Say Cheese! 13 Photo-Worthy Santas Worth the Wait

Whatever your tradition is---there are plenty of options (and plenty of St. Nicks) to choose from this year. Here are 13 Seattle-area standouts.

By Erin Cranston November 1, 2012

We parents make the holidays so difficult sometimes, whether it’s dressing the kiddos up in scratchy Christmas outfits, making them wait in long lines for hours, or insisting they sit on some bearded dude’s lap just so we can get our treasured Santa photo. Do they really remember that we go to the same Santa every year? Probably not, but it sure makes for a seriously awesome Christmas tradition. To help minimize the Santa photo stress, we’ve rounded up the best places to seek out your St. Nick nirvana. Choosing the least meltdown-inducing matching Christmas sweaters for your mini-mes? That one’s up to you.

Online Santa: Portable North Pole

Has the tree been chosen and decorated, the stockings hung, the presents purchased and the cookies baked (and eaten), and you just plain ran out of time to say cheese with St. Nick? Don’t you cry and don’t you pout, because thanks to the internet, Santa can be wherever you are! The folks at Portable North Pole have created a festive and fun way to customize a personal message from Santa to your kiddos, including their name, age and what they’ve been especially good (or bad!) at in the past year. Blow their little minds when they see photos of themselves in the video, a guaranteed way to keep them nice for the whole next year. Three minute videos are free; longer personalized videos, letters or phone calls from Santa start at $3.99.

Let us know where you take the kiddos for Santa photos every year in a comment below!

–Erin Cranston & Allison Ellis

Photos credits: Fred Jala via Flickr, Katie Christiansen, Space Needle Facebook page, santaphotos.com, Erin Cranston, Heidi Larsen, Danielle Dolbec, Janine Vazquez, Christmas Creek Farm website and Arin Winsor, Wing Luke Museum Facebook page