What goes in a funeral programme: a checklist and template

The funeral programme is the booklet every guest holds during the service and takes home afterwards. Families usually have two or three days to put it together, often late at night, with relatives sending photographs and corrections on WhatsApp. This checklist sets out what goes in it, in the usual order, so nothing is forgotten.

The sections, in order

1. Cover. A clear photograph of the person, their full name, the years of their life (1948 to 2026), and a short line such as "Celebrating the life of" or a verse the family chooses.
2. Details of the service. Date, time, the place of the service and the place of burial or cremation. Add a small map or directions if many guests are travelling.
3. Order of service. What happens, in order: arrival and opening prayer, hymns, readings, the life history, tributes, the eulogy, the sermon, the vote of thanks and the final prayer. Put the name of each person speaking beside their part.
4. Life history. The facts of their life, usually about one page: where and when they were born, their parents, school, work, marriage, children, faith, and the illness or event that took them, if the family wishes to say so. This is sometimes called the obituary.
5. The eulogy. Some families print it in full, others only the speaker's name. If you are writing it, our guide on how to write a eulogy has a simple plan and two examples.
6. Tributes. Short pieces from the spouse, children, grandchildren, siblings, colleagues and friends. Ask for them early, and set a limit, about 150 words each, or they will not fit.
7. Hymns and readings. The words of each hymn, so everybody can sing, and the Bible or other readings with their references.
8. Photographs. A page or two of pictures across their life: childhood if any survive, their wedding, their work, and recent ones with the family.
9. Family tree or list of family. Children and their spouses, grandchildren, brothers and sisters. A simple family tree makes this clear and is often the page people keep.
10. Vote of thanks. The family thanks the hospital staff, the church, the funeral committee, friends who contributed, and everybody who travelled.

How many pages

Most programmes are 8, 12 or 16 pages, because printers fold sheets in fours. If you have 13 pages of content, cut to 12 rather than paying for 16 with blank pages. Allow at least one full day for printing.

A checklist before you send it to the printer

• Every name spelled the way that person spells it, checked by them or their closest relative.
• Dates checked twice: the day they were born, the day they passed on, their marriage, the service.
• Every speaker in the order of service has agreed to speak.
• Photographs are the clearest copies the family has, not screenshots from a group chat.
• One person has the final say on changes, so the printer does not receive three versions.
• A copy kept as a PDF, not only on paper.

A template you can copy

Copy this into Word or Google Docs and fill in each line.

Cover: Celebrating the life of [full name]. [Year born] to [year they passed on]. [Photograph]
Service: [Day, date], [time], at [place]. Burial at [place].
Order of service: Opening prayer: [name]. Hymn: [title]. Reading: [reference], read by [name]. Life history: read by [name]. Tributes. Eulogy: [name]. Sermon: [name]. Vote of thanks: [name]. Closing prayer and blessing: [name].
Life history: [Born on ... at ... to ...]. [School]. [Work]. [Marriage and children]. [Faith and community]. [Final months].
Tributes: [Spouse]. [Children]. [Grandchildren]. [Siblings]. [Friends and colleagues].
Hymns: [Full words of each hymn].
Family: [Spouse], [children and their spouses], [grandchildren], [brothers and sisters].
Vote of thanks: The family thanks ...

After the funeral

The programme is the most complete record of a life most families ever put together, and within a year most copies are lost. The photographs gathered for it are scattered across a dozen phones.

Album keeps all of it in one private place on your family's own web address: the life history and the eulogy as stories, the tributes, the photographs from the day and from their whole life, and the family tree, for your children to find long after the printed copies have gone. You can look inside a demonstration album to see how it fits together.