About the time I first started reading wedding blogs, I saw an inspiration board on Snippet & Ink called “A Little Bit Country” that made my heart beat a little bit faster. It wasn’t the color scheme, or even the overall similarity of the ambiance to my own country wedding. It was the image in the second row, third from the left. A vintage mailbox featured on Grapevine weddings to showcase their invitations:
I was absolutely smitten.
In the photo above, the mailbox is being used with vintage postcards in lieu of a guestbook. That’s a cute idea - I know there are booklets of vintage Glacier National Park cards out there. But wouldn’t it also make a darling card box?
I started looking for a mailbox that would look nice and rustic, heartily used and varnished with the patina of age. But MAN, mailboxes, even NEW ones, are expensive! So imagine what real, functional, vintage ones cost. And with online shopping, you have to factor in the cost of shipping (a metal box) on top of everything else. Oy.
I looked high, I looked low. I looked in street markets antique shops. Nuthin’.
Until…
In a little antique shop in Columbia Falls, Montana…
What’s that? Is it…? Could it be?
DUN DA DA DAAAA!!! My mailbox!
It’s not as incredibly awesome as the Grapevine mailbox, but I think it’s perfect.
It came to me bent up, rusted, and well-loved. I bathed it, re-bent it, and secured the front closed with velcro. (The lock has long-since broken.)
As you can see, it has a hole in the front where the address plate is supposed to go. We’re going to letterpress some cardstock with our names and the date and secure it in there, and it will be all good to go!
Right now I’m leaning toward using it as a card box, secured to a post so no one walks off with it. But, on the other hand, I’m not a big fan of guest books (call me callous, but I don’t think I will ever look at one), so maybe the postcard idea is the right way to go.
What do you think?
Oh, great find! How perfect for your wedding - It looks like it’s been in Polebridge the whole time!
I’d use it as a card box. I agree with brendalynn that it’s made for it. Plus, if you don’t think you want a guest book, then how is a bunch of postcards any better?
I’d also use it as a card box.
I also was definitely not into the standard guest book idea, because after I read the messages once, when would I want to look through them again? What would I do with it? Not my thing.
What we wound up doing was getting a gorgeous photo book of Philadelphia (where we got married) and had guests sign in the margins of the pictures. It’s a beautiful book, with amazing pictures, and we’ll use it as a coffee table book which we would have used anyway without the signatures (and now it just has a double purpose). Maybe you can find something like that with pictures from Glacier National Park? Obviously, you love the park so much, so you would be proud to display a book on the park in your home!
If you went the postcard route, you could have one of your bridesmaids or close friends actually mail the postcards to you over the next year or so - unlike a guestbook you might never look at, it might be fun to get good wishes in your real mailbox during your first year of marriage! Whatever you decide to do with this, it’s a great find… if I were a guest at your wedding, I would definitely notice this awesome detail!
I LOVE the postcard idea. I think it’s totally cute. I’m not huge on guestbooks either, but I can see myself enjoying a relaxed anniversary with my newlywed husband reading postcards to reminisce about the day we were married.
@Jenny Louwheeze: That is a really really cute idea. Plus, I love getting mail! 
Such a great find! I’ve been looking for a mailbox, too… the ones on eBay that I’ve found are either hideous or hideously expensive.
I love Jenny Louwheeze’s idea of using it for your mailbox later, too, and also Julieulie’s guestbook idea! Hmm….
Awesome Cherry Pie. I also <3 this idea. Mr. Pineapple and i have been looking for a copper mailbox. We might just suck it up and buy one, since, like others have suggested, we will use it after the wedding.
I love this idea and think it’s very similar to what we’re planning for our wedding. we’ve been collection vintage postcards for the past year just for this very purpose. half the fun is collection them, the other half will be using them at our wedding. I think our guests will flip!
I am putting together my inspiration board right now, and I am so stealing this idea from you.
[...] some deliberation, I’ve decided how to use the vintage mailbox that I purchased in [...]
[...] is our vintage mailbox and antique-replica Montana postcards, set up on an old cherry box in lieu of a guestbook. The sign [...]
Miss Cherry Pie, Seattle/Polebridge, Montana
Age and Occupation: 25, Marketing Communications Specialist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Nurse Practitioner
Engagement Date: August 26, 2006
Wedding Date: September 2008
Blogging Since: April 1, 2008
Venue: A tiny town just outside of Glacier National Park
About Me: I think of life as a journey and I love the places it's taking me! I went to school to study Magazine Journalism, ended up with a second major in Japanese language, and now work at a company that makes software for libraries. I love writing, computers, photography, and the great outdoors. I spend most of my time playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band or geeking out online with Mr. Cherry Pie. I'm happiest when I'm on the road, especially traveling abroad, or just nesting quietly at home with my sweetie, who is a fabulous cook and bakes a delicious rendition of a certain cherry-filled dessert!
Love it! What a find!
And it’s perfect for a card box–because, well, that’s essentially what it’s made for!