How to write an order of service for funeral?

A guide to how to write a final tribute to your loved ones

What is a typical funeral order of service?

An order of service for funeral is a booklet that is provided to both attendees and people who are unable to attend the event and contains the timetable for the ceremony. A typical funeral order of service includes music, hymns, poems, scriptures, readings from obituaries, acknowledgments, tributes, and images.

This blog is written to help you, since we frequently get asked how to write a funeral order of service. An Order of Service for funeral is more than a collection of songs and poetry. It can serve as a final memorial to your loved one, a souvenir for family and friends who attend the funeral ceremony, and a memento for those who are unable to attend on the day of the funeral.

The order of service for funerals facilitates to show a celebration of the deceased life, so keep it in mind that the tone doesn’t have to be sad. You can also include their happy memory and their teachings.

Order of service for funeral’s booklets contributes to your loved one’s enduring memory and can be kept as a keepsake for years, so it is worth to take the time to ensure it is perfect. 

An order of service for funeral directs the attendees through the event.

• Help attendees understand the ceremony’s flow and what happens next
• If you know your audience will be singing, include song or hymn lyrics.
• Share portions that will be read aloud for others who like to read along.
• Provide attendees with a tangible souvenir of the event.
• Help visitors remember the deceased person by, for example, showing images of them at various stages of their lives.

We have created a few guidelines to assist you in making the perfect order of service for the funeral of your loved one:

Selecting a design for order of service for funeral :

It is important to choose the ideal design of order of service. The designs can range from cultural to modern, floral to patterned or geometrical to minimal. By simply adding your text and photographs to a professionally created template, you can create a stunning design. You can also nicely foil the order of service booklets. You may choose from a variety of order of service for funeral designs that our graphic designers have created. Or, based on your specifications, our in house graphic designers may design something that is genuinely unique.

How do you make an order of service for a funeral?

Front page:

The Order of Service booklet’s first page serves as its cover, thus it is ideal to keep it simple and straightforward. The following information can be included in it, depending on your preference:

• Full legal name of the deceased
• Their date of birth and the date they passed away
• Their picture in colour or black and white. This might be a recent or old photograph, depending on your particular preferences and how you want to remember them
• Date, time and location where the service is being held
• A brief note. Some people include their loved one’s favourite quote or phrase as a way to remember them.

Inside pages

Depending on the duration of the service, the inside pages can range from two to 10 pages (or more) which contain information about the funeral. Make sure you have enough pages in your booklet if you want to add more photos and extra information. Normally, there is no set ceremony structure to follow; it usually depends on a personal preference. The person who held the funeral will give guidance on what should be included in the order of service booklet for funerals.

Example of content in the inside pages of Order of Service for funeral:

The last page

You can include an older photo of your loved one on the back if you’ve selected a recent photo for the front, or the opposite if you’ve chosen an older photo. You can also use a group or family photo on the final page.

Furthermore, you can also include a suggestion to your relatives and friends to donate to a particular cause in memory of the deceased.

You might want to express your gratitude to those who came, as well as to any friends or family members who will receive a copy of the booklet but couldn’t make it to the event. Finally, if you have chosen to hold a wake, specify the arrangements and location.

Here is the example, that can be used in the final page of order of service for funeral

Funeral order of service printing

Once you’re done as the content of your Order of Service has been selected, it is also important to have them professionally printed so that they may be preserved for future generations as keepsakes. The booklet can be printed on 170 GSM paper stock or high quality thick paper, 300 GSM, which will have uniform finishing. The booklets will come creased so that it can be folded easily. To make the images and text seem crisp, the print quality is also very important.

So, you can trust us (Order of service for funeral) for printing, whether it’s modern order of service for funeral or traditional. We also provide a free online design tool so that you can design your own funeral order of service prints. You can also use any template from our design tool and change it to fit your preferences and style. If you’d rather have a professional handle the design, we also offer that option. 

You can be confident that the printed booklets will be of the highest quality. The free next working day delivery assures that you receive your order.

Free order of service funeral template UK

We offer free funeral order of service template for all over the UK. You can simply edit and personalize the design with your content on our free online design tool. We have wide range of templates from Christian funeral order of service to modern and non-religious.

Also see funeral attendance cards, memorial bookmarks and memorial keepsake cards.