Last weekend, Al and I had the opportunity to take our "Engaged Encounter" class, through the church. It is a pre-cana class that everyone who gets married catholic is required to take. The course took place over the Friday evening and all day on the Saturday.

The concept behind the course is to really get you thinking about your relationship as a couple and to help you move in a positive direction, together. For Al and I, seeming as we have been dating for over 6 years, we have pretty much had a chance to talk about everything and anything with regards to our married life. A lot of the couples that we met at this course, however, had only been dating for a couple of years (or shorter), so there are inevitably some topics that may not have come up in conversation. This course was to get them talking about these topics and get them on the same page before they wed.

I thought that it would be interesting to have a blog post, listing a few of the topics discussed throughout the course, to share with everyone. Some couples' whose weddings we photograph are not marrying catholic, so they wouldn't have a chance to take a pre-cana course like this.

Take a look at some of these questions, and have a chat with your fiance about them. It may be interesting and enlightening to see what each other has to say on each topic.

Financials
Will you share a joint bank account or will you keep your bank accounts separate?
Who will be in charge of paying the bills?
Have you/wIll you invest in an RRSP for savings, or an RESP for your children's' education? How about any other kind of investments? Who is going to handle that?
Have you sat down and worked out a personal budget? Have you set financial goals?
Will you have a financial advisor to help you with your money and your investments?
What kind of house can you afford? What kind of vehicles can you afford? Will you take vacations?
Would you be willing to move if your spouse got a promotion that involved re-location?

Children
Will you have children? How many will you have? How far apart in age would you like them to be?
Will your children attend a catholic school or a public school? Will you raise them catholic and have them attend church?
How will you discipline your children?
What if you are unable to have children, naturally? Would you try other methods?

Family
How do you plan on maintaining a relationship with your own families?
How will you spend the holidays?
What traditions did you have, growing up, with your families? What traditions do you hope to continue with your own family?

Chores
What are the household chores? List them, and figure out how they will be divided. Will one of you do more than the other?
How were the household chores divided when you were growing up, with your parents? Do you have similar views on this?
What if one of you busier than the other, will the other spouse do more chores and housework than the other?

Rules for effective arguments:
No name calling
No 3rd party
No past history
Stick to the subject
No cheap shots
Don't go to bed angry
Maintain a sense of humour

If you have any other questions or thoughts that may be helpful to engaged couples, please feel free to leave them in the "Comments" section, below. I'd love for you to share them!

Posted January 23, 2010 by Bryan Caporicci  |  Category: Chit-Chat

We try and blog everything that is new and exciting at Bryan Caporicci Photography, here, at http://www.bcapblog.com. We love keeping our couples and our clients informed, and we have found that a lot of the couples and clients who are looking at contacting us get a lot of great ideas and information about us through our blog. It's just a great way to keep everyone in on the latest and greatest.

Another way that we like to keep everyone informed is via our e-mail newsletter. The newsletter is kind of like a shorter, monthly version of our blog, and has information on all of our promotions, specials, and upcoming events. We also like to feature some of our favourite images and sessions in the newsletter as well.

We just released the first issue 2010 e-newsletter, and would love for you to check it out! You can always sign up to automatically receive our e-newsletters by signing up on our main site (www.bcapphoto.com), or simply by clicking this link. You can also view a web-version of our e-newsletter by clicking this link.

We hope that you enjoy the newsletter, and if you ever have any questions about our specials, promotions, seminars, or anything at all, we can be reached at , or at (289) 897-9523.

Thanks, and ciao for now!

Bryan

Posted January 21, 2010 by Bryan Caporicci  |  Category: Chit-Chat

As you may or may not know, Allison and I recently purchased a home in Fonthill, and so we have recently moved our home-based-studio to the wonderful city of Pelham.

