Planning a funeral around Christmas can feel especially difficult.

There is already a lot to organise when arranging a funeral, and Christmas can make the process even more difficult. Family members may be away for the holidays, different businesses may be working reduced or altered opening hours, and courier services can become more limited as Christmas approaches. At the same time, you may still be waiting for parts of the funeral to be confirmed while trying to make sure the order of service and other funeral stationery are ready in time.

If that is where you are now, the first thing to know is that you do not need to have everything ready before you start.

At Funeral Printing by Esmee G, we regularly help families who are still waiting for final details when they first get in touch.

For Christmas 2026, we will remain open up to and including 23 December and will reopen on 27 December. This means that, where the chosen turnaround and delivery option allows, families ordering by 23 December can still receive their funeral stationery by lunchtime the following day.

During the Christmas holidays, you can also continue to contact us by email or live chat, and Esmee will personally reply as soon as possible.

So if the funeral is taking place close to Christmas or between Christmas and New Year, you can still get in touch and begin organising the stationery without feeling that everything has to be finalised at once.

The Basic Answer: Start With What You Know

When families are preparing a funeral order of service, one of the most common concerns is that they do not yet have the full running order.

That is fine.

You can begin with the things you already have.

Start gathering:

• The person’s full name
• Date of birth and date of death
• A photograph for the front cover
• Other photographs you may want to use
• Any favourite poems or readings
• Songs or hymns being considered
• Donation details
• Wake details, if they are already known

The funeral date, time, venue and final running order can be added as they are confirmed.

It is usually much easier to have the photographs and personal information ready than to try to find everything at once later.

Break the Funeral Stationery Into Separate Jobs

One of the easiest ways to make the process feel more manageable is not to think of “funeral stationery” as one large job.

There may actually be several different things you want, and they do not all need to be dealt with at the same time.

The Order of Service

This is usually the main item needed for the funeral itself.

It guides people through the service but also often becomes something family and friends keep afterwards.

Depending on the service, it may include photographs, hymns, readings, poems, tributes, music and the running order.

Memorial Photo Board or Welcome Sign

A memorial board can be useful if you have more photographs than you want to place inside the booklet. It can sit at the entrance, beside the coffin, at a wake or as part of a memory table.

A welcome sign is simpler and might feature one photograph, the person’s name and dates.

Condolence or Guest Book

A condolence book gives people somewhere to write a message or memory.

This can become one of the most personal things the family keeps after the funeral.

Keepsake Cards or Bookmarks

Some families like guests to have something smaller to take home.

These can include a photograph, name, dates, a short poem or a meaningful quote.

Thank-You Cards

These can wait.

If you are already feeling overwhelmed, there is no need to organise thank-you cards before the funeral. They can be created afterwards.

That is one less thing to worry about immediately.

Does a Funeral at Christmas Need to Look Christmassy?

No. A funeral taking place in December does not mean the order of service needs Christmas trees, baubles or bright red and green decoration.

The person being remembered should always come first, if they loved Christmas, then including a small seasonal detail may feel right but if they did not, there is no reason to use a Christmas theme at all.

A winter funeral order of service can be a softer option.

You might choose:

• White flowers
• Winter greenery
• Eucalyptus
• Holly leaves
• Pine branches
• Robins
• A winter landscape
• Candlelight
• Stars
• Deep green
• Burgundy
• Navy
• Cream
• Soft gold

This gives the design a seasonal feel without making it look like festive stationery.

Use Real Memories Rather Than Adding Christmas for the Sake of It

If you do want the funeral to acknowledge Christmas, personal memories often work better than decoration.

You may find photographs of the person:

• Sitting around the Christmas table
• With grandchildren
• Opening presents
• Cooking Christmas dinner
• Putting up decorations
• Wearing a favourite Christmas jumper
• Enjoying a family tradition

These photographs can be lovely additions to the order of service because they show the person as family and friends actually remember them.

You do not need to fill the whole booklet with Christmas photographs, one meaningful image can say more than a heavily themed design.

A Small Remembrance Moment Can Be Enough

For some families, it feels right to include a quiet remembrance element within the funeral.

That might be:

• Lighting a candle
• Playing a favourite piece of music
• Sharing one family memory
• A short period of silence
• Showing photographs during a musical reflection

Christmas remembrance services often use simple things like candle-lighting, music and shared memories because they allow people to acknowledge grief without trying to make the occasion feel festive.

The same idea can work within a funeral.

It does not need to become a separate ceremony.

It can simply be one moment within the service.

What If You Have Too Many Photographs?

This happens a lot. Once family members start sending photographs, it can be tempting to include all of them in the order of service. But too many pictures can make the booklet feel crowded.

A better approach is to divide them up and use the strongest or most meaningful photographs inside the order of service. Then put a larger collection on a memorial photo board and use framed photographs and personal belongings on a memory table. That gives you more space to tell the person’s story without forcing everything onto the printed pages.

What About Christmas Funeral Hymns and Readings?

If the funeral is religious, you may decide to include a Christmas hymn or reading. But the fact that the funeral is in December does not mean you have to.

