Funeral program template

The program helps people follow the service, and many of them keep it afterward, tucked into a Bible or a drawer. It doesn't have to be elaborate. Most programs are a single sheet of letter-size card stock folded in half, which gives you four panels: the front, two pages inside and the back.

If you are also writing the obituary, you can use the same facts in both, so it helps to have the obituary template open alongside this one.

What goes on the front

The front is the cover, and it's usually kept simple. It has a heading line, the person's full name, their dates, and a photo. You can add the date, time and place of the service at the bottom, which is handy for anyone keeping the program as a record.

• A heading, such as "In Loving Memory" or "Celebrating the Life of"
• Their full name, with a nickname in quotation marks if people knew them by it
• Dates of birth and death, or the years only, such as 1938 - 2026
• A photo
• The service date, time and place (optional)

What goes inside

The left-hand inside page often has a short tribute or life story, a poem or a scripture verse. The right-hand page has the order of service. If there are pallbearers, honorary pallbearers or a named officiant, they usually go under the order of service. Keep the tribute short. The full life story belongs in the obituary and the eulogy, and a program with too much text becomes hard to read in a dim chapel.

What goes on the back

The back usually carries a thank-you from the family, details of any reception or burial afterward, and the charity for donations if you are asking for gifts in lieu of flowers. Some families add a second photo, a favorite saying of the person's, or a line crediting the funeral home.

Order of service examples

The order depends on the type of service, and your officiant or funeral director will usually help you set it. These are common patterns. Leave out anything that isn't happening, and only list people who have agreed to take part.

A church funeral

A funeral home service

A celebration of life

For more on planning a less formal gathering, see the celebration of life ideas page.

Wording options

These lines can be used as they are or changed to suit the person and the service.

For the cover

• In Loving Memory of
• Celebrating the Life of
• A Service of Remembrance for
• In Celebration of the Life of
• Forever in Our Hearts
• Remembering Followed by the name alone, for a simple cover

For the tribute

• Bill spent 34 years with the Burlington Northern railroad and every Sunday afternoon in his workshop. He could fix almost anything, and he was always happy to show you how.
• Nana was the heart of every holiday. Her door was always open, and there was always a pot of something on the stove.
• Anthony loved the Gulf and a long day of fishing with his sons. He was kind to everyone he met and generous with his time.
• Our mom taught second grade for 28 years. Hundreds of children learned to read in her classroom, and many of them came back to visit her.

For the thank-you and donations lines

• The family is deeply grateful for your love and prayers during this time.
• Thank you for being here to remember her with us. Please join us for lunch in the fellowship hall after the service.
• In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Association.
• The family would like to thank the hospice nurses who cared for her so kindly at home.
• If you wish, donations in his memory may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Swap in any charity, church or cause that mattered to them

A completed program

This is the wording for a four-panel program for a church funeral in Mobile, Alabama. It was written from a made-up family's answers.

Printing, photos and copies

Ask the funeral home first. Many include programs in their arrangements, with a choice of paper and layout. They will usually need the wording and photo two or three days before the service, so ask about their deadline early.

If you print them yourself, use a word processor template set to letter-size paper folded in half, or a local print shop. Heavier card stock holds up better than regular paper. Print one test copy and fold it before you print the rest, to check that the pages come out in the right order.

Photos. Use the largest, clearest copy of the photo you can find. A picture taken from a phone screen or a social media post can look blurry when printed. If you only have a paper print, scan it, or ask the funeral home or print shop to do it.

How many copies. Count the people you expect and add about a fifth. Keep a few aside for family members who could not be there and for the memory box.

Proofreading. Ask at least one other person to check every name, date and time, and the spelling of each hymn and reading. Check the day of the week against the date. Mistakes in names are the ones families notice most, and they are hard to correct once the programs are handed out.

After the funeral, you may want to send notes to people who helped. The funeral thank-you notes page has examples. If you would like the program, eulogy, obituary and notes written together, the funeral writing package does all four from one set of answers.