Give your family a Christmas experience they will treasure forever. Join Santa and Mrs. Claus for a one-hour interactive adventure of cookie baking, festive activities, and beautiful family portraits in Lexington, Kentucky.
Sessions run october and november 2026 and sell out every year.
This is not an ordinary visit with Santa
Years ago I took my own three-year-old daughter to a traditional Santa photo at my then workplace. I set her on Santa's lap. The photographer started shooting. My daughter screamed.
I thought I had wrecked my child. I thought I had handed her a childhood trauma, and in truth it traumatized me more than it traumatized her. We left. I decided we would not see Santa again until there was a version my daughter would actually enjoy.
There was not one. I looked. There were laps and lines and ten-minute slots and backdrops, and none of it was built for a child who was scared. So I built one.
My daughter did not go back to Santa until this experience existed. She went through the four scenes the way every child does now, and she was fine. She decorated the tree with Mrs. Claus. She met Santa in his apron. She baked. She ate the cookie she made. She is older now, and she still talks about it.
That is what Heart of Gold is. A private hour, one family at a time, with Santa and Mrs. Claus, built around the child who would not sit on a stranger's lap.
Your children step into a real-life Christmas adventure, discovering the magical secrets of the North Pole alongside Santa and Mrs. Claus. Our Lexington studio transforms into Santa's Workshop for one unforgettable hour, with a photographer capturing every moment and parents welcomed into the frames at every stop.
01Your family's Christmas adventure begins the moment you walk through the door. Mrs. Claus welcomes your children with a warm smile and invites them to help decorate the Christmas tree, setting the stage for an hour of wonder.
Learn more
02Santa appears in a workshop apron, not the famous red suit, and invites the children to explore his workshop. It is a gentle, deliberate choice that helps nervous little ones warm up to Santa on their own terms.
Learn more
03This is where the magic gets real. Your children roll up their sleeves and bake alongside Santa and Mrs. Claus with real flour, real eggs, real butter, and a real oven. Nothing is staged, and every sprinkle of flour is genuine.
Learn more
04Imagine the magic of Christmas coming to life as Santa gathers the children for a special reading of The Night Before Christmas. While the cookies bake, little eyes light up and the excitement of the season fills the room, and then comes the sweetest part: enjoying the warm cookies the children made themselves.
Learn moreEach session includes a one-hour interactive experience, festive activities, family memories, and digital images based on your selected photography package.
Your family spends a full private hour with Santa and Mrs. Claus across four magical scenes. One family at a time, never a shared set.
Digital images are included according to the photography package you choose, from $495 to $795.
A Golden Ticket arrives in the mail before your session, addressed to your child, to build the excitement.
Each child takes home a package of reindeer food to sprinkle on the lawn for Santa's reindeer on Christmas Eve.
Your family takes home a box of the cookies your children helped bake during the session.
Each child receives a special Santa bell to take home and treasure.
After your session, a personal letter from Santa arrives in the mail for your child.
Parents are welcome to join the photographs throughout the hour, not posed at the end.
Families will have the opportunity to purchase additional experiences, including Painting with Santa or becoming a Toymaker with Santa. Children can paint a Christmas ornament or create a special toy while their cookies cool. These optional activities will be available to purchase at a later time.
Optional activities are available to purchase separately and are not included in the base package.
The toys may change and the cookies may disappear, but the memories of baking with Santa can last a lifetime. This is the hour your family will talk about long after the holidays are over.
An invitation
Here is something we have noticed after a great many Decembers. The photograph everyone remembers is never the one where the child is told to smile. It is the one where the child has forgotten the camera is there at all. It is flour on the nose. A rolling pin held too tightly. A small hand reaching for a warm cookie the instant it leaves the oven.
That photograph is almost impossible to take in ten minutes on a stranger's lap. It takes an hour. It takes a kitchen that smells of butter. It takes a Santa in a workshop apron who hands your child the whisk before he ever asks for a smile. So that is what we built. Not a backdrop. A room your child actually wants to stay in.
You will arrive, and Mrs. Claus will meet you at the door. Your children will decorate the tree, tour the workshop, and bake real cookies in a real oven. Somewhere in the middle of it, while the cookies bake and the story is read, the performing will stop. That is the moment we are waiting for. That is the hour we would like to give you.
We keep it to one family at a time. We keep it to November. We keep it small on purpose, because the thing you came for cannot be rushed, and we would rather disappoint a hundred families than hurry a single one.
Whether it becomes a new family tradition or a one-time holiday surprise, Baking with Santa is built around the child in front of the camera.
A hands-on experience parents and children can enjoy side by side, from pouring flour to cutting shapes and watching the cookies turn golden in the oven.
Plenty of opportunities for beautiful Christmas photos, with parents and siblings welcomed into the frames at every scene throughout the hour.
Turn an afternoon with Santa into a holiday tradition your family looks forward to every year. The cookies change. The memories do not.
A little Christmas magic, with very limited availability. Sessions run October and November 2026 in Lexington, Kentucky, and they sell out every year.
Season
October and November 2026
Location
Lexington, Kentucky
Experience Length
One private hour
Recommended Ages
4 to 12 (younger welcome, not a rule)
Starting Price
$495 ($495 to $795)
Who
Santa and Mrs. Claus, one family at a time
Sessions sell out every year
Book Your ExperienceOur Baking with Santa experiences include a one-hour interactive session, festive activities, family memories, and digital images based on your selected photography package. Packages start at $495 and range to $495 to $795. Sessions run october and november 2026 and sell out every year, so reserve your family's private hour early.
Secure booking. Limited October and November sessions.
"[Add a genuine parent testimonial here describing their Baking with Santa experience.]"
"[Add a genuine parent testimonial here describing their Baking with Santa experience.]"
"[Add a genuine parent testimonial here describing their Baking with Santa experience.]"
Replace these placeholders with genuine parent reviews when customizing.
From baking cookies with Santa to sharing stories with Mrs. Claus, every moment is designed to create Christmas memories your family will treasure. Join us in Lexington, Kentucky for the 2026 Baking with Santa Experience.
October and November 2026 • Lexington, Kentucky
October and November 2026
Limited sessions