the Phoenixville santa experience and holiday Portraits in studio

phoenixville's Santa
Experience by fox & Brazen

The Magic of the Holidays

The Bell still rings for all who truly believe.

The joy of the holidays is contagious and there are no fonder memories to look back upon than to remember the magic of childhood and meeting Santa Claus for the first time. Here at our Fox & Brazen photography studio, located just outside Valley Forge / King of Prussia in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, we have created a once-in-a-lifetime experience for your child to interact and spend time with Santa Claus in a comfortable festive setting.

Fox & Brazen is featuring one-on-one private sessions with Santa in a totally live interactive experience. This isn't a traditional photography session that has standard poses, but a live photojournalist documentation of the family's interaction with Santa.

Santa will naturally flow through a variety of different experiences with the participants depending on the age and cooperation. While this is all happening we will be capturing every moment. If there is time at the end we can do the old school staged "everyone look at the camera and smile", but this is not the focus on what the Santa Experience is all about.

We create heirloom images to tell your holiday story because we believe that the magic of childhood should never be forgotten and those moments visiting Santa are some of the most important childhood memories.

Just love our holiday sets? We have non-Santa portrait sessions available to book as well! There is nothing more special than those matching PJ's or the most perfect holiday dress tied in a bow. The joy of the holidays is contagious and there are no fonder memories to look back upon than to remember the magic of childhood and the specialness of the holiday season.

Fox & Brazen's Santa Experience sessions are exclusive and limited to the number available per day. Once you book your session, your family will be the only ones in our studio for a completely private experience with few distractions.

Our Santa Session Portrait Collections are specifically designed to highlight your session experience with Santa and showcase your family tradition of visiting the "man in red" year after year. From adding two feet to four feet or the simple joy of "putting a ring on it" - Santa sessions are for the young and young at heart and are the perfect way to document the year at hand. Life happens in the most magical ways and creative photos are the most special way to document the journey to share with future generations.

the Polar Express

Once early January rolls around and we've nestled our holiday decor back into their storage bags, we very quickly start the brainstorming process for the next year! We're very excited to share our dreams for our 2023 holiday sets.

🎅 Nothing is 100% final until it's setup in early November... but here is the plan! 🎅

AS OF NOVEMBER 6, 2023 ALL THREE SETS ARE READY FOR HOLIDAY PHOTOS INSIDE OUR PHOENIXVILLE PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO. 

🎄 Set One: 20-something holiday trees on a nighttime twinkly backdrop
❄️ Set Two: All-in-white plain and simple
☕️ Set Three: Mistletoe/Hot Chocolate Booth

Three times the fun in 2023 - three festive photography sets!

2023 Holiday set inspiration

We setup a quick zoom call or come into our studio for your gallery reveal. You'll select your products from the lightly retouched images in the online gallery. Once selected, we'll do a final retouch on the images for your products.

Step 3

Enjoy a completely unique and private visit with Santa or our 2023 Holiday Set at our studio in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

No malls. No lines. No waiting.

Step 2

Check the website for dates to see our availability. We have a limited number of sessions available for the 2023 holiday season. Select the time that works best for your family!

Step 1

‘Tis the season for love and happiness, Happy Holidays my love.

Online appointments - How to Book

(just outside Valley Forge and King of Prussia).

All our Santa Experience, Holiday, and mini 'Meet & Greet' sessions for 2023 general pricing information below. All Sessions are available to book online and have exclusive product, time, and experience add-ons.

Santa Experience & Holiday Collections

30 minutes with Santa
3 Holiday Sets
4 Digital Files
Full Interactive Experience
Private Studio for your Family

Includes:

A magical experience to remember for any family. No two experiences are ever the same when it comes to our FaB Santa Experience. Completely customizable and full of holiday magic. Perfect for believers of all ages who love the holidays.

starting at $399

Santa Experience

20 or 40 minute Sessions
Choice of 1 or 3 Holiday Sets
Customizable deliverables
Quick Gallery Reveal

Includes

Gather your loved ones! Our studio sets are perfect for holiday cards or the annual tradition of capturing your family in their holiday best dress or those festive casual sweaters you dig out of the closet once a year.

starting at $99

Holiday COLLECTIONs

10 minutes with Santa
1 Holiday Set
2 Digital Files
Posed Photos
Semi-Private Studio

Includes:

Santa will be mostly stationary as guests visit with him on our holiday set. There will be a handful of posed photo opportunities as well as time for a quick chat. This is a prop-free session and will take place on our main holiday set. 

starting at $99

Santa Meet & Greet Sessions

CANVASES, METALS, ACYLICS

Additional digitals with personal-use license

Heirloom Albums

Additional Sets

Additional Time

Limited Experiences

Add-on to any of our photography collections to make your own custom experience!

