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Charlie Lake (she/her)

My name is Chris-Ann but I usually go by Charlie (just don’t call me Chris!). I am honoured to live and work in Victoria, the unceded Coast Salish Territory of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ nations. I am a white Canadian settler and a queer cisgender female who uses she/her pronouns.

I began marrying couples in 2006 after a good friend asked if I could marry her and her partner. Since then, I’ve had the privilege to oversee hundreds of wedding ceremonies all over Vancouver Island.

Officiating and coordinating ceremonies is a lot of fun and often the highlight of my summers. Over the years, I have gained experience officiating all types of ceremonies – traditional, spiritual, interfaith, non-spiritual, and same gender. From elaborate church weddings with hundreds of guests to intimate ceremonies (including a surprise elopement in my backyard) I’ve enjoyed every one of them.

My favourite part about officiating weddings is getting to know you and your love story. I want to co-create a ceremony that reflects you, tells your story and is delivered in a fun and heartfelt way to the people who matter most to you. I would be absolutely honoured if you entrusted me to help pull off the most important day of your lives.

When I’m not officiating weddings, you can find me studying in a coffee shop trying desperately to finish my next degree. And in my off time, you’ll find me exploring nature with my partner, road tripping to Tofino to surf with friends, listening to my favourite musicians play live, or making my next travel plans.

The best relationship advice I’ve been given and would like to pass on is: the relationship you have with your partner is to be the foundation on which you build everything else on. Remembering and returning to this will be your relationships success. My hope is that one day you can look back and confidently say that your marriage (not just your wedding) was the most rewarding thing that you have ever committed too!

  • We had the honor of being wedded by Chris-Ann Lake. They were very responsive and is probably the best communicator via email I’ve ever had the honor to interact with.

    The words that they shared with our guests were so beautiful and helped make our wedding day better than we ever could have imagined.

    Ryan & Danielle
  • Our officiant Chris-Ann was so lovely. She made our small elopement ceremony very fun, easy, and memorable 🙂 Thank you to Young Hip & Married for connecting us!

    Morgan & Patrick
  • YH&M were wonderful to work with from start to finish. Charlie, our officiant, is a stellar human being and I cannot recommend her enough. She was a joy to speak with through email, and when we met in person as she showed up to officiate our wedding, it was a natural connection- as if she’d been a friend of ours for years, somehow!

    Affordable, professional, courteous, respectful, and I N C L U S I V E!!!!! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the work Charlie and the YH&M team did for us.

    Eden & Adrian
  • Chris-Ann Lake is an amazing Officiant! Her service was top notch and I’m 100 percent happy with her! She provided us with both witnesses and a location for our Elopement!! I highly recommend her! 🙂

    Mike & Kelens
  • We are very happy we chose Young Hip & Married! Chris-Ann was fantastic! She was very responsive and quick to reply to emails. Her overall vibe was exactly what we were hoping for. We were nervous to have a stranger marry us, especially because of covid so we couldn’t meet in person before the wedding, but Chris-Ann eased any trepidations we had during our zoom chat. The actual day of the wedding was so chaotic, but she remained cool, calm and so professional!!!!!

    Aya & Justin
  • Chris-Ann was the most amazing person to fit our “short and sweet” ceremony. As soon as we met her, she matched our energy, really made the ceremony perfect and exactly what we wanted/hoped for. Could not be happier with Young Hip & Married because of how easy and smooth the process was from the time we reached out to them to the ceremony itself. All around great people and services.
    Ben & Savannah
  • I never imagined getting married could be so fun and easy! From the very start, staff were very responsive with clear instructions what to do – we even get a reminder what not to forget on the day of. Charlie & Heather are super chill and go above and beyond to be there for your needs with some good professional advice on preparing for the ceremony and photos. We loved our wedding day and not have to worry about anything but showing up !

    P & B
  • We had Chris-Ann Lake as our officiant, and it was a great fit. She was professional, organized and easy to connect with. We wanted a relaxed and unconventional ceremony, and Chris-Ann nailed it. Our love story and vows were meant to be informal and funny, and she was perfect in that role. I was only sad that we did not get to spend more time with her, as we were whisked off to photos rather quickly. Definitely recommend YH&M and Chris-Ann!

