Funeral Program, Memorial Card or Prayer Card? A Guide to Funeral Stationery

When you start arranging a funeral, the funeral home may hand you a catalogue full of printed items: programs, memorial folders, prayer cards, bookmarks, acknowledgement cards, register books, announcement cards. Online templates add even more names, many of which seem to mean the same thing. It is easy to feel you need all of them – or to worry that you have forgotten something important.

In reality, most families need one or two items, and the rest are optional keepsakes. This guide explains what each piece of funeral stationery is, what it is for, the usual sizes, and how to decide which ones are worth your time and budget. It ends with a few typical combinations for different kinds of services.

The quick answer

• Essential for most services: a funeral program (called an order of service in the UK) – it tells guests what will happen and who the person was.
• Very common keepsake: a prayer card or memorial card – a small card with a photo or image and a prayer or poem.
• For afterwards: thank-you cards – to acknowledge flowers, donations and help.
• Optional: bookmarks, obituary sheets, social media announcements, guest books, posters and photo boards.

If time is short, make the program first. Everything else can follow – thank-you cards can be sent weeks later, and many keepsakes can be printed after the service.

Funeral program / order of service

What it is: a printed guide to the service, handed to each guest on arrival.

What it contains: the person's name, photo and dates on the cover; the order of service (music, readings, speakers, prayers); often a life story or obituary; and on the back, a poem or verse, pallbearers, interment and reception details, and the family's thanks.

Usual sizes: a sheet of US Letter folded to 5.5×8.5 inches, or A4 folded to A5 in the UK; an eight-page booklet for longer services; a flat 5×7 card for short or informal services. See funeral program sizes, paper and folding.

Also called: funeral bulletin, memorial folder, service folder, order of service, funeral booklet, celebration of life program, memorial program.

Who needs it: most services of any size. Even a small graveside gathering benefits from a simple card with the person's name and a reading.

Practical note: it must be ready on the day, so it is the item with the tightest deadline. Our funeral program timeline helps you plan it.

Memorial card

What it is: a small keepsake card commemorating the person.

What it contains: usually a photo on one side, and the name, dates and a poem, quote or personal message on the other.

Usual sizes: varies widely – from wallet size (about 2.5×4.25 inches) up to 4×6 or 5×7 inches. In the UK and Ireland, small folded memorial cards are also common.

Also called: remembrance card, keepsake card, In Loving Memory card.

Who needs it: optional. Families often choose memorial cards when they want a keepsake but not a religious prayer card, or when the service is small and a full program feels too formal. A larger memorial card can even replace the program for a short gathering.

See our memorial cards page for designs.

Prayer card

What it is: a small card with a religious image or photo on the front and a prayer on the back.

What it contains: "In Loving Memory of," the name, dates and a prayer – often the Eternal Rest prayer, the Hail Mary, Psalm 23 or the Prayer of St. Francis.

Usual size: about 2.5×4.25 inches, similar to a playing card; often laminated.

Also called: holy card, funeral holy card, remembrance card.

Who needs it: traditional in Catholic families and common among other Christians. Handed out at the visitation or wake and at the church.

The difference from a memorial card: a prayer card carries a prayer; a memorial card might carry anything. In practice the terms overlap, and many people use them interchangeably.

See prayer card wording for full prayers and layouts.

Memorial bookmark

What it is: a tall, narrow card designed to be used as a bookmark.

What it contains: a photo, name, dates and a short poem or verse, sometimes with a ribbon tassel.

Usual size: around 2×6 or 2×7 inches.

Who needs it: optional. A lovely keepsake for a reader, a teacher, a librarian, or someone who always had a book on the go. Some families give bookmarks instead of prayer cards because they are practical and are kept in books for years.

Thank-you or acknowledgement card

What it is: a card sent by the family after the funeral to thank people for flowers, donations, food, help or attendance.

What it contains: a printed message of thanks, sometimes a photo or verse, with space for a handwritten note.

Usual sizes: small folded notes or flat cards, often around 5×3.5 inches or similar.

Who needs it: families who received flowers, donations or practical help. Notes are usually sent in the weeks after the funeral – there is no rush.

See funeral thank-you note wording for examples, and our funeral thank-you cards page for matching designs.

Obituary sheet

What it is: a single printed page carrying the full obituary, sometimes with photos.

Who needs it: families whose obituary is too long for the program, or who want a typeset copy to frame, include in a memory box or send to relatives. In some traditions – particularly home-going services – the obituary is a central part of the program; elsewhere, it is printed separately.

Our obituary template produces a typeset one-page PDF ($2.99), and our obituary writer helps draft the text.

Funeral announcement

What it is: a notice informing people of the death and the service arrangements.

Forms it takes: a newspaper death notice; a post on the funeral home website; a social media image; an email; or, more traditionally in some countries, a printed card mailed to family and friends.

Who needs it: almost every family needs to announce the death in some form. A social media image sized for phones has become one of the most common ways to share service details. See our funeral announcement template and short obituary examples.

Guest book or register book

What it is: a book at the entrance of the visitation or service where guests sign their names and sometimes leave a message.

Who needs it: most families. It becomes a record of who came, which helps when writing thank-you notes and is often treasured later. Funeral homes usually provide one.