Popular photography session add-ons

More Info - Santa & Holiday

Interested in learning more? Click the images below to quick scroll to more info about each session!

Learn about our Santa Experience and Holiday Photography sessions!

This experience is a fun and unique twist on your visit with Santa that will keep the Spirit of Christmas alive in your child's memories for years to come! This is NOT the sit-on-the-lap-and-smile-mall-experience. This is a full 30 minute one-on-one time with Santa!

Once you arrive, Santa is ready to interact, entertain, and play with his guests! Santa will move around the holiday set and gauge each participant for different magical interactions so each experience is highly individualized.  Themed holiday props and setups will be available to enhance your session and your photographer on hand will be capturing the real genuine moments that materialize with the "man in red". Santa is also available to pose for specific photo opportunities. These sessions are completely private as the studio is booked just for you. Appointment required.

Some popular interactions with Santa include: measuring up for the naughty/nice list, building with blocks, discovering their holiday wish list together, snowball fight, setting up a dollhouse for the perfect Christmas Eve, playing pretend with hot cocoa and cookies, choosing the best ornament for the trees, reading holiday stories, fashion posing, taking "elfies", and more!

The Santa Experience is perfect for children and adults of all ages - we also have special experiences for your favorite four legged doggo! Let's make some awesome memories together!

A perfectly unique encounter with Santa

Santa Experience Photography

Our set is perfect for holiday cards or the annual tradition of capturing your family in their holiday best dress or those festive casual sweaters you dig out of the closet once a year. We offer two session lengths - 20 minutes or 40 minutes. Our 20 minute sessions are designed for a single set with no outfit changes. Our 40 minute session grants access to all our available holiday sets as well as gives time for a quick outfit change. The deliverables for our studio sessions are completely customizable so you can get exactly what you want from your session.

Documenting Holiday Magic for a lifetime

Holiday Studio Photography

We're incredibly dog friendly at Fox & Brazen! Your four-legged friend is welcome to join you indoors at our studio for your Santa Experience or Holiday studio portraits. If your dog is unable to follow basic commands (sit, stay, lay down, come, etc) in a distracting environment, we strongly suggest bringing along an extra set of hands to help guide your dog back to set when needed for a photo as you may have your hands full with children, props, or in the middle of posing. 

Our 2023 set has dog-centric props and limited experiences with Santa. You are also welcome to bring your own ugly sweater for Fido to match the family!

Santa loves dogs. Sometimes Santa loves dogs more than he loves his own reindeer. That being said, Santa does not love it when anyone with four legs (or two) misbehaves and causes damage. Santa is not afraid to put dogs on the naughty list if they are distructive during their time at our studio. Any damages or stains left behind by Fido may incur additional cleaning or replacement fees as our props and set is one-of-a-kind and is not easily replaceable.

Feliz Naughty Dawg

Dogs, Santa, & Studio Photography

Santa will be mostly stationary as guests visit with him on our holiday set. There will be a handful of posed photo opportunities as well as time for a quick chat. This is a prop-free session, is only 10 minutes long, and will take place on our main holiday set. Participants can stand or sit while they have their photos taken with Santa.

Just a quick catch-up with ol' Saint Nicholas!

Santa 'Meet & Greet' Photography

What an exciting addition to your family this season! We're happy to incorporate our holiday cheer into your studio newborn session.

Posed Studio Newborn Sessions are captured at our Phoenixville Photography Studio during the first four to ten days of baby's life. These sessions focus on creating highly posed fine art portraits of your baby safely in our studio. We will pose your baby using simple props and wraps for this style of imagery. Newborn sessions taking place during the months of November and December can use our highly stylized sets! We can even add Santa Claus into your session for some real holiday cheer!

