Weddingbee Blog

I love flea markets. OK, that is a little bit of a lie. Not the love part, but my usage of the plural form of market is not entirely appropriate. You see, I have only ever been to one flea market—although I have been multiple times! Back in high school, Bridesmaid M and I had many thrift shopping adventures and I am a HUGE fan of searching for hidden treasures at antique malls, so I always figured the flea market would be right up my alley. Despite all of this, I never actually made it to the monthly Nashville flea market until I got engaged.

I knew the flea market would be the perfect place to hunt for unique decor items, so I figured out the dates and marked them in my Google calendar (because, quite honestly, if it is not in that calendar then it does not get done). As I anxiously waited for my first flea market weekend to roll around, I thought about what might be a good purchase to make. I knew I should not go in with a strict list. It was a flea market after all, I wasn’t grocery shopping. I also knew that if I did not have some ideas then I would either come home empty handed due to “I like it but I don’t know if I’ll use it” syndrome or with an entire car-full of items due to “I’m sure I can find a spot for this!” syndrome.

One item that seemed to have high flea market find potential was something cool and unique to use for our card box.

The first thing that popped into my head was something I had seen many other brides use (and with good reason, check out the adorable pics): a vintage suitcase. Something along these lines…

Image via RuffledBlog.com / Photo by Jonas Peterson

Image via GreenWeddingShoes.com / Photo by Steep Street

So cute, right? They are definitely a great thing to be looking for at the flea market—I saw tons of them! But despite my plethora of choices in the vintage suitcase department, I did not purchase one. I really do like them, but for some reason it just didn’t feel quite right and I was not ready to settle!

I began thinking about what other vintage prop would make a good card box. Then, it came to me. A mailbox! It’s possible I saw this idea somewhere and subconsciously stored it, but if I did I have no recollection, so I am just going to claim it was an original idea! In an online search, I did find another bride who used a vintage mailbox card box and it came out adorable. Check it out:

Image via ElizabethAnneDesigns.com / Photo by Plister Photography

Love it! So the next month I headed back to the flea market on a mission to find a vintage mailbox. While they were not quite as abundant as the suitcases, I did find a couple of options. Here is the one I ended up purchasing (for the price on the tag—I have yet to attempt let alone master the art of haggling):

Personal Photo - Our mailbox/card holder!

While it looks a little funny on our futon, I think it will look great on a cutely decorated table! My first thought was to buy wooden letters from a craft store that spell out “C-A-R-D-S” and lean them up against the side of the mailbox. Then I was chatting with Mama Dalmatian and she suggested I write our last name on it so it looked like an actual mailbox. She pointed out that as long as I put one card in there to get the ball rolling, people will know what it is for. I like this idea too!

What do you think: should I get letters that say CARDS, write our last name, or leave it without any words?

What have been your favorite flea market finds?