Order of service template: free, fill in and print

An order of service is the little booklet handed out at a funeral. It tells everyone what will happen, gives them the words to hymns or readings, and afterwards it becomes a keepsake. There are no rules about what it must contain.

You can fill in the template below on screen, print it, and use it as it is, or take it to a printer or your funeral director to be made into booklets. Nothing you type is sent to us or saved anywhere: it stays on your own computer.

What usually goes in an order of service

• The front: the person's name, the years of their life, sometimes a photograph, and the date, time and place of the service.
• The order: entrance music, welcome, hymns or songs, readings and poems, the eulogy, prayers or a moment of reflection, the committal, and the closing music.
• The words: the full words of any hymn or song people are expected to join in with, and of readings if you'd like people to follow them.
• The back: where the family are going afterwards, and whether you'd prefer donations to a charity instead of flowers, with how to give.

Before you print

• Check names, dates and spellings twice, and ask one other person to check them too.
• Ask the celebrant, minister or funeral director to read it through. They will spot anything missing.
• Most families print between 50 and 100 copies, and a few extra for people who can't come.
• Copyright: hymns that are hundreds of years old are free to print. For a modern song's words, ask the printer or check the licence, as many are still in copyright.

If you'd like help with the words

Our guide Writing a Eulogy takes you from a blank page to a finished tribute, with three shapes to choose from and fill-in pages for your stories (£4.99, instant download). See how to write a eulogy or get the guide.

General information for England and Wales, checked September 2026. Your funeral director, celebrant or minister will know what is usual at your local crematorium or church.