A Special Delivery this Holiday Season!

Holiday Newborn Photography

photoshop

camera

lights

FAB Studio Experience

Fox & Brazen's Santa Experience sessions are a fun and magical way to welcome in the holiday season. Our Santa Experiences are captured indoors at our Phoenixville Photography Studio (177 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, PA 19460).

Arrival to the Studio
Please arrive 5-10 minutes prior to your scheduled start time. If you arrive earlier and there is another session going on inside, please wait outside. Please arrive to our studio as camera ready as possible though there is time for a QUICK outfit adjustment prior to the start of your session. Your session will start on time if you are ready or not - as Santa has many friends to visit with over the course of the day and staying on schedule is very important.

The Basic Santa Experience
The young and young at heart will have approximately thirty minutes of time with Santa on our custom designed 2023 holiday set. The experience is tailored to each individual family or group, but most will enjoy a festive chat with Santa about the naughty and nice list (how do you measure up?), a story about how different places in the world celebrate the holidays, toys to play with, a giggle or two, and more.

All of our Santa Experience sessions have access to all of the holiday sets we have setup for the current year.

The Upgraded Santa Experience
If you'd like to add on additional time with Santa, we have upgrades that allow participants to have additional or individual time with Santa (great for families with multiple children). For 2023, we're offering featured upgrades like making Elf Fuel with Santa, puppachinos and biscuits, or receiving an elf name. Every year we will be offering limited edition sessions - what is offered in 2023 may not be offered in 2024!

The Online Gallery
Very similar to our spring and autumn mini sessions - Santa Experience Images will be viewable in an online gallery soon after your session, You will setup a time to come back into our studio or a virtual zoom session to learn how to navigate your online gallery and redeem your items or purchase additional a la carte products.

What to expect at your Santa Experience

Santa Experience Guide

Some of Our Favorite Moments from Past Seasons

NOTE: any images on our Santa Experience website may depict sets from years prior and may not be the current offering.  If you have specific questions about our 2023 sets, please email us prior to booking cheers@foxandbrazen.com

Ugly Sweaters
Sparkles
Hippo Costume

Holiday Pajamas

Formal clothes

Ugly Christmas sweaters

Adorable Christmas sweaters

Matching outfits

Peacoats

Sparkles

Casual

Flannel

Red Overalls

Hippo Costume

Flannel
Formal
Pajamas

"And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap..." we want to inspire visions of sugar plums for your holiday photos! The age old question - what do we wear to meet Santa??? Here are some popular options we've seen over the seasons.

What to wear for our holiday photo session?

That look 'soots' you!                 
           You're never fully dressed without a smile!

What do I wear to meet Santa for my holiday photos?

NOTE: any images on our Santa Experience website may depict sets from years prior and may not be the current offering.  If you have specific questions about our 2023 sets, please email us prior to booking cheers@foxandbrazen.com

Are you in a festive mood and would just like to make use of our stunning 2023 Holiday Photography Sets? These sessions are captured indoors at our Phoenixville Photography Studio (177 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, PA 19460). Bring your favorite humans (or four legged friends) to capture the year in photos!

Arrival to the Studio
Please arrive 5-10 minutes prior to your scheduled start time. If you arrive earlier and there is another session going on inside, you will be required to wait outside as we have a one family in the studio at a time policy to respect everyones privacy. Please arrive to our studio as camera ready as possible though there is time for a QUICK outfit adjustment prior to the start of your session. Your session will start on time if you are ready or not - as  staying on schedule is very important.

The FaB 2023 Holiday Set
We will pose you and your group in different combinations on our holiday set. We'll take whole group/family photos, individuals, as well as different smaller combinations. Please feel free to bring your own props to incorporate into the scene at hand (your photographer will have the final say if we can incorporate your ideas into our set. If getting certain combinations of groups (For example: Dad and kids, three generations, just baby, etc etc) we suggest you write these down and bring it to the shoot so important combinations do not get forgotten - it's easy to get caught up in the moment and sparkly lights! Our 20 minute sessions will be limited to one of our holiday sets, while our 40 minute sessions will have the ability to make use of any of the multiple sets we have for the season.

