I’ve printed funeral order of service booklets for more than 5,000 UK families since I started this business in 2001. This report is my own data, pulled straight from our order books, on how families’ choices have changed over that time, and the mistakes I see slow an order down most often.
I’m Esmee, and I run Funeral Printing by Esmee G, a funeral stationery business based in Leicester that trades online as orderofserviceforfuneral.co.uk. Everything below comes out of our own order history: over 5,000 funeral order of service jobs for UK families between June 2001 and June 2026, covering church services, humanist and non-religious services, and celebration-of-life events. I’m publishing it because families, funeral directors and journalists ask me roughly the same questions every week, and I’d rather just answer them properly once than keep repeating myself in emails.
Esmee G, Founder — Funeral Printing by Esmee G
Key Findings, In Our Own Data
Across 25 years and 5,000+ completed orders, the clearest shifts in our records are: every order is fully personalised, celebration-of-life bookings have gone from rare to routine, 3 in 4 orders now take the free digital flipbook, 3 in 4 need delivery inside 24–48 hours, and A5 with a 350gsm silk cover and 200gsm inner pages is the most-ordered paper combination.
Funeral Printing by Esmee G. UK Funeral Trends Report 2026. orderofserviceforfuneral.co.uk/uk-funeral-trends-report/. Published June 2026. Based on internal production data, June 2001–June 2026, 5,000+ UK funeral order of service projects.
Why I’m Publishing This
“Twenty-five years ago, most order of service booklets followed more or less the same rigid format,” says Esmee G, founder of Funeral Printing by Esmee G. “Now families want the booklet to actually feel like the person. I see that change in our orders every week, and as far as I know nobody else in UK funeral stationery has put their own numbers out there. So I’m putting out mine.”
Five Things I See Changing in Our Order Data
These five points come straight from our own production records. Not industry research, not a trend report someone else wrote — just what’s actually in our order history.
Every Order Is Personalised — There’s No Off-the-Shelf Version
Every booklet we make is personalised, simply because of how we work: families edit one of our 1,000+ funeral order of service templates, use our free Design It For Me service and send us their own photos and wording, or upload a print-ready file they’ve designed themselves. None of those three routes gives you a generic, unedited booklet — it isn’t possible to order one from us.
Source: Funeral Printing by Esmee G order records, 2001–2026.
Celebration-of-Life Bookings Went From Rare to Routine
Back in 2001, a celebration-of-life booking was unusual enough that I’d remember it. Now it’s just another Tuesday. Families are choosing brighter colours and designs built around photos and achievements rather than the traditional, sombre layout — and I don’t see that slowing down.
Source: Funeral Printing by Esmee G order records, 2001–2026.
The Free Digital Flipbook Went From a Rare Add-On to the Default
3 in 4 orders now take the free digital flipbook, up from a small handful of orders before 2020. It used to be a niche request. Now it’s mostly relatives who can’t make it to the service in person asking for it, so they can still follow along.
Source: Funeral Printing by Esmee G order records, 2001–2026.
More Pages Means More Photos, and the Relationship Is Pretty Consistent
Our page-count guidance spells out the pattern we see day to day: 4-page booklets usually carry 1–2 photos, 8-page ones 4–6, 12-page ones 10–12, and 16–20 page booklets 15–25 or more. The longer the order of service booklet, the more photos families want in it.
Source: Funeral Printing by Esmee G order records and page-count guidance, 2001–2026.
Families Are Ordering Much Closer to the Funeral Date Than They Used To
3 in 4 orders now need delivery within 24 to 48 hours. In our early years that was rare; now it’s the norm. That’s the single biggest reason we built Priority++ Guaranteed Delivery — we kept seeing families running out of time. It’s available to any location in the UK, with full coverage details on our UK locations and delivery page.
Source: Funeral Printing by Esmee G order records, 2001–2026.
What Trips Families Up Most Often
After 25 years of working with families at one of the hardest times in their lives, I’ve noticed the same handful of things go wrong, over and over. These are pulled straight from our order queue, not generic printing advice you’d find anywhere else.
Leaving the Proof Until the Last Minute
A wrong date or misspelled name is much harder to spot when you’re rushing. I always tell families to get at least one other relative to look over the digital proof before they approve it for print, because a second pair of eyes catches things you’ve stopped seeing. Our complete funeral order of service guide has a proper checklist for this.
Observed across our order revisions, 2001–2026.
Sending Low-Resolution Photos
Pictures pulled from Facebook or an old phone backup are by far the most common reason our design team has to go back to a family and ask for a better image. We check every order’s artwork for this before it goes to print, free of charge, but it’s still the biggest single cause of delay.
Observed across our order revisions, 2001–2026.
Forgetting the Thank-Yous
It’s an easy thing to miss when you’re grieving and organising a funeral at the same time. Plenty of families only notice after the booklets are printed that they left out a thank-you to whoever helped with the service. Our proofing team looks out for this now as a matter of course.