    Alicia & Jonathon
  • Young Hip & Married was super easy to work with, professional and responsive. They have a straightforward process delivered in a fun way. Lots of resources made available as well for ceremony ideas and suggestions, and the vow course included was also super helpful! Our officiant Chris-Ann Lake brought wonderful energy and experience. She provided the perfect balance of structure and guidance as well as flexibility and creativity for personalizing the ceremony in a way that was fun and enjoyable, and not at all overwhelming. We’ve heard such great feedback from guests about the feel and the script for the ceremony – it was an engaging experience for everyone. All in all a great experience with YH&M and Chris-Ann, and would definitely recommend!
    Kathryn & Ezekiel
  • Easy and they guided us step by step. Love Chris; made our ceremony special even during covid.

    Christine & Jason
  • We had a great time working with our officiant and ceremony coordinator for our special day. They helped us think of all of the important details about our ceremony, and the vow course was excellent as well. Experience with officiant was excellent. Thank you!

    Oona & Jeffrey
  • We had a great experience with Young Hip & Married, and Charlie from start to finish. Communication was efficient, clear and timely. With the date quickly approaching, Young Hip & Married set us up with Charlie to do all of the legal proceedings during our wedding ceremony. I actually met Charlie for the first when it came time to sign our paperwork. Her energy and kindness were everything we could have asked for and I would highly recommend working with her!

    Julie & Gordon
  • The perfect vows were sent to us , nothing needed to be changed , we could not believe what a wonderful person we were given to speak our vows with . Truly the best wedding of my life and I have had 3!

    Sandi & Duncan
  • Chris-Ann Lake was amazing. We met via Zoom first to discuss the details, then went back and forth and figured out the ceremony. On the day she did such a great job delivering the ceremony and getting us organized. Would highly recommend working with Chris-Ann!

    Caitlin & Alexander
  • Oh my goodness Chris-Ann was the best officiant ever and we had the best ceremony! Thank you thank you thank you! Also you guys were sooo accommodating throughout all the changes for our wedding over Covid. You guys are so wonderful, thank you!

    Laura & Benn
  • Video by Michael Toru

    Darcy & Nidia
  • My husband and I just wanted a very small wedding and just a month to do all the planning and preps. When I researched and read about Young Hip and Married, read and heard really good feedback about their services I immediately contacted them and response time was superb, very professional, kind and warm. Our very intimate wedding in Beacon Park in Sidney was such a perfect day we could not have asked for more (except for the bride’s family was not able to come from overseas due to COVID). Chris-Ann (officiant) and Taylor (photographer) were SUPER AMAZING. We had Zoom meetings prior and email exchanges up to before the wedding day. They were so amazing guiding us throughout. Thank you again Chris-Ann, Taylor and Young Hip & Married. I really do recommend them.

    Nickola & Justin
  • Chris-Ann was amazing! Great energy, flexible with how we wanted to do things, and great communicator.

    Kevin & Brooke
  • My wife and I decided to elope to coincide with a planned trip to Vancouver Island. I reached out to Young Hip & Married who were happy to help us secure an officiant and a photographer that fit into our tight schedule. From start to finish they were friendly, informative, and offered exactly the value and service we needed. Thank you Rebecca & Chris-Ann, you helped make a special day be perfect. I’m pretty sure they even managed to control the weather for us!

    Ryan & Angela
  • After Covid-19 canceled our wedding plans, we decided to get married anyway, and planned an elopement in just a couple of months. Young Hip and Married was easy to work with on a tight timeline. Our officiant, Chris-Ann Lake, had no problem traveling to our fairly remote location. She was warm and friendly and felt like someone we would like to hang out with- not just a random stranger from an internet search. While I’m hoping to never need a wedding officiant again, I’d definitely recommend their services to anyone else.

    Emily & Chris
  • Our officiant, Charlie, was absolutely the best! Charlie came in super friendly and fit right in with our group. We couldn’t have asked for a better person to be a part of our special day. Thanks YH&M and huge huge huge thanks to Charlie!