Some families choose something seasonal because it has a genuine connection to the person. For example, Silent Night may have been their favourite carol or part of a family tradition.

Other families prefer a normal funeral hymn or a completely non-religious song.

The same applies to readings. Rather than asking:

“What should we choose because it is Christmas?”

it may be more helpful to ask:

“What would feel most like them?”

That normally leads to a much more personal service.

Planning a Funeral Between Christmas and New Year

The period between Christmas and New Year can require a little more planning.

Different organisations may follow different opening hours, and it is best not to assume everybody closes or reopens on the same date.

You may need to check directly with:

• The funeral director
• Crematorium or cemetery
• Church
• Celebrant
• Florist
• Wake venue
• Caterer
• Printer
• Courier

For funeral stationery, the most useful thing you can tell us is the funeral date.

Once we know when the funeral is taking place, we can advise you based on when you actually need the printed stationery delivered.

Our Christmas 2026 Opening Dates

At Funeral Printing by Esmee G:

We are open up to and including 23 December 2026.

We reopen from 27 December 2026.

If your funeral is taking place immediately before Christmas or between Christmas and New Year, it is worth getting in touch as soon as the date is known.

Courier services can also work differently over the Christmas period, so knowing the funeral date early helps us advise you properly.

What If the Running Order Changes?

Funeral arrangements can change.

A family member may decide to read something.

A hymn might be replaced.

The service time could change.

Someone may send a photograph that you would really like included.

If your stationery has not yet gone to print, let us know as soon as possible.

This is one of the reasons proofs are important.

You should have a chance to check the final artwork before printing, including:

• Names
• Dates
• Service time
• Venue
• Speaker names
• Song and hymn titles
• Donation details
• Wake information

What If You Do Not Want to Design the Booklet Yourself?

You do not have to.

Some families prefer choosing one of our templates and creating the order of service themselves.

Others have no interest in designing anything, particularly when they are already organising the funeral.

With our Design It for Me service, you can send us the wording and photographs and we can prepare the design for you.

The design service is free when you order your printing from us, and amendments can be made before you approve the final version.

That can be especially useful during the Christmas period when you may already have several other arrangements to deal with.

What If the Photographs Are Old or Poor Quality?

Do not dismiss an important photograph just because it is old.

Funeral order of service booklets often contain photographs taken many years apart.

Some may come from old albums, printed photographs, scans or relatives’ phones.

At Funeral Printing by Esmee G, artwork and photograph quality are manually checked before printing.

If we see something that is likely to reproduce poorly, we would rather flag it before it goes to print.

Sometimes a slightly imperfect photograph is still worth using because of what it means to the family.

What If Someone Cannot Attend the Funeral?

This can become particularly relevant at Christmas.

People may already be travelling, live overseas, become unwell or have family commitments that make attending impossible.

They can still be part of the funeral.

You could ask them to send:

• A short message
• A favourite memory
• A photograph
• A reading
• A few words for somebody else to read aloud

You can also send them an order of service or memorial card afterwards.

That gives them something tangible from the funeral even if they could not be there.

A Quick Christmas Funeral Stationery Checklist

If you are trying to work out what to do first, keep it simple.

First: confirm the funeral date when you can.

Next: gather the main photograph and personal details.

Then: decide which stationery you actually need.

After that: collect the running order, readings, hymns and other wording.

Before printing: check every name, date, time and venue carefully.

If the funeral is close to Christmas: tell your printer the funeral date as early as possible.

That is usually enough to get things moving.

Common Questions About Funeral Stationery at Christmas

When a Christmas Theme May Not Be Appropriate

There are times when the best choice is to leave Christmas out completely. For example:

• The person may not have celebrated Christmas.
• The family may not want the funeral connected to the festive season.
• A religious tradition may call for something different.
• Or the family may simply feel that a floral, countryside, hobby or traditional design represents the person much better.

That is absolutely fine.

The timing of the funeral does not need to dictate the design.

How We Can Help

At Funeral Printing by Esmee G, we create personalised funeral order of service booklets and matching funeral stationery, including:

• Memorial photo boards
• Funeral welcome signs
• Bookmarks
• Keepsake cards
• Attendance cards
• Prayer cards
• Thank-you cards
• Condolence books
• Guest books

You can design the stationery yourself using one of our templates or send us your content and ask us to create it for you.

For Christmas 2026, we are open up to and including 23 December and reopen from 27 December.

If the funeral date is already confirmed, that is the best piece of information to send us first.

We can then help you work out what needs to be prepared and when.

The Most Important Thing Is That It Feels Like Them

When a funeral falls around Christmas, it can be easy to become caught up in dates, opening hours, delivery deadlines and whether the design should look seasonal.

Those things matter, but they are not the reason you are creating the stationery.

The order of service, photographs, memorial board or keepsake card are all there to help tell the story of somebody’s life.

For one person, that may include Christmas memories, candlelight and a favourite carol.

For another, it may mean photographs of the garden, a favourite football team, family holidays or a song they played constantly.

There is no need to make a funeral feel Christmassy simply because of the date.

The best funeral stationery is the stationery that makes family and friends look at it and immediately think: “That is them.”