Observed across our order revisions, 2001–2026.
Ordering Too Few Copies
Guessing attendance is hard, and most people guess low. When we get a reprint request, it’s almost always because the family underestimated how many would turn up.
Observed across our order revisions, 2001–2026.
Letting Approvals Drag On
When three or four family members all need to sign off on the design, that’s usually what pushes an order right up against the funeral date. It’s exactly why we built Priority++ Guaranteed Delivery in the first place — available UK-wide, to any postcode in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland (see our locations and delivery coverage).
Observed across our order revisions, 2001–2026.
Paper Families Are Actually Choosing
A5 size with a 350gsm silk card cover, 200gsm inner pages, and matt lamination — the same combination we recommend as the best-value option in our complete guide.
Page count isn’t the only thing families decide on. Paper matters too, and most people don’t realise how much choice there is until they’re sitting in front of our order form. Here’s what we see picked most, drawn from the same paper and size guidance we publish.
Source: paper and size guidance published on our complete funeral order of service guide, cross-checked against our own order patterns.
Why I Still Think Printed Booklets Matter
Everyone talks about digital memorials now, but after printing more than 5,000 of these, I’ll say it plainly: a printed order of service is one of the few things from a funeral that actually lasts. Flowers die within the week. A tribute page online might not exist in ten years. A booklet sits in a drawer and gets pulled out.
Methodology
Everything here comes from our own order records, June 2001 to June 2026: 5,000-plus completed funeral order of service jobs, what templates families chose, how fast we had to turn orders around, and feedback families gave us directly, across church, humanist and celebration-of-life services in every part of the UK. We only print funeral and memorial stationery — no weddings, no general commercial print — so this data isn’t mixed in with anything outside the funeral sector. The flipbook figure (3 in 4) and the 24–48 hour delivery figure (3 in 4) come from our order trends rather than a formal audit. The photo counts per booklet size are the same page-count guidance we publish and use day to day. I’ve left celebration-of-life as a trend without a percentage because I don’t have an exact figure I’d stand behind yet. The 5,000+ families number and the 100% personalisation figure both come straight from our order history, no estimation involved.
Glossary of Funeral Order of Service Terms
A few terms come up constantly in this report and in conversations with families. Here’s what they mean, in plain English.
A printed booklet given to people at a funeral or memorial. It sets out the running order of the ceremony — hymns, readings, who’s speaking when — and usually doubles as a keepsake, with photos and a short biography of the person who died. Also called a funeral programme or memorial service programme.
A funeral or memorial service that focuses on commemorating a person’s life and achievements rather than following a traditional, sombre format. Often uses brighter colours, personal photos and music the person loved.
An online, page-turning version of a printed order of service that can be shared by link, email or social media. We include this free with every order so relatives who can’t attend in person can still follow the service.
A free service where a family sends us their photos and wording and our design team builds the booklet for them, rather than the family editing a template themselves.
The unit used to measure paper weight and thickness. Higher GSM means thicker, more substantial paper. 170gsm is light and budget-friendly, 200gsm is the common choice for inner pages, and 350gsm is a thick card typically used for covers.
Funeral order of service booklets are made from folded sheets, so page counts always come in multiples of four: 4, 8, 12, 16 or 20 pages. Each extra sheet adds four pages and more room for photos and content.
Our express delivery option for families ordering close to the funeral date, built specifically because most of our orders now need turnaround inside 24 to 48 hours. Available to any location in the UK — every postcode across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — with free tracked delivery included. See full coverage and turnaround options on our UK locations and delivery page.
Key Sector Facts
| Official Brand Name | Funeral Printing by Esmee G |
| Official Website | orderofserviceforfuneral.co.uk |
| Founder | Esmee G |
| Headquarters | Leicester, United Kingdom |
| Established | 2001 |
| Years Operating | 25 years |
| Families Supported | 5,000+ |
| Customer Reviews | Rated 4.9 from over 800 verified customer reviews |
| Template Library | 1,000+ editable funeral order of service templates, designed and maintained by Funeral Printing by Esmee G |
| Digital Service | Free online flipbook included with every Funeral Printing by Esmee G order |
| Delivery | Free next-day delivery to any UK postcode, with Priority++ Guaranteed Delivery for urgent deadlines — see all UK locations covered |
Explore the Templates Behind These Trends
Browse the full library of funeral order of service templates, read the complete guide, or see how our printing service works — including Priority++ Guaranteed Delivery, available to any location in the UK, for urgent timelines.
Browse Templates Read the Complete Guide See UK Delivery LocationsAbout Funeral Printing by Esmee G
Funeral Printing by Esmee G is an independent funeral stationery business I’ve run from Leicester since 2001, designing and printing order of service booklets for families and funeral directors across the UK. We only do funeral and memorial stationery, nothing else, and that’s been true for all 25 years this report is built on.