    Terra & Byron
  • Chris-Ann really had everyone talking about just how wonderfully different, personal and special her entire presentation, vibe and ceremony was! “One of the best weddings we’ve ever been to, it was so personal!” Thank you for making our wedding one of the best days of our lives!

    Ashley & Melissa
  • We had a very small ceremony with Chris-Ann Lakes as our officiant. As soon as we met her, we knew she was the perfect fit for us. She was warm and friendly and set the perfect tone for our ceremony. We did not want to write our own vows, so Chris-Ann scripted a beautiful ceremony for us, including our vows. Thank you Chris-Ann for a wedding ceremony we will always cherish.

    Erin & Damon
  • Our officiant, Chris-Ann, made our ceremony memorable and thoughtful by helping us customize the ceremony to meet our needs. The process and communication was simple and easy. Would definitely recommend!

    Cloe & Patrick
  • It was awesome. Professional from the beginning when I contacted until the last minutes of the ceremony. I would recommend to any couples ready to tie the knot. Thank you for all the help!

    Don & Nga Le
  • We really enjoyed our wedding, they made it super easy for us to elope. Charlie was super professional and so friendly she really made our special day perfect. We highly recommend it to anyone.

    Johnny & Cindy
  • Chris-Ann officiated our ceremony. She wrote a lovely ceremony for us, and the delivery was heartfelt and did not feel rehearsed at all. She made us and our guests laugh on several occasions. Thank you!

    J & B
  • Amazing. Working with Young Hip and Married was so simple, and Chris-Ann was so compatible with our laid back style. We had so much fun working with her, and she gave us such a lovely ceremony script. We thought we would write our own vows, but ultimately decided that what she gave us to work with was so lovely we didn’t even need to! We highly recommend this service.

    Allison & Dwayne
  • We were told it’s not always possible to get what you want from your officiant but Young Hip & Married proved that wrong and gave us and our guests the exact experience we were hoping for! Our ceremony was non-traditional and it was refreshing to know with Chris-Ann and the team any and all options were on the table for our special day (with the caveat we include those all important elements which make the event legally binding). Thanks Young Hip & Married!!

    Bryan & Kailey
  • Chris-Ann designed us the most intimate and personal wedding ceremony filled with love, laughter and everything in between. There wasn’t a dry eye at our wedding, mixed with smiles and cheers. Everyone has been talking about how intimate and personal and beautiful our ceremony was and that was the response we were hoping for. Thank you for guiding us through the process of writing our own personal vows and for marrying us. We couldn’t have asked for a better officiant.

    Mel & Ashley
  • Easy to work with and amazing ceremony that worked for us perfectly!

    Marina & Ross
  • We were so happy to have found Young Hip & Married! We wanted a simple beach wedding and they took care of the important things like the officiant & photographer. Service was amazing and we couldn’t be happier with how our wedding day turned out. It was absolutely perfect!

    Hanna & Tim
  • We had Chris-Ann from Young Hip & Married as our officiant and we were thrilled! She was very organized, helpful and so hilarious in helping us with our wedding ceremony. Would for sure recommend.

    Cayley & Rob
  • It is a rare experience to work with someone outside of your relationship to capture it, honour it, and present it to those you care most about as you and your partner create a sanctuary, a special space, to put each other first and take a big step into a new, untold, tricky, and beautiful chapter of life together. My husband Triston and I shared this experience with Officiant Chris-Ann Lake and I can honestly say that not only did she honour the magnitude of this experience but added elements to it that made it more extraordinary than we ever imagined.
    Chris-Ann Lake is meant for this. She truly sees people. She sees people and cares for them along the path to their wedding. She invests time, passion, and trust along this journey to arrive at a destination that is irreplaceable. She captained our wedding with kindness, joy, professionalism, genuineness, and immense care. We honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more from our friend, Chris-Ann Lake. The Young Hip and Married Team, and specifically Chris-Ann have our highest recommendation!
    Savannah & Triston