What goes into a funeral order of service?

man at funeral holding a bible

A funeral is a ceremony, and like many other ceremonies – weddings, religious celebrations – it’s traditional to have an order of service. If you’re not sure what to include, or how to put one together, this guide will explain.

What is a funeral order of service?

An order of service outlines everything that will happen in the funeral ceremony, such as readings, prayers and songs. It’s also a way to remember the person who has died, by sharing photos and memories of them. An order of service is usually a small, printed booklet that’s given to people who go to the funeral.

What to include in a funeral order of service?

An order of service can be as big or as small as you want to make it. We’ve listed some of the things you could include in your funeral order of service content, depending on how much space you have.

For the cover:

Inside the funeral booklet:

For the back cover:

Who does the order of service for a funeral?

It really depends on what you’d like to do. Your funeral director or the celebrant leading the funeral can help you plan what to put in the order of service. Once this is done, you’ll need to get the order of service booklet designed. Again, your funeral director may be able to do this for you. Or you can organise this yourself which will add a personal touch. It can also be a way to save costs.

How to make your own funeral order of service

If you decide to make the order of service yourself, you’ll need to plan, write, design and print it before the service. Remember, the bigger it is, the more it will cost to print. In 2022, the average amount people spent on an order of service was £105 (SunLife 2023).

If you’ve decided to design the order of service yourself:

Funeral order of service examples

Not sure what an order of service looks like? We’ve created some simple examples of religious and non-religious funeral orders of service. We created them in canva.com – showing that it’s easy to make your own order of service using online tools.

example cover for order of service for funeral example inside page for funeral order of service example funeral order of service cover for religious funeral example inside page for order of service for religious funeral

You can see the full order of service examples by clicking the links below:

Find more help with funeral planning

Looking for more help with planning the funeral? Take a look at our funeral planning advice hub to find more articles and guides to help you at each step.