Best of Vancouver: Santa Photo Nominations

The photo at the top of this post was taken in December, 2009. It features me with my two children, who were 16 months and four and a half years old at the time. In this photo, I am learning a very important lesson: never take your kids for their annual Santa photo without putting on makeup first. If you have a toddler, as I did at the time, you never know when your little one is going to balk and cling to you for dear life. I had to choose between a photo of a screaming child, or a photo of a weary mom. The result speaks for itself.

I am not the only Vancouver mom with a Santa photo gone awry. I’m sure many of you have Santa photo disaster stories of your own to share. While there’s no predicting just how your child will react when the big moment comes, finding the right setting for your holiday snapshot can go a long way. You want a jolly old elf who looks good and is good with kids, a line-up that’s short enough that everyone still looks fresh at photo time, and a price tag that will leave room in your budget for stocking stuffers. With Santa arriving at shopping centres across Metro Vancouver this weekend, we’re setting out to find the best place in Vancouver to record your holiday memory.

Nominate the Best Santa Photo in Vancouver

We want to hear from you! You shared your top Santa photo picks last year, but a lot can change in twelve months, and that list is just so 2010. What’s happening this holiday season? Tell us where you go to get the perfect snapshot. Is it a mall, a festival, or someplace else entirely? We’d also love to hear what you think makes for a good Santa photo experience, and what makes for a bad experience. If you have any tips for keeping your toddlers smiling, share those, too.

Best of Vancouver: The Nitty-Gritty

You can nominate your favourite Santa photo spot in one of three ways:

Leave a comment on this post on VancouverMom.ca.

Give us a shout-out on Twitter, and use the hashtag #VMholiday.
Leave a comment on our Facebook page.

Nominations close on November 22, 2011, so get hopping. Feel free to nominate more than one place to get that perfect Santa photo, or to second someone else’s nomination. We’ll compile all of the nominations, and share the best Santa photo spot in Vancouver during the last week in November, so you’ll have plenty of time to get your own holiday snapshot before Christmas rolls around.