Outfits
We strongly recommend selecting just one outfit for you 20 or 40 minute time block though you may bring additional outfits - it's your time that you may use as you wish. One outfit will allow us the most amount of time for photography, but multiple outfits will give you a greater variety of images to choose from in your final gallery. You will be photographed from HEAD to TOE to the TIPS OF YOUR FINGERS - so every bit of your outfit(s) and appearance is greatly important.The session time slot is very strict, so any changing of clothing will take away from shooting time. The time slot can not be extended based on this lost time. Participants may be standing, moving, and sitting throughout the session, so an outfit that does not require much adjustment between photos is the best.

The Online Gallery
Very similar to our spring and autumn mini sessions - Holiday Portrait Session images will be viewable in an online gallery soon after your session, You will setup a time to come back into our studio or a virtual zoom session to learn how to navigate your online gallery and redeem your items or purchase additional a la carte products.

What to expect at your Photo Session

Holiday Set Experience Guide

we are crafting a product that will outlive us all.

Make every photograph like it's the one you will be remembered for.

You have booked and trusted us to create some beautiful images of this most important time in your life. With this in mind, we want to guide you into selecting heirloom products that feature your favorite and most memorable images from your session. All our offerings are rooted in a fine art flair and are designed to last you a lifetime.

Our favorite fine art product is our heirloom albums. Our goal is to tell a story from your session and create an album that you, your family and your friends will enjoy for years. In fact, it will be passed from generation to generation. Treat yourself to telling your story in this luxurious fashion with one of our stunning Italian Leather Storybooks.

We're also full of pride to offer our Wall Art Collections. Our Wall Art is boastful of elegance of finely crafted furniture, combined with the highest print quality in the world - this will transform your home into an authentic art gallery displaying your most precious memories! Your wall art can be purchased in canvas, metal, or an acrylic finish. From precise color management, to cutting edge technology, the quality of this art is incredible - your future grandchildren will be thankful you invested in such beautiful artwork for their generation to enjoy.

Albums • Wall Art • Heirloom Products

Ah-Maz-ing Heirloom Treasures

Starting at ....... $125

HeirlooM Products

Starting at ....... $400

Wall Art
(Canvas, Metal, Acrylic)

Starting at ....... $750

Heirloom albums

click names or photos to view galleries

Nothing can be compared to the magic of the holiday season. No matter your age, there is something so festive about visiting with Santa Claus. We're excited to share our passion for the holidays, love, life, and Christmas magic with you - check out our galleries!

view our photography galleries

Fox in the Box, White Box Sessions
If it fits, it sits.

walt disney
“I resent the limitations of my own imagination.”

Fox in the Box Gallery

Follow Santa on Instagram

Falls Family

"I cannot recommend Jen and her team enough. Her art and the way that she carries out her themed sessions is just truly magical. She has a gift and knows how to work with kids. Her Santa is amazing and my kids have not stopped talking about the entire Santa picture experience. Thank you so much for such a wonderful opportunity!"

Santa Experience FAQs

click the fox to make the answer appear

Will my child or group really meet Santa during my Santa Experience? Or is this a photoshop gimmick?

No gimmicks, we make actual real in person memories during our experience. If your group books our Basic Santa Experience, you will meet Mr. Klaus in person. If you book one of our Zoom Session Experiences, you will have one-on-one time virtually with him. He is real and his interactions with your group will be prompted by the experience unfolding in real time.

What happens if my child doesn't cooperate while meeting Santa?

There is no guarantees that every child is ready to see and joyfully interact with Santa. If you fear your young child will be afraid, the Santa Experience may not be the session for you in 2023. If your child is showing hesitation once the experience starts, Santa can work on warming your child up within the session time to get a handful of photos with him, or we can ask Santa to step out to take a "milk & cookies break" and we can take nice holiday portraits of your child solo on our set. If there is a resistance, we can not force happiness and joy on a child. There are no refunds if you or your child decides they would rather have solo portraits taken. So please consider this before booking.

What is the difference between the Santa Experience and the Santa Meet & Greet?

Both sessions require advanced booking. Both sessions include scheduled (aka no lines no waiting) time with Santa inside our Phoenixville photography studio. Both sessions are delivered via an online gallery for viewing, choosing, and purchasing digital files, prints, and heirloom products.

