What do you write on the front of a funeral order of service?

One line at the top (“In loving memory of”, “A celebration of the life of”, “A service of thanksgiving for the life of”, or simply “Funeral service for”), their full name as the family says it, the two dates, and where and when the service is. A photo above. Nothing else: no quotes, no verse, no list of names on the cover.

How do you word the committal line in an order of service?

One sentence after the last item of the service, naming where it happens and who is welcome. A crematorium: “The committal will follow at Thornhill Crematorium; family and close friends are welcome to join us there.” A burial: “The burial will take place in the churchyard immediately after the service; all are welcome.” A private committal: “The committal will be private, for family only.” If the committal is inside the service, it is simply listed as an item: “Commendation and committal.”

What should the back page of a funeral order of service say?

Four short things: the family's thanks (“The family thank you for being here today, and for your kindness and support”); the reception (“Please join us afterwards at the Fox and Hounds, Thornhill, for refreshments”); flowers or donations (“Family flowers only. Donations, if wished, to Marie Curie, may be left in the box at the door or made online”); and their name and years once more, sometimes with a short closing line. A second photo fits well above.

Is it “order of service” or “funeral program”?

Both are the same booklet. “Order of service” is the usual phrase in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand; “funeral program” or “memorial program” in the US and Canada, where the back page thanks are often headed “Acknowledgements” and the reception is called a repast or a gathering. The wording inside is the same; only the headings change.

What do you call the reception after a funeral in the order of service?

In the UK and Ireland, “refreshments” or “the wake”; in Australia and New Zealand, “refreshments” or “light refreshments”; in the US, “a reception”, “a repast”, “a gathering” or “a celebration of life” when it is the informal part. Name the place, the town and the time if it is not straight after, and say “all are welcome” when they are.

Should the order of service say “family flowers only”?

If the family would rather have donations than flowers, yes, and in those words: “Family flowers only. Donations, if wished, to .” If flowers are welcome, say nothing about them or name the florist. “In lieu of flowers” is the US phrasing of the same line. Say where donations go (a box at the door, the funeral director, an online page) so people are not left asking.

Guide · 17 October 2026

Funeral order of service wording: the lines for the cover, the committal and the back page

The three places families get stuck are the line above the name, the sentence about the committal, and the back page. Here are the lines, written out, with when each one fits and how the wording changes between the UK, Ireland, Australia, the US and Canada.

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The examples use Margaret Hale, who is made up, as is her family and her funeral. Her sample booklet is here as a PDF: sample-order-of-service.pdf. What goes on each of the four pages is the companion to this page.

The short answer

Cover: one line at the top, their full name, the two dates, where and when. Committal: one sentence after the last item of the service, saying where it happens and who is welcome. Back page: thanks, the reception, flowers or donations, their name once more. Everything else on this page is the exact wording, so you can copy the line that fits and change the names.

The cover line

The line above the name sets the tone of the whole booklet. Pick one; do not stack two.

“In loving memory of” — the plainest and the most common in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Fits any service, any faith or none.
“A service of thanksgiving for the life of” — a church service, Anglican or Catholic especially, where the tone is gratitude rather than grief.
“A celebration of the life of” — a non-religious or humanist service, a crematorium service led by a celebrant, or a US celebration of life. The most used line for anyone under seventy.
“Funeral service for” or “The funeral of” — plain and formal; a Catholic Requiem Mass often reads “Requiem Mass for”.
“A service to celebrate and give thanks for the life of” — the longer church form, usual on printed orders from a vicar or minister.
“Remembering” — one word, used when the booklet is for a memorial service weeks or months after a private cremation.
“Celebrating the life of” — the US and Canadian funeral-program form of line 3; “Homegoing celebration for” in many African-American churches; “A memorial service for” when the body is not present.
“In memory of” — the shortest; fits a memorial card or the one-page flat version more than the booklet.

Then the name as the family says it, with any name they were known by in brackets or inverted commas: Margaret Ellen Hale, or Margaret Ellen Hale (Peggy), or Margaret Ellen (“Peggy”) Hale. Then the dates, written out in full so there is no 4/3 or 3/4 confusion between countries: 4 March 1941 – 2 October 2026. Then the place and the time: St Mary's Church, Thornhill · Friday 16 October 2026 at 11 am. Some families add a one-line verse under the dates; most do not, and it reads better without.

The committal line

The committal is the moment the coffin is committed to burial or cremation. Where it happens decides the sentence, and the sentence goes after the last item of the order of service, in a smaller type, so people know what happens next and whether they are expected.

Church service, then a crematorium. “The committal will follow at Thornhill Crematorium. Family and close friends are welcome to join us there.” If only the family are going: “The committal at Thornhill Crematorium will be private, for family only.”
Church service, then a burial in the churchyard or cemetery. “The burial will take place in the churchyard immediately after the service; all are welcome.” Or: “The interment will follow at Thornhill Cemetery, Mill Lane. All are welcome.”
Service held at the crematorium. The committal happens inside the service, so it is listed as an item, not a sentence: “Commendation and committal” (church), “The committal” (celebrant-led), or “Words of committal” followed by the music the curtains close to.
US funeral home service, then the cemetery. “Interment to follow at Oak Hill Cemetery. A procession will leave from the funeral home at the close of the service.” A graveside-only service reads “Graveside service” at the top of the running order and needs no committal line.
Private cremation already done, memorial service now. No committal line. If the ashes are to be interred later: “Margaret's ashes will be laid to rest at St Mary's on a date to be arranged by the family.”
Australia and New Zealand. Same lines as the UK; “the hearse will leave for” is common where a cortege goes on to the cemetery: “Following the service the hearse will leave for Rookwood Cemetery, where all are welcome to join the family.”

