
Aside from the geometric wedding theme having a major moment, there’s another rising star in the wedding trend world this spring: lucite decor. It’s the perfect blend of modern and minimalist style that would look great at any wedding, whether you walk down the aisle past rows of lucite chairs or read off a hand-lettered lucite menu. It’s a *clear* contender for your wedding decor and is going to be all the rage for 2016. Check out these 15 modern lucite details you and your dearly beloved (and the rest of your guests) will love.
1. Lucite Dining Chairs: The best part of going lucite with your seating is it’ll look good with virtually ANY theme you choose. Going rustic? Keep the woodsy theme from getting outdated with a touch of modern lucite. What about boho? The clear chairs are a refreshing element to what could be a potential color and pattern overload. And we don’t even need to talk about how perfect it is for minimalist style. (Photo via Carmen Santarelli Photography / Style Me Pretty)
2. Lucite Bar Cart: It may be see-through, but there’s no seeing past this bar cart. You never know what you’ll get when playing around with mixed materials. The metallic accents on this ultra-chic bar cart bring the versatile lucite to a whole new level of fab. (via Carmen Santorelli / Style Me Pretty)
3. Lucite Floral Chair: Who knew a wedding bouquet could act as some seriously classy wedding decor when paired with a lucite chair? Take on this refreshing look by adding a bouquet of freshly picked florals to the backs of your lucite chairs. (via Cheryl McEwan / Style Me Pretty)
4. Lucite Ceremony Chairs: There’s an almost ethereal element to this clear decor trend. Opt for lucite when it comes to your ceremony chairs to reflect how *magical* it will feel when you’re making your way down the aisle. Sprinkle some florals down the aisle to finish off the look. (via Carlie Statsky / Green Wedding Shoes)
5. Hand-Lettered Lucite Menus: Whether you’re entertaining a large crowd or a select dozen, lucite menus provide a fancy way to show off what’s cookin’. Cater to a small group with individual hand-written menus, or place one at each table for a larger number of guests. (via Arna Bee / Kelly Oshiro / Flutter)
6. Lucite Bubble Chair: Minimalist meets fun with this alternative bubble chair. Both kids and adults alike will love the chance to take a spin in this lucite beauty. (via Leslee Mitchell)
7. Lucite Table Numbers: There’s no better way to let friends and family know where to sit than with a simple but sophisticated lucite table number. You can experiment with different base materials for one that suits your theme, but metallics are a great way to add some extra oomph. (via Kate Holstein / Once Wed)
8. Lucite Wedding Sign: To avoid confusing your guests, it’s important to have a number of signs around the venue. Whether you choose to share meaningful words or simply inform everyone of table seating, you can make sure it’ll look absolutely fab on a sheet of hanging lucite. (via Michael Radford Photography / Green Wedding Shoes)
9. Tea and Becky Monogrammed Lucite Wedding Ring Box ($37): Bring the lucite trend down to the even the smallest of details, like your ring box. It’s the perfect combo of delicate and darling, and will make for a gorgeous wedding shot.
10. Wedding Card Lucite Box: Whether it’s for a fund or well wishes, you can sneak a peek at what your guests left for you in a clear lucite box. Plus, there won’t be any confusion about the box for guests, since they can see right through it! (via Chelsey Boatwright Photography / Style Me Pretty)
11. Monogrammed Lucite Couple’s Chairs: Okay, let’s be real. Nothing says romantic like monogrammed couple’s chairs. Write your sweet words directly onto the back of your chairs, or use a sign, like this adorable couple did. (via Chantal Lachance-Gibson / Ruffled)
12. Lucite Place Cards: Impress your guests with fancy place cards with metallic font. Finally, pretty place cards that double as favors that guests will actually *want* to take home. (via Candice Benjamin Photography / Southern California Bride)
13. Lucite Tiered Food Display: Just because you have comfort food on the menu doesn’t mean you can’t bring some elegance to your food display. Opt for a lucite display so you can let your guests appreciate the food’s presentation without the distraction of all the extraneous fluff. (via Peter Callahan)
14. Lucite Terrarium Decor: Jazz up your wedding decor by creating your very own terrarium. Throw a few succulents, flowers and other woodsy accents into a clear lucite box for a mini green space your guests can appreciate. (via The Youngrens / The Knot)
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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