Our Santa 2020 Experience
For this season, Santa and I (as Mrs. Claus, of course) packed up the sleigh and headed over to Pompano Beach for a weekend of Santa Experience mini sessions. They were such a hit! I don’t think there’s really much better in the world than the feeling of seeing a child light up at seeing Santa and being able to help in his workshop.
The experience was really interactive, for the kids (Covid precautions in place). To start, they had to walk through snow to get in the door (because what is Santa without snow, even in South Florida), thanks to our snow machine that was placed by the front door in the parking lot.
Families entered into the lobby to the sound of Christmas music and sights of candy canes, snow flakes, gifts on the walls and floor and Christmas decor everywhere. They then got to write a letter to Santa and place it in his mailbox.
Once they finished with their letters to Santa, Mrs. Claus opened the door and greeted each child by name, telling them how excited Santa would be to finally meet them when they aren’t sleeping. They heard Santa needed some help in his workshop and were oh so happy to volunteer to help. So, I grabbed them by the hand and led them to the “workshop” where Santa was working on toys. They got their assignments and Santa helped guide them with assembly and painting.
After working hard, Santa thought they should have a cookie break (typical Santa) so off to the kitchen they went. The kids got to “bake and decorate” cookies and, of course, Santa kept sneaking them off of the tray. Here is where moms, dads and other family members got to step in for a few photos, too.
Next up was story time with hot chocolate. They all moved to the antique couch by the Christmas tree and sat next to Santa while he read his favorite story…The Night Before Christmas. They got to turn pages and help Santa with the story, as well as just listen while they “drank” their hot cocoa.
The last step was heading back to Santa’s Workshop for a surprise. Each child had a wrapped gift, hand delivered by Santa, right from his magic bag. There were many smiles, a few tears (moms, not kids), laughs and lots of hugs. It was a resounding success, full of memories and photos of their experience with Santa.
As an upgrade, my families were able to purchase a custom fantasy portrait creation for the Holiday, if so desired.
I start booking our Santa Experience mini sessions in August so be on the look out for the announcement on Facebook. Every year is something different, to keep things fresh for your Christmas cards, greetings and social media posts. Just act fast because there are only 12 spots open per day and they fill up crazy fast!
