Families who hire Santa in New York City for close photos usually ask for the beard that is his — a real bearded Santa, not a piece put on in the hallway.
What a real bearded Santa looks like on camera
A real bearded Santa reads as his when the phone is a foot from the face. Real beard Santa for hire is the booking when Christmas Eve stills will be sent to grandparents. A natural beard Santa costs more than the traditional suit because that beard is grown, not glued. The traditional (non-real-beard) Santa is the lower-cost option. We will not mix the labels at the door.
The wave on this page is that look: red coat, beard that is his, ready for a living room in Park Slope or a parlor on the Upper East Side. Homes, photo lines, and quiet hotel corners ask for this most often. A loud warehouse party can use either look; the camera is farther away.
When to ask for the real beard
Ask when the kids will sit on his lap in a small apartment. Ask when the only light is the tree. Murray Hill, Greenwich Village, and the West Village rooms are close quarters. Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill parlors are the same. Forest Hills and Kew Gardens living rooms too. If the night is a walk through an open office in Midtown, the traditional suit may be enough. Say which.
December here is cold and often gray. Radiators clank. Coats pile on hall hooks. A wreath on the apartment door. We do not promise a white Christmas. Keep the photos inside. Wind off the river will wreck an uncovered stoop set.
Boroughs, Long Island, and the hour
Manhattan apartments, Brooklyn brownstones, Queens houses in Bayside and Whitestone, Bronx stops in Riverdale, Staten Island homes in Todt Hill, and Long Island dens in Syosset or Oyster Bay all book a real bearded Santa the same way: date, floor or driveway, and how long he should sit. A santa house call with a real beard is still minutes, not an open house.
Mrs. Claus and elves can join. They are add-ons. Santa still leads. Do not build the night around a helper who was never booked. December Saturdays go first. A weeknight in early December is easier.
How to ask on the call
Say real bearded if the phones will be close. Say traditional if you want the lower-cost look. Have the date, the address, indoor, and headcount. Boerum Hill, Clinton Hill, and Fort Greene parlors book the same way as the Upper West Side. Sean Michaels takes the calls. We would rather hear the beard twice than send the wrong suit.
Call with the borough or the Long Island town. A natural beard Santa in New York City is the close-photo booking. Stills live on Santa photos. Call (347) 990-2461