The Santa Experience includes 30 minutes with Santa Claus with access to all our indoor holiday sets. These sessions are highly individualized for every family to really bring the holiday spirit alive. Santa gauges each participant and drives the session in the direction which will bring the most magic and excitement to the set during their time together. No two sessions are ever the same as everyone reacts differently to the many activities that Santa has planned!

The Santa Meet & Greet sessions are a much shorter time with Santa. Santa will be stationary on our main holiday set ready to welcome his guests for posed photos. Participants can sit or stand. There are no props available for these shorter sessions.

What should we wear?

You will be photographed from HEAD to TOE to the TIPS OF YOUR FINGERS - so every bit of your outfit(s) and appearance is greatly important. Our 2023 set is mostly made of neutral whites and beiges with a large presence of evergreen decorations. Santa's suit is a deep maroon red color. Changing outfits in the middle of the session is strongly discouraged as the session time slot is very strict, so any changing of clothing will take away from shooting time. The time slot can not be extended based on this lost time. Participants may be standing, moving, and sitting throughout the session, so an outfit that does not require much adjustment between photos is the best.

Do you do photos of my child sitting on Santa's knee?

Short answer: The 2023 Santa Meet & Greet sessions are all about getting posed photos on Santa's knee, wish lists, and smiling at the camera!

Long answer: Our Santa Experience sessions are designed for a fully immersive experience with Santa. If it flows naturally, we can certainly do the old school staged "everyone look at the camera and smile", but this is not the focus on what the Santa Experience is all about. This isn't a traditional photography session that has standard poses, but a live photojournalist documentation of the participants interactions with Santa.

Who are your Santa Experiences for?

Our experiences are for the young and the young at heart. We encourage children to come visit with Santa. We encourage couples to visit with Santa. We encourage grandparents and grandchildren to visit with Santa. We encourage pets to visit with Santa.

We suggest a maximum of 4 participants per 30 minute block. You may book extra time to accommodate extra participants from the same family or you may book additional featured experiences with Santa. All the participants MUST be from the same family - multiple households are not allowed in the studio at the same time for the health and safety of everyone.

A few restrictions: If you're booking for your child, individual children must be able to sit unassisted or they will need to be photographed with an adult on set. Multi-Families must book two different sessions. Orders may not be combined. If you have a special scenario request, please email us prior to booking your session time. cheers@foxandbrazen.com

Can I take my own photos and video during this experience?

You may use your cell phone and take behind the scenes snaps for social media if you would like! We do discourage cell phones out for the entire session as some kiddos become majorly distracted by phones. No, sorry, no personal video cameras or photos from cameras with interchangeable lenses may be taken during our 2023 season while Santa is present on our set. No exceptions.

Is your Santa the real Santa?

Yes! Our Santa is 100% the real Santa! We know there are many elves out there helping Santa visit all the boys and girls, but we've got a contract with the real deal at our studio. Santa certainly has taken some of his time off in 2020 to be more health conscious and introduce a new health and beauty regiment. Santa has dedicated 2020 to improving and highlighting his most known features by keeping in mind a natural, more youthful appearance. You may say he looks like Santa "two point oh".

Our Santa 2.0 has the ability to sit on the ground with your kiddos, crawl around on the floor, and even dance with them. Our Santa has enjoyed visiting with his friends at the Northern Lights Santa Academy as well as discussing motivation for well known characters with Tony Award Nominated actor Alex Brightman.

Our family is feeling a bit under the weather, can we still attend our session?

No, and please be honest with us because your decision to attend under questionable health may effect the experience for others if Santa gets sick and we need to postpone future sessions. We're happy to do our best to accommodate a reschedule for another date in 2023 if it means keeping everyone safe and healthy. Our Santa Experience will become unavailable if our staff needs to self quarantine during the holiday season and this would be a disappointment to many children whom look forward to meeting Saint Nicholas in 2023. 

Do I have to purchase anything? Or can I just come to your studio for the experience?

If you're just a fan of good ol' Saint Nick and would like to book a session to just chat - there is no product purchase requirement, however most families plan to invest in one of our heirloom albums, canvases, or products so year after year they can revisit and see the memories they have created with Santa.

