Love Locks Come to Pretoria {giveaway}

It has always been on my bucket list. To lock our love and names on the famous - now infamous - Pontes de Arts and then chuck our keys into the Seine. I don't know how and when it started, but there is something awfully romantic about love locks, a reminder of the unbreakable bond that marriage should be! 

Not every one is a fan, as recent campaigns have urged tourists to rahter take romantic selfies than put padlocks on their historic bridges. With hashtags like #notolovelocks, #lovewithoutlocks and #setyourlovefree, the City of Paris is trying to prevent another bridge collapsing under the immense weight of all these love declarations. 

That's what makes the Love Lock 'bridge' coming to Magnolia Dal, Pretoria, in September so clever. It isn't just a bridge but a custom designed architectural piece by Johan and Grete Wentzel from Wdesign that won't damage the integrity of the bridge. 

 Through this project, the organisers of Marriage Week SA (from 1-7 September), INTIEM Tydskrif, in collaboration with Cool Capital, hope to encourage a renewed focus on the institution of marriage. To register for Marriage Week, click here.

“Our vision with this project is to see how thousands of married South African couples declare their eternal promises to each other by means of permanently attaching these love locks to this newly constructed bridge,” Says Liezel van der Merwe, Managing Editor at INTIEM magazine and head organiser of International Marriage Week.

The Love Bridge will be inaugurated during a special event with famous couples, and the public can buy their tickets at iTickets. Each couple present, will receive a lock to engrave their names onto and will have the opportunity to be one of the first couples to close their locks onto the bridge.

The organisers of Marriage Week are excited to get Cool Capital involved with this project. The goal of Cool Capital Biennale 2014 is to introduce the public to art, architecture, urban and graphic design, and in this manner, bring visual, perceptual and actual change to Pretoria.

Marriage Week SA is an initiative in collaboration with INTIEM magazine and 1Life, that strives to make people aware of just how important stable marriages are for the wellbeing of our nation. Through this the organisers hope to inspire couples around South-Africa to once again focus on the wellbeing of their marriage.

YOU CAN WIN!

To stand a chance of winning one of two tickets to the unveiling of the Love Lock Bridge in Magnolia Dal, on 6 September, you can just share this tweet: "RT I want to win an engraved lovelock with @intiemtydskrif and The Sun House. cc @waitingformeg #tshlovelocks http://waitingformeg.blogspot.com/2014/08/love-locks-come-to-pretoria-giveaway.html" 

This competition is only open to people in Gauteng.

 Top Three Love Lock Bridges in the World

1. Pont des Arts - Paris 
The most famous of the lot, the bridge has caused some controversy when it collapsed in June. {image from here}

 2. Hohenzollern Bridge, Cologne, Germany
Not too far from the Paris love bridge, is this old bridge over the Cologne river. {image from here}

3. N Seoul Tower, Seoul, South Korea 

Perhaps learning from the mistakes of Paris, this place of love declaration 
has seven trees to put your locks on. {image from here}