
There are so many ways you can add your own personal style to your wedding. You can turn it into a circus (in a good, super fun way) or make it a global affair if you’re a world traveling couple. But if you’re looking for something a little nautical, a little preppy, and still oh-so-sweet, we have just the thing. From the aisle to the invite, here are 30 ways to deck your day out in stripes.
1. DIY Confetti Bag: Give guests this fun, striped confetti bag to toss at you and yours as you walk down the aisle. (via Green Wedding Shoes)
2. Blue Wedding: We love the imperfect lines and pop of blue color. (via Style Me Pretty)
3. Pretty in Pearls: Add some texture to your cake with this fun technique. (via Erica Obrien)
4. Bouquet Bows: Just to give your already beautiful bouquet an extra pretty, preppy touch, add ribbons in solids and stripes. (via Inspired by This)
5. Light it Up: Christmas lights and streamers are all it takes to make this charming ceiling. (via Style Me Pretty)
6. Floral Invitation: This bold, playful invite is sure to get you an instant RSVP. (via Weddbook)
7. Striped Rope Vases: These neon DIY vases are perfect for adding a pop of color to tables and so easy to DIY with colorful cord and twine. (via Green Wedding Shoes)
8. Rainbow Napkins: These super playful napkins might be more memorable than the meal. (via Brides)
9. Striped Shack: We don’t usually need any convincing to walk into a shack of sweets, but if we did these striped doors would certainly do the trick. (via Green Wedding Shoes)
10. Summer Washi 4-Pack Set ($10): Make stripes anywhere you want with colorful washi tape on, yup, just about any/everything!
11. Pretty in Pink: This super girly table setting can turn a wedding into the ultimate tea party. (via Inspired by This)
12. Striped Treat Bag ($10): Send guests home with a treat in one of these candy striped paper bags.
13. Not So Mellow Yellow: Striped, yellow table cloths make everything look sunny side up. (via Elizabeth Anne Designs)
14. Criss-Cross Crazed: This criss-crossed wedding is making our eyes hurt but we can’t look away! (via Wedding Chicks)
15. Steamer City: This streamer backdrop would be so simple to set up and look how epic they are! (via Ruffled Blog)
16. Menu Musings: These menu cards look almost good enough to eat. (via Style Me Pretty)
17. Step Up: This is the aisle to top all aisles! We’re in love and it could so be washi taped. (via One Wed)
18. Tasseled and Bows: This simple idea makes boring ol’ chairs fun. (via Ruffled Blog)
19. Simply Striped: You can’t go wrong with flowers and stripes. (via The Perfect Palette)
20. Painted Sweets: A cake that looks like a watercolor dream is a dream come true. (via Belle the Magazine)
21. Buttered Bow Ties: This will be as fun to look at as it will be to eat. (via Brit + Co)
22. Botanical and Bold: Make bright flowers pop with a stark black and white backdrop. (via Style Me Pretty)
23. Perpendicular Proposition: Things don’t always have to be so horizontal. Opt for some vertical stripes for your wedding invite. (via Praise Wedding)
24. Shimmering Slice: A golden cake that is also striped? Doesn’t get much better than that. (via Style Me Pretty)
25. Swimming in Stripes: Take things a little nautical with navy and white stripes. (via Southern Weddings)
26. Chevron Cake: We’ve seen chevron all over the house but never before on a cake. (via Project Wedding)
27. Paper Straws ($6): Paper straws are an easy way to take this theme to the next level.
28. Candyland: Striped walls might not make for easy clean up, but they sure look great. (via Rue Mag)
29. Striped Frosting: Almost too pretty to eat. Keyword being almost ;) (via Wild Orchid Baking Company)
30. Black and White Backdrop: We can’t decide what’s prettier: this DIY backdrop or Mother Nature’s. (via Hey Look)
Would you consider stripes for your wedding day? Which idea do you like best?
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