We have discovered so many wonderful treasures, met so many amazing people and stumbled upon some incredible talent, here, in Fonthill. As an attempt to discover more, uncover more, and meet more, we have launched our new portrait project, Portraits of Pelham. You can check out our Portraits of Pelham website, over at www.PortraitsOfPelham.com.

Portraits of Pelham will feature portraits created of members of the community who reflect the essence and character of Pelham, whether it be through their volunteer commitments, their business contributions, or the unique nature of their personal vision. Each portrait will be taken ‚"on-location", in an environment that uniquely represents the individual, such as at their home or their place of business. Each portrait will be accompanied with a brief ‚"biography" of this individual, explaining their place in the community.

My first Portraits of Pelham subject was Monique Mulder-Wallace, a local pottery artist, here in Fonthill.

Monique grew up in Oakville, and has always had a passion for pottery. As a little girl, she would spend her spare time practicing and perfecting the art of pottery. She has taught pottery classes all around the area while continuing to hone her own style. When Monique, her husband, her son and her daughter moved to Fonthill 7-years ago, she pursued a different path with regards to pottery. Instead of spending the majority of her time in the classroom, teaching the art, she decided to go full-time as a pottery artist, and create and sell unique pieces to the local community.

Monique has since had her work displayed in galleries all around Ontario, and also has pieces decorating the shelves of‚ "Reign Equestrian and Athletics" and "Butterflies Boutique", right here, in Fonthill. Monique has also participated in the Pelham Art Festival, and plans to participate again this year.

Monique lives in a truly creative environment, her husband plays the guitar and paints beautiful, one-of-a-kind watercolour paintings, her son plays the guitar, piano and trumpet in the school and local band, and her daughter has her own line of jewellery, called "Fly Away Home Jewellery" and also plays piano and flute. It is no wonder that Monique is able to continually re-inspire herself to create the most beautiful pieces of pottery art!

I hope that you enjoy a few of the portraits that I created for her - starting with, of course, the "signature" portrait that was featured on Portraits Of Pelham.

Enjoy!

Posted January 19, 2010 by Bryan Caporicci  |  Category: It's Fun!Chit-Chat

With Christmas and New Years just past, and Valentine's Day just around the corner, love is in the air this time of the year. Whether you have been dating for only a few months, or have been married for thirty years, you deserve to celebrate your love.

Our "It's Love" portrait sessions are all about capturing who you are as a couple and photographing that love that you share for each other.

Here is an e-mail from Kris, one of our grooms from 2008, sent us, after his and his fiance's "It's Love" session:

Hey Bryan,

I just wanted to say what an awesome day Kristin and I had. By the end of the day it seemed like we had totally reconnected and it was truly one of the best days we have ever spent together. I just wanted to thank you and Al for making this such a great experience.

I was wondering why you called it "It's Love", but by the end of the day I couldn't have been more in love with Kristin.

Talk to you soon

Kris

Our "It's Love" mini-portrait sessions are back by popular demand, and are 1-hour portrait sessions with you and your sweetheart. Mini-sessions are only $195 (normal session fee $350). They will be taking place outdoors, at a local park, at a mutually convenient time during the week, between February 1st and February 14th.

Sign up @ http://www.bcapphoto.com/itslove

Posted January 08, 2010 by Bryan Caporicci  |  Category: Chit-Chat

I had the chance to get away on vacation over the Christmas holidays, so it has been a couple of weeks since I have had a chance to blog. Now that I am back, though, I would like to wish everyone a very happy holidays, and all the best in 2010!

For our Christmas vacation, Al's parents took us (and her sisters and boyfriend) on a cruise. We totally LOVE cruises and think that they're definitely the best way to vacation - unlimited and amazing food, tons of entertainment, and you get to see a bunch of islands and places all at once.

Now, a holiday just wouldn't be a holiday if I didn't bring my camera, of course, right? So here's some of my favourite images ...

Posted January 04, 2010 by Bryan Caporicci  |  Category: Chit-Chat

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