Let’s get our Santa on!

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I think we’re like most families, we have a tradition to get the Santa photo. I love when they’re a little bit funny. My favourite is still this one where Lacey is crying in Santa’s arms as a baby {look at that look in Santa’s eyes!}. My not-so-favourite thing is having to line up for EVER for the photo. But it’s always worth it. Always.

So I had an idea this year, and Olympus {my favourite people!} are helping me make this idea come to fruition. What if we had our own little sneaky Santa Photo sessions. What if we snuck into the shopping centre after hours, with NO lines and did our Santa photos then?

Doesn’t that sound fun?

For our photos, we usually go to Robina Town Centre and they do the most amazing Santa set-up. Last year it was a beautiful woodland with little rabbits and deer and so much whimsy. I can’t wait to see what they do this year. Olympus is partnering with QIC shopping centres this silly season to bring the magic of Santa photos to life. They’ll be helping create Christmas memories in 10 centres around Australia andor our sneaky Santa sessions we’ll be heading to the following centres on these dates:

Sunday 5pm 22nd November: Castle Towers, Sydney
Sunday 4pm 29th November: Robina Town Centre, Gold Coast
Sunday 5pm 6th December: Eastlands Shopping Centre, Melbourne

I’m inviting 7 families to each location, where we’ll get time with Santa without the line-ups. You’ll get your photos for free, plus a little goodie bag to take away as well. If you’re up for a Santa photo with myself and Olympus at one the above QIC shopping centres, please let me know. Just leave a comment below with WHICH LOCATION you want to come along to.

I can’t wait to meet more people, and get my Santa on with you guys! I’ll email the lucky people on Friday 20th November after noon. ?

P.S. If you don’t happen to bag a spot with us, you can visit any of the following centres for an elaborate and whimsical Santa set-up: Eastland {Melbourne}, Castle Hill Towers {Sydney}, Robina {Gold Coast}, Westpoint {Sydney}, Hyperdome {Brisbane}, Noosa Civic {Sunshine Coast}, Grand Central {Toowoomba}, Hinkler Central {Bundaberg}, Woodgrove {Melbourne} and Watergardens Town Centre {Melbourne}.

152 thoughts on “Let’s get our Santa on!”

  1. OMG! Would love to win this at castle hill! We usually head here for our pics. Nice helpers, a cheery Santa and beautiful set up. I have 3 kids under 5 so avoiding queues would be heaven.

  3. I would love to come to the robina! My littlee one is 2 months old and it would be fantastic to skip the queue and avoid everyone staring at a screaming baby!

  4. Omgoodness yes please!!!! We would love to go to eastland. It will be my baby’s first Christmas so we will probably get a funny one 😉

  5. AAARGH! This would be AMAZING! We would love to attend the Robina Town Centre! Especially since I’m not so sure how Mr 15 months will go with Santa this year! Thank you!!!

  8. We would love to join you at Castle Towers….I don’t think there is a more beautiful Christmas setup in Sydney.
    I always like to pick out an extra special matching outfit for my two boys 4 and 1.5
    This would be perfect Fat Mum Slim and Olympus – fingers crossed ?

  9. My 17 and 12 year of boys and their gorgeous 15 year old sister would have a ball doing this. They know Mum loves a good Santa photo. Melbourne we’d love to come and play.

  10. Oh we would love to do this! My two little ones have never had a photo with Santa before as the eldest (4.5) gets overwhelmed at big shopping centres.
    We would love to be at the Eastland one!
    ❤️❤️❤️

  12. We’d love to join you at Robina!
    It can be a challenge getting my 4 still at the same time so need all the help we can get. 😉 5yo, 3yo & 2yo twins.

  14. Sounds like fun! We would love to join you at the Robina one. I can’t guarantee the girls will get Santa photos taken this year, but I can promise some light entertainment trying.

  15. Oh what a brilliant idea! I would so love to take the kids to Robina and actually enjoy the stress-free experience!

  16. Hey Chantelle, I’d love to do this with my two littllies at Castle Towers Sydney. I’ll be crossing fingers! X (I’d be as excited to meet you as the kids would be about Santa)

  17. That sounds fantastic! My munchkins and I would love to attend the one at Eastland Shopping Centre. I’m guessing it’s December 6th not November 6th?

  18. Sounds wonderful! I would love to do this with my 2 little girls at Castle Towers. We had a little chat with the Santa there the other day and he was terrific and the Santa setup is stunning!