Whichever line you use, say the three things: where, whether people are welcome, and when if it is not immediately after.

The back page

Four short things, in this order, each a sentence or two. A second photo above them, their name and years under them.

Thanks. “The family thank you for being here today, and for your kindness, cards and support over the past weeks.” Or shorter: “Thank you for coming, and for all your kindness.” Name the carers if the family wants to: “With special thanks to the staff of Ward 7 at Thornhill General, who cared for Margaret with such gentleness.” In the US this block is often headed Acknowledgements.
The reception. “Please join us afterwards at the Fox and Hounds, Thornhill, for refreshments.” Add the time if people are coming from the crematorium: “from 1 pm”. The word changes by country: refreshments or the wake (UK, Ireland), light refreshments (Australia, New Zealand), a reception, a repast or a gathering (US, Canada). “All are welcome” when they are; “family and close friends” when they are not.
Flowers or donations. “Family flowers only. Donations, if wished, to Marie Curie, may be left in the box at the door, sent care of Thornhill Funeral Services, or made online at the address below.” US form: “In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the American Cancer Society.” If flowers are welcome, say nothing, or “Flowers may be sent care of …”. Say where the donations go and how, so nobody has to ask.
Their name and years, and a closing line. “Margaret Ellen Hale, 1941 – 2026.” Then, if the family wants one, a single line: “Rest in peace”; “Forever in our hearts”; “Until we meet again”; a line from their favourite hymn or poem; or the last line of the Rossetti sonnet in the service, “Better by far you should forget and smile / Than that you should remember and be sad.” One line. The back page is read on the way out.

How the wording changes by country

UK and Ireland. “Order of service”; “In loving memory of”; the committal line after the running order; “refreshments” or “the wake”; “family flowers only, donations if wished to”; the crematorium named.
Australia and New Zealand. “Order of service”; the same lines; “light refreshments”; “the hearse will leave for”; donations “in lieu of flowers” as often as “family flowers only”; a celebrant-led service more often than a church one, so “A celebration of the life of” is the usual cover line.
US and Canada. “Funeral program” or “memorial program”; “Celebrating the life of” or “In loving memory of”; the running order is often headed “Order of service” inside; “Acknowledgements” on the back; “interment to follow”; “a reception” or “a repast”; “in lieu of flowers”; the pallbearers and honorary pallbearers are listed by name, which UK booklets rarely do; a “Sunrise” and “Sunset” date pair in place of the dates is common in some churches.

Five mistakes

Two cover lines. “In loving memory of” and “A celebration of the life of” on the same cover. One line.
Numeric dates. 4/3/1941 is 4 March in Thornhill and 3 April in Toledo. Write the month as a word.
No committal line. Forty people in the car park asking whether they are expected at the crematorium. One sentence fixes it.
Donations with nowhere to go. “Donations to Marie Curie” with no box, no address and no link. Say how.
A back page full of names. Thanks to twenty people by name become a list people scan for their own. Thank “everyone who” and name only the carers or the one person who carried the family.

Questions

What do you write on the front of a funeral order of service?: One line at the top (“In loving memory of”, “A celebration of the life of”, “A service of thanksgiving for the life of”, or simply “Funeral service for”), their full name as the family says it, the two dates, and where and when the service is. A photo above. Nothing else: no quotes, no verse, no list of names on the cover.
How do you word the committal line in an order of service?: One sentence after the last item of the service, naming where it happens and who is welcome. A crematorium: “The committal will follow at Thornhill Crematorium; family and close friends are welcome to join us there.” A burial: “The burial will take place in the churchyard immediately after the service; all are welcome.” A private committal: “The committal will be private, for family only.” If the committal is inside the service, it is simply listed as an item: “Commendation and committal.”
What should the back page of a funeral order of service say?: Four short things: the family's thanks (“The family thank you for being here today, and for your kindness and support”); the reception (“Please join us afterwards at the Fox and Hounds, Thornhill, for refreshments”); flowers or donations (“Family flowers only. Donations, if wished, to Marie Curie, may be left in the box at the door or made online”); and their name and years once more, sometimes with a short closing line. A second photo fits well above.
Is it “order of service” or “funeral program”?: Both are the same booklet. “Order of service” is the usual phrase in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand; “funeral program” or “memorial program” in the US and Canada, where the back page thanks are often headed “Acknowledgements” and the reception is called a repast or a gathering. The wording inside is the same; only the headings change.
What do you call the reception after a funeral in the order of service?: In the UK and Ireland, “refreshments” or “the wake”; in Australia and New Zealand, “refreshments” or “light refreshments”; in the US, “a reception”, “a repast”, “a gathering” or “a celebration of life” when it is the informal part. Name the place, the town and the time if it is not straight after, and say “all are welcome” when they are.
Should the order of service say “family flowers only”?: If the family would rather have donations than flowers, yes, and in those words: “Family flowers only. Donations, if wished, to .” If flowers are welcome, say nothing about them or name the florist. “In lieu of flowers” is the US phrasing of the same line. Say where donations go (a box at the door, the funeral director, an online page) so people are not left asking.

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