Fin Free couples Jackson & Amy (L) and Kaman & Felix (R)

Jackson and Amy even brought their parents. Amy’s dad talked about how proud he was of the couple for standing up for something they believed in. So proud that he went out and emailed about one hundred of his own personal friends to tell them about going ‘Fin Free’.

Amy and Jackson made a moving speech in English and Cantonese. ”We know this is not the end of the journey to raise awareness for the conservation of sharks. We need more people to stand up. We need more Chinese people to really take action to save sharks and say no to shark fin.” – Amy

You can listen to the whole speech below (03:59)

Sing Tao:  “Our dream really came true. The best thing is, both sides of our parents were very supportive, and we won a big prize. We plan to go take the Galapagos cruise next April on our wedding anniversary.”

李珈瑩：我們的夢想真的實現了，最棒的是，兩邊的爸爸、媽媽都很支持，而且還得了大獎，計畫明年4月結婚周年時去搭加拉巴哥群島郵輪。

Epoch Times: “Although some people still don’t understand why they’ve decided to do this, but they will take this opportunity to tell people the truth about shark fin, and hope that they will consider the bad that comes out of consuming shark fin soup, especially its impact on future generations.”

尹奕基告訴說，他們這樣做雖然有些人還不能理解，不過他們會藉機告訴人們魚翅的真相，希望思考飲用魚翅湯帶來的弊端，尤其是對子孫後代的影響。

Congratulations again Amy and Jackson, Kaman and Felix, and all of our HHLS wedding couples past and present.

 

This year 19 couples entered the contest and they diverted over 3500 bowls of shark fin soup from being consumed. That’s 350 sharks!

Our FINtastic couples put forth amazing effort in spreading awareness this year and the race for first place was tight! Reaching all over the globe to spread the Fin Free wedding message, almost 3000 people voted for our couples. Although all couples are winners and champions of change in the community, unfortunately not everyone could be the grand prize winners. With no further ado, here are your 2012 HHLS winners!

Grand Prize Winners

With 1014 votes Amy and Jackson are our grand prize winners of the 6 day cruise to the Galapagos Islands! The honeymooners will explore the islands in style with daily opportunities to swim and snorkel in the pristine marine reserve. The Galapagos is one of the top diving and snorkelling destinations in the world!

A photo from the press conference at The Original Szechuan Chongqing restaurant in Vancouver

Showing off their creative side Amy and Jackson made a video which received more than 4,600 views on YouTube! WOW!

“We thought it was the right thing to do. Many shark species are in danger of extinction. In order to save them, we have to keep them alive” – Amy & Jackson

Runners Up 

Coming in at a close second, Kaman and Felix did an amazing job spreading the Fin Free message and received 916 votes. The couple reached out to family and friends as far as Hong Kong for support! Kaman and Felix also connected with other shark conservation and environmental groups in Canada to spread awareness about the contest.

As runners up they are winners of an amazing Bonica camera.

Community Champions 

Elaine and Simon are this year’s Community Champions. They are not only spreading the Fin Free message locally, but they are going Fin Free for their banquets in Hong Kong and Taiwan!

They are winners of a creative photo shoot thanks to RF Photography.

Harry’s Favorite

Jenny and Ben are Harry’s Favorite, which was decided by a panel of Shark Truth members. Jenny and Ben were features on the FRONT PAGE of the North Shore News talking about their involvement in shark conservation. Read the full story here.

The couple have been great supporters of the Fin Free movement and shark conservation as Ben was also a contestant in the Sans Fin Soup contest last year!

Thank you again to all the couples who entered and started their own traditions. We are very proud of all of you for standing up for conservation and sustainable choices. We wish you all the best in your new adventures together.

And thank you to everyone who voted and supported the couples! Stayed tuned for an update from Amy & Jackson’s trip as well as information on our contest next year!

Book your next trip with Robson Street Flight Centre and a portion of your booking will be donated to us when you mention Shark Truth.

‘Fin Free’ Wedding Couple Wins 6-day Deluxe Honeymoon Trip to the Galapagos

Vancouver, B.C. – Amidst recent developments in the Greater Vancouver area on shark fin legislation and Shark Truth reaffirming (link) its position on shark conservation, Shark Truth announces Jackson and Amy as the winners of its third annual Happy Hearts Love Sharks wedding contest.

