Santa to the family. The photo (size 4x6 or larger) can be printed at CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, etc, inexpensively and offered for pickup, thereby giving visitors an added reason to return to church or business the next week. Also, having a photographer take charge of the photo shoot gives order to the process. Otherwise, families can take their own photos.

Photo Backdrop

This can be a corner adorned with Christmas decorations with Santa’s chair in the middle. This should be designed to fill a photograph with holiday cheer. If you wish, we can supply the pictured above photo backdrop for your photos with Santa.

Elves

If you can supply 2 teen girls to serve as elves, this would be helpful. I supply the costumes. They were fashioned for smaller girls or young women. Elves help with line control and with positioning and posing the family and children for the photograph. The elves will be given specific tasks including giving candy canes, handling the "list" and more. The elves also add to the festive atmosphere of the occasion. Give the girls a copy of the elf job description.

Because of greater numbers at churches and large venues, elves are helpful for crowd control and a cheerful atmosphere. Churches that I regularly visit supply elves. If you think elves might be helpful at your event, download the Elf Job Description.

Candy Canes

It’s nice, but not necessary, to supply candy canes that can be given out to the family members after the photo. This is a nice way to say, “You’re done, move on to make room for the next family.”