  19. I would love to come along to Castle Towers. It’s so close to our home and we always get our Santa photos done there. I think they have one of the best set-ups around!

  27. I would love this! my 3 are all scared of santa so i have not had much luck with photos the last few years. Sydney location is close to us.

  30. Santa photos are a yearly tradition not only for my kids but for me and my sister as well. I would love to bring my 3 gorgeous kids along to Sydney (Castle Towers) to meet Santa, it would also be extra special as it is my Son’s 5th Birthday that day.

  33. So much super Santa fun!!!! Robina for us! You’re like the Christmas fun fairy!!!!!!! ??????❤️❤️❤️

  37. Oh how exciting! We love Santa photos and always get new outfits! So much fun! I’d LOVE to take my little trio to the Melbourne one at Eastlands!

  40. What a fantastic idea! With a toddler and a newborn I would love to be able to skip the crowds! We would love to join you at Eastland ☺️ it’s our local shopping centre ?
    Thanks so much ?

  41. We will be at the gold coast for a family holiday on that exact day and i know Jack and Summer would absolutely love it Chantelle, what an awesome experience it would be, thanks for all the good you do x

  45. Fantastic idea! I’d love to go to Robina. I have a little girl who is scared of Santa and a boy who hasn’t met him yet. I’d love one photo full of whimsy and pleasant expressions. Just one!

  46. Oh my goodness gracious pick me pick me! I’m in Melbourne and I have yet to introduce my three girls to Santa – the reactions will be priceless if not adorable!

  52. Sounds ideal (well, as much as any outing with small kids can be). We’d love to come to Castle Towers!

  53. What an amazing idea! I know the difficultly of trying to control/amuse five year old triplets and an eight year old. It’s such a great idea! We would love to visit Robina 🙂
    Thanks for the chance!

  54. Awww, this sounds exactly what we need.. Our son has Autism, and crowds of people scare him, so we have never been able to do the whole Santa Photo idea… This would be my one opportunity for that ‘Santa Shot’….. Melbourne!…

  61. Oh my goodness, this sounds amazing. The Santa photo is always anxiety inducing for our family… We have some weird (but wonderful all the same) photos. For years I had to be in them, or Santa would have to hide behind the chair and peek out the side….or, like your photo, we have the ones with tears. I cherish every single one of them…because memories…BUT I would love not to have to line up with that anxiety rising with every second (me and the kids) and not have to get that shot taken under pressure because there’s 50 people waiting in line behind us. What a fabulous idea!! I would love to bring my boys along to Eastland in Melbourne!

  66. There is so much about the details in this that made me want to apply so here I am!
    Firstly, you’re announcing those chosen on my Birthday (the 20th!). I’ll be 38 : )
    Secondly, we are attending my Oma’s 90th Birthday from 2-4:30pm on that very day (6th December) and I kid you not, it’s been held only a very short walk from Eastland. It’s a shopping centre I’ve never been to and yet of all the places you could be, it’s right where will be anyway (in party dresses. My girls are 9 & 3!).
    Thirdly, I’m meeting my baby nephew for the first time tonight as my sister Anna and him are flying in from London to meet the family. He will be with us at the party!! It’s Anna who got me reading FMS from the beginning!! Thank you so much. Xx

  67. We’d be so excited to come to Eastland for our baby’s first ever Santa photo. What a wonderful opportunity!

  68. Gold Coast ; I’d love to take my Mum and family for the photo. My father just passed away so I’d love to bring her some joy as well as family fun. It would be a great excuse to get ‘dolled up’ and I’m sure Santa would love the attention from five females ??

  69. Hey Chantelle….This will be the first Christmas for my ‘rainbow baby’ and probably the last year my 7 year old (who still believes!) will be excited to stand next to Santa and get his photo taken. I don’t know how much longer I’ve got to keep this little white lie going?! In the midst of all the madness of bringing baby home, I still haven’t managed to get any proper family photos since our new addition arrived – I’d be stoked with just one nice photo of my two gorgeous boys, and I wouldn’t even mind if Santa was in it too! LOL. (Robina would be awesome!) xx