“We are deeply proud of all the courageous wedding couples that are creating new traditions to protect our sharks, our oceans and our children’s future,” said Claudia Li, Shark Truth Executive Director. “We’re seeing a fundamental shift in public awareness and people’s mentality – shark fin is becoming taboo. Even restaurants are telling us that their sales for shark fin have plummeted,” said Ms. Li.

“FCBT is proud to be partnered with Shark Truth and G Adventures to assist bringing awareness and action to the issue of saving sharks from extinction. Real change is occurring and we applaud their dedication to this worth cause,” said Craig MacCarthy, Flight Centre Business Travel, Brand Leader.

The results for this year’s competition is realized through over 80 couples pledging to protect sharks by going ‘Fin Free’ or not serving shark fin soup at their wedding banquet, totaling to over 40,000 bowls of shark fin soup being stopped. The winners of this year’s contest will enjoy a 6-day honeymoon trip courtesy of Flight Centre and G Adventures to the Galapagos Archipelago on the luxurious G6 catamaran.

“In keeping with G Adventures’ commitment to giving back to the communities and natural surroundings we visit, we are proud to partner with FCBT & Shark Truth in their efforts to protect sharks from extinction,” said Aaron Sapra, G Adventures, National Sales Manager.

This year’s winning couple took the initiative to produce a video in both English and Mandarin to spread awareness about shark conservation. “We thought it was the right thing to do. Many of the shark species are in danger of extinction. In order to save them, we have to keep them alive,” said Jackson Wan.

Shark Truth is a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to promoting awareness, education and action for shark conservation. Our unique consumer engagement campaign includes the Happy Hearts Love Sharks wedding contest that rewards couples who pledge to go Fin Free at their wedding banquet. Learn more at sharktruth.org or join us at http://facebook.com/sharktruth

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Media Contact:   Claudia Li, Shark Truth Executive Director
604-723-0134 

High resolution photos and contact information for wedding couples available upon request.

Wedding banquet location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Number of Guests: 230

Amy and Jackson’s story:
We quickly fell in love with each other after meeting for the first time in our teen years. We were blessed to have gone through 9 years of bitter and sweet only to have grown more in love with each other as we step into our marriage. Throughout the years, we love watching movies together and Jackson has always loved animals since he was young. One time, we encountered the movie Sharkwater. It truly opened our eyes about the cruelty of shark finning. Thus, we decided to omit the shark fin soup for our wedding banquet. We were hesitant to tell our parents at first, but they were surprisingly very supportive about it. We are also grateful that the restaurant manager was kind enough to substitute it with the bird’s nest soup. We know that the impact we’re making is tiny, but we hope to do our part to save one shark at a time!!!

After entering the contest we decided to make our own video to spread awareness of why we need to save sharks. please watch our video on you tube in English HERE or mandarin HERE vote for us if you like it.

Voting are now CLOSED.

Drop a quick note to your favourite couple and congratulate them on their Fin Free journey.

Wedding banquet location: Richmond, BC, Canada
Number of Guests: 150

Kaman and Felix’s story:
We met each other through volunteering at a seniors home almost 8 years ago. Since then, we love smiling together, we love learning together, we love volunteering together, we love visiting zoos and aquariums together, we just love spending time together…………..

After dating for almost 8 years, we have decided to tie the knot. Not only are we going to host a fin free wedding banquet in Canada, but we are also planning to host a joint wedding reception with Kaman’s sister (who is also getting married in the near future) in Hong Kong for our Hong Kong relatives and friends . In order to raise awareness of shark finning and to spread the fin free message to more people, we will not be serving shark fin there as well. We are hoping to make a change and save as many sharks as we can.

Voting are now CLOSED.

Drop a quick note to your favourite couple and congratulate them on their Fin Free journey.

Wedding banquet location: Richmond, BC, Canada
Number of Guests: 150

Linda and Jacky’s story:
Jacky and Linda started dating in 2006. Linda loved finding activities to do and ended up signing up for a movie screening of “Sharkwater”. If Jacky was free, he would go along with whatever she had planned. They ended up watching the movie at ParK Theatre on Cambie St on June 23, 2009 not knowing what exactly the movie was about. It was definitely a different type of shark movie that they were used to. Shark movies from previous ones like “Jaws” made sharks scary and harmful to humans.

After watching the movie, Jacky had a totally new insight on the topic. He said to Linda “We will not be serving shark’s fin at our wedding.” At the time Linda joked and said “Who says I’m marrying you? At my wedding, I’m not serving shark’s fin.” They laughed it off and told their friends and family about the truth about sharks.