We do not require any purchases beyond the experience fee, but truth be told - most people fall in love with the magic of meeting Santa. The images and moments we create together will be a lasting memory of this experience. We sell print, heirloom product, and digital collections that are available for purchase during your initial booking sale. If you prefer to not add any product up front, that is not a problem (though at the initial booking you will get the best pricing on our products). After your initial experience investment, our wall art starts at $1.25 per square inch and our albums begin at $750. Some families spend $500, others spend $5,000, but the important thing to note is these heirloom products and memories will last for your children's children to see the joy their parents had meeting Santa.

How is the Santa Experience different than going to the mall and waiting in line to get pictures with Santa?

This is a completely magical experience that our participants will not soon forget. Realistically, the only similarity between visiting Santa at the mall and Santa at our studio... is well, both involve a red suit and that's it.

Our Santa Experiences at Fox & Brazen are all about the moments created with Santa - and best of all, no lines and no waiting! You'll have a specific appointment time and your group will be the only ones in our studio at the time of your session.

This is more than just sitting on Santa's knee. Your kiddos will be able to ask Santa any questions they can dream up and Santa will measure up participants to see if they made the naughty or nice list (spoiler alert - all kids made the nice list). Our photographer will be capturing photos of the participants interacting with Santa during the entire experience so you'll have plenty of photos to choose from when it comes time to view your gallery of images.

Did we mention, this is a 1000% judgement free zone? We welcome adults to revisit the magic of Christmas with our Santa Experiences and the interactions will be tailored specifically for the group at hand. We have exclusive Proposal or Gender Reveal Sessions available to book where Santa can help deliver the big news! Or for those who may enjoy a spirited libation, we have an exclusive add-on experience for our 21+ adults.

Our Add-On Experiences are limited and change annually - so if you see one that looks interesting you better book it! It may not be available next year!

Can we bring our own props?

Our Santa Experiences include all the props needed to spark moments and capture memories on our holiday set - so really there is no need to bring any items with you besides your group.

That being said... if you feel any group members may be hesitant to hangout with Santa we encourage you to bring a favorite toy or stuffie that perhaps this group member can have a show and tell with Santa. For example, perhaps your young child loves to play with cars and would like to show Santa some of his/her favorite vehicles. Please feel free to bring them - Santa would love to play cars with your little one during their time together.

Please note - IF you bring something onto our set it WILL be photographed - so if your child happens to bring a bright pink hot wheels car... it WILL be in the photos and it may clash Santa's suit and the styling of our 2023 holiday set. We do strongly recommend trying to bring toys or props that have a vintage or holiday vibe.

How close is Phoenixville to Philadelphia, King of Prussia, West Chester, and Valley Forge?

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania is located in Chester County about 30 miles outside of Philadelphia and a quick fifteen minute drive from King of Prussia. West Chester is less than 20 miles with a straight shot down route 202 to our great town of Phoenixville. Phoenixville is located 5 minutes down the road from Valley Forge and is easily accessible from many major roads.
Here are the general instructions from the Phoenixville Chamber of Commerce website:

From Points East:
Take PA Turnpike West, Exit for US 422W towards Pottstown
Take exit PA-29S towards Phoenixville, Left onto Phoenixville/Collegeville Road
Continue to Bridge Street

From Points West:
Take PA Turnpike East, Exit 320 PA 29N
Right onto PA 29N, Left on Nutt Road, Right onto Main Street

From Points North:
Take US 422E towards Pottstown, Take exit PA-29S towards Phoenixville, Right onto Phoenixville/Collegeville Road
Continue to Bridge Street

From Points South:
Take US 202N, Exit for PA-401 towards Frazer
Left onto Mill Lane, Right onto Phoenixville Pike to PA-29N
Left onto Nutt Road, immediate Right onto Main Street

What does the minimum experience session fee cover for the Santa Experience?

The base experience includes 30 minutes on our photography set with Santa. Our 2023 collections include some digital files as well. Please view the Collections at this link for specifics.

Extending the session allows extra time which works perfectly for larger families (more than 3 children), children with special needs, potential uncooperative children (those scared of Santa), and first timers that are nervous about knowing if they have enough time. Some groups also extend the time so everyone gets a fair amount of time with Santa!

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