What to Include in a Memorial Program — A Gentle Guide
Share
When someone we love dies, we want to do right by them. The memorial program — sometimes called an order of service or funeral bulletin — is one of the few physical things that guests will keep. For many people, it becomes a quiet keepsake: tucked into a drawer, pressed into a book, held onto long after the day itself has faded.
Getting it right matters. Here's a gentle guide to what to include.
---
**The essentials**
Every memorial program needs a few things:
- **Full name** of the person being honoured — including any nicknames they were known by
- **Birth and death dates**, often formatted as simply as *14 March 1942 — 3 January 2025*
- **Order of service** — the sequence of events: welcome, readings, music, eulogy, committal
- **Names of those participating** — pallbearers, readers, musicians, officiants
These are the bones. Everything else is the soul of the program.
---
**A photograph**
A single, beautiful photograph on the cover is one of the most powerful things you can include. Choose one that captures something true about them — not necessarily the most formal portrait, but the one that looks most like them. The one where you can hear their laugh.
---
**A short biography or tribute**
Two or three paragraphs about who they were — not just what they did, but who they loved, what they valued, what made them distinctly themselves. This doesn't need to be a complete life story. It just needs to be true.
---
**Meaningful words**
A favourite poem, a scripture reading, a passage from a book they loved, or simply a line that captures something about them. If they had a saying they returned to, use it. If there's a song lyric that meant something to the family, include it.
---
**Acknowledgements**
A brief note thanking those who came, and acknowledging the people who helped carry the weight of the arrangements — family members, close friends, the funeral home, the celebrant.
---
**Details for what comes after**
If there's a reception or wake following the service, include the location and time. If the family has requested donations to a charity in lieu of flowers, include those details clearly.
---
**A closing thought**
Many programs end with a short closing — a final line from the family, a poem, or simply the person's name and dates again, as a bookend. It signals to guests that they've reached the end, and gives the program a sense of completion.
---
There is no single right way to do this. The right way is the way that feels most like the person you're honouring, and the family they leave behind.
*Our Keepsakes memorial program templates are designed to make this process a little gentler. Fully editable in Canva, with compassionate layouts built for moments like these.*