  70. I would love to do this and meet you!!! My best friend and I have our Santa photo together every year and this year she had her first little Bub and we were going to have her in our photo too!!! Sadly I think Castle Towers is going to be too far to travel to for her, and I imagine you’re answer to my question of “can we sneak our puppies in too for the photo??? Daisy had her first Santa photo last year and I would love for Willow to meet Santa too” so I’ll politely step aside and let another lucky family in. It is a brilliant idea and I hope you have lots of fun with it!!!
    I used to take Santa photos for about 5 years, and it’s so much fun!!! I absolutely love the screaming crying photos. The more they scream the better their faces. So much better than a fake smile – least you know how they were actually feeling hahaha

  74. I’d love to come along to Robina 🙂 Santa photo’s are one of our favourite times leading up to Christmas

  75. Family photos and photos of me freak the heck out of me. But Eastland please. Would love to take my little but don’t like the queue and don’t want to freak her out ? We haven’t done one yet though she is only 2.

  76. Oh my goodness, yes please! This sounds like a Christmas dream for my little ones (and me cause I would love to meet you!)…Castle Towers {pretty please} x

  78. Melbourne please! One of my twins is scared of ‘characters’ (as she calls them), and going minus the noise might be a more pleasant experience 🙂

  79. Would love to be selected for the Melbourne session. With our 6 kids ranging from 2 to 15yrs old its always fun to line up with the crowds for a photo with Santa….NOT! Santa photos are a tradition in our house and luckily even the older ones still love getting their photo taken 🙂

  80. This will probably be the last year I can get a santa photo out of my two sons – as my older son is off to start high school next year. Would make an awesome santa photo for my last year – Castle Hill please….

  82. Would love to win a spot at castle towers as it’ll be my son’s first Christmas and it would be great to get a good photo with Santa!!

  85. I’d love to take my 2 year old, he’s not a very patient little man, so no lines would be AWESOME! Robina Town Centre would be great for us & it’s the day before my birthday!

  92. It sounds like the perfect opportunity. Would love to bring my two girls to the Gold Coast. Such a great idea Chantelle!!

  94. I would love a photo of my two girls together with santa my seven year old just stopped being scared of him last year. Robina is our closest centre. Would be an awesome adventure.

  95. We loved Robina last year too but the wait in line was tiring! .. Would LOVE this opportunity to come meet you at Robina and have my daughter and son’s pic with Santa done while getting to meet you as well 🙂 🙂 🙂

  96. I would love to be included in the Melbourne shoot! My son has some sensory difficulties, so visiting Santa can be pretty stressful for all of us. We would love to visit Santa at a quieter time & be able to enjoy this magical time x

  97. Oh my goodness that photo is priceless! We would love to come along to the Robina Santa, it’s about time we visited down there because I’ve heard it’s the best around. In saying that this year is the first year I feel like I could completely cope with our 3 little darlings at the big shops during Xmas time!

  99. I’m in Melbourne too and my son has ASD and sensory issues. Would be wonderful to get a picture with both my kids! Thanks! X

  100. Hooley Dooley! I would love this Chantelle! I am in Melbourne, so EASTLAND for me! I have 4 beautiful children who would adore this!

  102. Gold Coast pretty please. This sounds absolutely amazing. We have been doing budget Harvey Norman for five years and I near go into a fit trying to take my own each year!

  103. Oh I’d love to send my best friend to Castle Towers as a treat. It’s her first Christmas as a mum and I know she’ll find it hard to get the time to line up or the money for those expensive shots. 🙂

  104. Holy wow this sounds like the most amazing idea ever! I’d love to go to the Gold Coast session. It’ll be my girl’s 2nd Christmas and my partner and I plan to always get Christmas photos done as part of our new family traditions, it’s so exciting!!!

  106. My sister and I have been talking about taking the girls and my new baby nephew to get his first Santa photo all together and this would be perfect! The ultimate Christmas gift for a proud Grandma! (Sydney please!).

  111. Aww I so wish it was coming to Canberra! For the nations capital we sure miss out on a lot.
    I about to do the whole Santa photo thing for the first time ever. I’m a bit nervous about it. It kind of makes me feel like a bit of a fraud as a parent because I don’t know all the secret parent tips and tricks yet.

  112. Too late to enter but had to share our little story from the beautiful Santa display at Robina last Wednesday. Somehow managed to convince hubby to accompany me to the shops (he was off work, not 100%) and asked him to go entertain the girls while I ducked into Woolies. It’s so pretty, they’ll love it, I said. He rings me after I’d been shopping for all of 5 minutes, it seems baby girl wasn’t a huge fan… Projectile vomit over the floor. Eeek! Hopefully we will have a more magical experience next time we visit!

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