With the average wedding costing somewhere around $20,000 to $30,000 (depending on where you live), many couples are stuck choosing between taking on debt or taking off to elope. Add a troubled economy into the mix and some couples are finding it hard to get married at all.

Kingdom Shopping Centre decided to make the decision a little easier for one lucky couple. The shopping center is celebrating love this Valentine’s Day with a draw that will see one couple married at the mall. Having secured sponsorship from travel agencies, retailers, and an in-mall theatre and entertainment venue, Kingdom Shopping Centre will be offering the couple an all-expenses paid ceremony and reception package, as well as a honeymoon. This July, this winning couple will be wed while surrounded by friends, family, and likely a few curious shoppers.

Mall weddings are probably not news to our American readers, but it’s an opportunity yet to be tapped in many other markets. And everything is better when it’s free.

Fischapark is keeping shoppers thinking with its new promotion. Between now and April, the Austrian shopping center will be consumed with “Sodoku Fever”, and its shoppers are catching on.

By playing the popular Japanese puzzle game, shoppers can enter a draw for a Honda Jazz. In order to maximize exposure to the promotion, Fischapark is giving its customers three different ways to play. An online version of the game leads to an entry form.  Sodoku puzzles are also available with entry forms at customer service. And finally, the shopping center will be holding a tournament.

And if shoppers want help training their brains, Fischapark is offering a daily Sodoku Cafe in the mall.

Be warned, if you haven’t tried it before: Sodoku can be addictive. Check out the online version on Fischapark’s website at your own risk.

Cause Marketing: Cause Marketing is the art of combining your commercial brand with a non-profit issue. Cause marketing campaigns have years of history and range from relatively superficial tactical partnerships, to long-term, strategic alliances that penetrate deeply into business and nonprofit organizations.

Crossgates Shopping Centre used its Christmas newsletter to do a little good this year. Young shoppers entered a competition by naming all of Santa’s reindeer. One young boy answered correctly and won the big prize: his very own reindeer.

Or rather, a reindeer sponsored in his name. Crossgates is paying for the care and feeding of the reindeer, Wallace, for a year, and the young winner will receive regular updates.

Just another little way to make shoppers happy and make a difference at the same time.

(via Cross Gates Today)

It seems like UK shopping center The Potteries is always coming up with great ideas. For this Valentine’s Day, the shopping center is partaking in a bit of romance, and a bit of family fun.

The first promotion is sweet and simple. Over the course of a week, shoppers can pick up and register numbered coins at customer service, and toss them into the center’s fountain. One lucky couple will have their coin plucked from the fountain, and they’ll be off for a romantic trip to Rome.

The second promotion is a bit more fun. Families of four can enter for a chance to compete in the Big Love-In Weekend. The 13 chosen families will compete to prove that they are the most romantic, and the family with the most points will win a family holiday to Disneyland Paris.

Upper Canada Mall in Ontario, CA, has a clever plan to spread some holiday cheer (and a great reminder to visit the mall). Wear Your Wish List invites shoppers to let five of their best friends know just what they want for Christmas.

The contest lets shoppers select their 4 favorite retailers. They send those top picks to five friends, and all six get a chance to win. The entrant can win a $1500 shopping spree, and each friend gets $200 to spend at the mall. And each wish list qualifies for a daily draw.

For more about this promotion, and other happenings at Upper Canada Mall, check out the upcoming issue of Tactics Magazine.