After 3 years from the day they watched the movie, their wedding is finally happening and they are keeping their promise to themselves and all the sharks they hope to save. On September 29, 2012, Jacky and Linda will be having their wedding banquet at a chinese restaurant and not having shark’s fin soup.

Voting are now CLOSED.

Drop a quick note to your favourite couple and congratulate them on their Fin Free journey.

Wedding banquet location: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Number of Guests: 140

Jenny and Ben’s story:
Words associated with Jenny: actuary, hiking, snowshoeing, yoga, shopping, food, DIY, family.

Words associated with Ben: chef, home, family, Canucks, TV, creating new dishes, boring, food, golfing.

The two common words “food” and “family” brought these two “opposite” individuals together.

Jenny & Ben first met when a common friend was planning to introduce a guy friend to Jenny at a hot-pot dinner and Ben happened to be there just to eat! After this first dinner, Ben started “stalking” Jenny on Facebook; and Jenny would occasionally check out Ben’s food photos. However, they did not talk to each other for a year since the first dinner! A year later, Jenny thought of Ben’s food creation when she was organizing a friend’s bridal shower and she asked Ben to cater the party. Jenny & Ben started talking to each other more as they were planning for the bridal party. Ben made use of this opportunity and started asking Jenny out on a date. One day, Ben asked if Jenny could be his girlfriend…., and she accepted. Since then, they started influencing each other in some good/bad ways. Two years later (or now), they started planning for their future family and their wedding this August.

Last summer, Ben participated in the Sans Fin Soup Contest and this was the first time Jenny & Ben heard about Shark Truth. Ben used spaghetti squash melon as the main ingredient and created a sans fin soup. This soup tasted different from a shark fin soup but had simliar texture as shark fins. We did not win the contest, however, our sans fin soup certainly attracted lots of foodies asking for the healthy and sustainable recipes, which was way more important to us!

When we discussed about our participation of the Shark Truth events with families and friends, the parents’ generation was not very excited about the events in general. In particular, Jenny had been hearing stories that her lovely grandpa, who worked at the fish market in the old days, always saw human hands being found inside the sharks’ stomachs! So, “why are we protecting sharks when they are so cruel to human beings?!”

From our perspectives, saving the sharks means preserving our ecosystem and therefore, creating a better and fin-tastic future for us all. We were proud of ourselves being a part of the Shark Truth events and helped to make voice in the community. Shark fin soup is definitely not a must!

We thank our parents for being our parents, and for giving us the freedom to do what we would like to do for our wedding and the freedom to pursue our ways of living. Love you much! – Jenny & Ben

Voting are now CLOSED.

Drop a quick note to your favourite couple and congratulate them on their Fin Free journey.

Wedding banquet location: Victoria, BC, Canada
Number of Guests: 120

Voting are now CLOSED.

Drop a quick note to your favourite couple and congratulate them on their Fin Free journey.

Wedding banquet location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Number of Guests: 130

Holly and Patrick’s story:
Holly and Patrick met in Edmonton at the University of Alberta in 2007. Since then they have discovered that they have many things in common. For instance, they both share a love for travel and have visited many beautiful places together. In 2007, they travelled to Ko Tao, Thailand, where they discovered the beauty of the under water world.

Patrick has always loved all animals and has instilled his appreciation in Holly very deeply. Patrick’s philosophy is to let the living live. In 2010, they got up close and personal with sharks during their dive in Nassau, Bahamas.

“We dove with them, we saw them in their natural habitat and we shared a mutual respect between human and shark.”

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Comments are now CLOSED winners will be announced August 1st

Wedding banquet location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Number of Guests: 210

Flora and Gerald’s story:
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Flora. She loved animals and had a little dog named Ludo. Three years ago, Flora met Gerald and this is how they met: http://capturethemomentmedia.com/blog/?p=344

Last year in Quebec City, after a horse carriage ride, Gerald proposed to Flora and she said yes! Then began the planning of their wedding for June of 2012.

Because of their background, their families wanted to have a Chinese banquet which would traditionally include shark fin soup. Gerald and Flora knew early on that this would be an issue for them as they had both seen documentaries on how sharks were harvested and ultimately killed only for their fins.

Gerald and Flora then approached their parents and told them that they wanted to remove Shark Fin from their banquet menu – both parents understood their viewpoint and agreed to have it removed.
When they recently had their wedding and banquet, all the guests enjoyed their meals immensely and did not even notice or ask about the shark fin soup.

Mission accomplished!

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Comments are now CLOSED winners will be announced August 1st