
That sweet little gem paves the way for you to make a big entrance in all your bridal glory, so you best be giving her a dress worthy of her job. When it comes to flower girl dresses, the options are nearly endless. We aren’t married to white fluffy frocks anymore, now they can don any color from your pick of palettes and coordinate with any and all of your themes. Here are 12 adorable dresses for your precious petal tosser that we know will complement your dream wedding perfectly.
1. Floaty Party Dress ($72): Mint is one of the hottest colors of the season. Keep your flower girl trendy with this refreshing pick.
2. Grey and White Stripes Dress ($120): A full skirt, a giant bow and flower detailing? This striped dress incorporates our favorite things about spring… and life.
3. Annabelle Flower Girl Dress ($700): Absolutely stunning and incredibly elegant. This dress is sure to make jaws drop (but not as many as your dress will, of course).
4. Coral Dress With Silk Blossom Brooch ($110): Taking the term flower girl to a whole new level, it’s the perfect pick for a sunny, outdoor wedding.
5. White Lace Dress ($70): Brides can rock the lace and so can the flower girl. Don’t forget the mini-veil to match yours.
6. Loulie Dress ($148): Pretty in pink, indeed. Dress it up or keep it casual depending on the vibe of your event.
7. Rustic Country Flower Dress ($75): We love the layered ruffles in this flower girl dress. It’d pair perfectly with boots for a shabby chic or country wedding.
8. Gingham Flower Girl Dress ($132): Help your flower girl spread some sunshine at your wedding with this great gingham dress. Coordinating ring bearer ensemble not included.
9. Lace Ruffle Flower Girl Dress ($26): This ruffled white choice is a steal at less than $30, and looks adorable with a headband or coordinating headpiece for some extra flare.
10. Flower Girl Tutu Dress ($85): Planning a garden wedding? This free-spirited flower girl dress makes tulle work in all the right ways.
11. Vintage Lace Overlay Dress ($56): Knock two things off your list — a flower girl dress and your something blue.
12. Ivory Cotton Flower Girl Dress ($40): Sometimes simplicity can be the most beautiful thing ever, as evidenced by this dress with endless possibilities for coordination. Tying a satin ribbon around the waist that goes with your color scheme is just one fab option.
Which dazzling dress do you see your flower girl prancing down the aisle in? Let us know in the comments below.
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures