The running order of a funeral service: structure and examples
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The running order is the backbone of the funeral service: who does what, in what order, and what can be seen and heard at that moment. Once the running order is clear, the presentation almost falls into place.
What goes into a running order?
For each part of the service you note:
- The moment: arrival, words of welcome, speaker, music, video or final farewell.
- Who is speaking (or whose music is playing).
- What is on the screen: a fixed photo, a series of photos or a video.
- How the moment ends: by itself (when the music or video finishes) or at a signal from the funeral director.
A commonly used structure
- Arrival (five to ten minutes, depending on the number of guests): soft music, the memorial portrait on screen. Ends once everyone is seated.
- Words of welcome by the funeral director: the memorial portrait stays on screen.
- First speaker: a personal photo of the speaker with the person who has died.
- Musical moment with a series of photos: a life in images, timed to the piece.
- Second speaker: another fitting photo.
- Video (optional): a clip of a family moment; starts and stops by itself.
- Closing words and practical announcements.
- Final farewell: music on repeat while those present file past the coffin.
Of course there can be several speakers between the musical moments with photo series. Showing two musical moments straight after one another is unusual, but do know that at a funeral everything can be set up as wished. However the family picture the service, that is how it should be possible to carry it out.
From running order to presentation
The translation is one to one: each part becomes a block in the presentation. What matters here:
- Moments of unpredictable length (speakers, the final farewell) wait for a click from the operator.
- Moments of fixed length (music with photos, video) run by themselves and end exactly with the music.
- Consecutive moments with the same photo (for example words of welcome and the first speaker) can be a single slide: fewer clicks, less chance of mistakes. After all, the image simply stays the same.
The running order on paper for the operator
Whoever operates the presentation on the day needs no more than a single sheet of A4: the moments in order, the slide number for each, the music with its length, and whether a click is required. If you make the presentation with our tool, this instruction document rolls out automatically as a PDF with the final version, including cues and music length for each part.
For funeral directors we make it extra neat: your logo appears at the top of the instruction document, and any message you like can be added at the bottom.