Postbox!

Not long ago, I became obsessed with card boxes. You know, the boxes that people put on their gift tables to hold the cards that some guests bring to the reception.

Some are birdcages, others are built to look like wedding cakes, while others look like wrapped gifts that match the wedding’s color scheme, and still others are mini wishing wells.

While indulging my new-found obsession with wedding porn . . . I mean wedding blogs (I call them porn, because they’re so addictive!) . . . anyway, while reading wedding blogs, I learned that some couples had trouble with the security of their card boxes. A bandit, it seems, was going around from wedding to wedding, stealing cards right out of those boxes! The worst part of this for me wouldn’t be that I wouldn’t get the card (and whatever was inside), but rather that I wouldn’t even know that the gift had ever been given, so I wouldn’t properly thank the guest who gave it. Some receptions have a gift card box attendant who watches out for the card-stealing bandit.

We’re having a bit of a British theme to our reception, and I thought it would be a grrrrreat idea to have an English postbox as the place where people could put their cards.

When the only one I could find was several hundred dollars (and the red didn't match our black-and-white color scheme), I envisioned myself making one out of a Quaker oats container. (Never mind the fact that gift cards wouldn’t fit inside a Quaker oats container.) My mom reminded me, however, that the first time I tried to make something for a wedding, it was an unmitigated disaster. It was a time capsule for my friend’s wedding. Made from a popcorn tin. That I spray-painted white the night before. The day of the wedding, the lid was permanently stuck on the tin, and I had to use a screwdriver and a hammer to pry it off, which dented the tin. And, the paint was still sticky, so I had to drive to the wedding with all the windows down to avoid getting high on the fumes. The poor bride has only one photo of someone carrying a gift into the wedding. And when I gave it to her, she said, “Um, is it popcorn?” Sooo, I thought I’d better leave this craft project to the experts.

When I couldn’t find an English-style mailbox, I started to think of the American version. But I wanted it to be locked up tight with a small slot through which guests would push their cards. I brainstormed vintage mail slots that were securely attached to wooden boxes (also known as the unfinished oak tissue box that I found on eBay). But I was worried that someone would look at it and say something along the lines of, “Um, is it a Kleenex box?” That’s when I remembered the Victorian mailbox on a stand that is on the porch of a house nearby. While I had a split-second thought about being a mailbox bandit myself, I quickly snapped back into reality and researched buying one.

I haven’t exactly mentioned this yet, but the Mister and I are operating on a budget (more on that later), and we couldn’t really afford a stand mailbox, so I found a nice one that could sit on the gift table. Man, was I excited. And I did what all girls do when planning a wedding – I called my mama. She said, “A mailbox at the wedding? No one will know what it’s for!” After I sent her online evidence that others had this same idea, she said, “Well why would you want to do that?! It sound like everyone is doing it. How unoriginal.” (I must note here that this is not my mother’s regular M.O. She’s enthusiastic and funny and loves creativity.)

And after thinking about it for a day or so, Mama decided that she liked, nay – loved!, the idea, but she thought that we should get a stand mailbox after all. It was my birthday gift. So, without further ado, I present to you our Wedding Gift Card (Post)Box!

What do you think?