Posters, photo boards and easel displays

What they are: large-format prints displayed at the service – a portrait on an easel, a collage of photos, or a welcome sign.

Who needs them: optional, but popular, especially at celebrations of life. A large portrait at the front of the room helps guests who did not know the person well connect the name to a face.

Comparison at a glance

• Funeral program: guides the service · 5.5×8.5 in or A5 folded · needed by the day of the service · one per guest
• Prayer card: keepsake with prayer · about 2.5×4.25 in · visitation and service · often more than one per guest
• Memorial card: keepsake with poem or message · wallet size to 5×7 in · visitation and service · one per guest
• Bookmark: keepsake · about 2×6 in · service · one per guest
• Thank-you card: acknowledgement · about 5×3.5 in · after the funeral · one per person thanked
• Obituary sheet: full life story · Letter or A4 · service or afterwards · as needed
• Announcement: informs people · varies (social image, newspaper) · as soon as arrangements are set

How the wording changes from item to item

The same family, writing about the same person, will use slightly different words on each piece. Seeing them side by side helps you avoid copying the program onto every card. Here is one example set for the same person.

On the program cover

Celebrating the Life of

Margaret Anne "Peggy" Collins

March 12, 1942 – November 3, 2026

Friday, November 13, 2026 · 10:00 a.m. · St. Brigid's Church

The program cover carries service details, because guests use it on the day.

On the prayer card

In Loving Memory of

Margaret Anne Collins

1942 – 2026

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.

The prayer card drops the service details – it is a keepsake that will be kept long after the date has passed – and adds a prayer.

On a memorial bookmark

Peggy Collins

1942 – 2026

"If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain." – Emily Dickinson

A bookmark is narrow, so it uses the familiar name and a very short quotation.

On the thank-you card

The family of Peggy Collins thanks you for your kindness, your prayers and your many expressions of sympathy.

The thank-you card speaks from the family rather than about the person, and leaves room for a handwritten line.

On the social media announcement

With heavy hearts we share that Peggy Collins passed away peacefully on November 3. Visitation Thursday 4–7 p.m., Riverside Funeral Home. Funeral Mass Friday 10 a.m., St. Brigid's.

The announcement is practical first: it needs to tell people when and where, quickly, on a phone screen.

Keeping these differences in mind means each item does its own job – and the set, taken together, tells the whole story.

Traditions in different communities

Funeral stationery customs vary between communities and countries, and families often blend them:

• Irish and Irish-American families have a long tradition of memorial cards, sometimes small folded cards with a photo and prayers inside, kept in prayer books and posted to relatives abroad.
• Polish, Italian, Filipino and Latin American Catholic families frequently print holy cards with a saint or Marian image and a prayer in the family's language – sometimes bilingual.
• Mexican and Mexican-American families may print cards called *recordatorios* with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe or the Sacred Heart and a prayer in Spanish.
• African American churches often produce substantial home-going programs, sometimes running to many pages with a full obituary, photo spreads, resolutions and acknowledgements.
• British funerals centre on the order of service; separate memorial cards are less common, though growing in popularity.

If your family follows a particular tradition, ask an older relative what they remember from family funerals. Small details – a particular prayer, a particular phrase – are often what make the stationery feel right.

Printed or digital?

More families now share funeral stationery digitally as well as on paper. The two complement each other:

• Printed items are for the people in the room and for keeping. Paper still matters at a funeral: it gives people something to hold, and it ends up in drawers and memory boxes.
• Digital versions – PDFs and images – are for people who are far away, watching a livestream, or hearing the news later. They also make it easy to reprint a few copies months later.

Whichever you make, keep the final files somewhere safe. Anniversaries, unveilings and memorial Masses often bring a request for "one more copy of the program."

Keeping everything in one design

When several items are made, matching them gives the family's stationery a calm, considered feel: the same photo, the same colours, the same typefaces. This is easiest if you design them all from the same starting point. In our funeral program maker, the memorial bundle creates a matching prayer card, thank-you card, social announcement image and obituary PDF from the program you have already made, so nothing needs to be retyped.

Which items do you actually need? Typical combinations

Catholic funeral with a vigil the night before

• Funeral program (four or eight pages)
• Prayer cards for the vigil and the Mass
• Thank-you cards afterwards
• Guest book (from the funeral home)

Protestant or home-going service

• Funeral program, often eight pages with full obituary and photos
• Memorial cards or bookmarks
• Thank-you or acknowledgement cards
• Large portrait on an easel

Small graveside service

• A 5×7 flat card with photo, name, dates and a reading
• Thank-you cards afterwards, if flowers or donations were received

Celebration of life

• A folded program or card with a relaxed agenda
• Optional keepsakes – seed packets, bookmarks, a recipe card
• A photo board or slideshow
• Social media announcement beforehand

Non-religious crematorium service (UK)

• Order of service (A5)
• Optional memorial card
• Online notice or newspaper announcement

Family members abroad watching online

• Digital program (PDF or images) shared by email or message
• Printed copy posted afterwards

How many of each to order

• Programs: about one per expected guest, with a margin for latecomers and keepsakes. Couples often share one, but many families prefer to have enough for everyone.
• Prayer and memorial cards: often more than the number of guests, because people take extras for relatives.
• Thank-you cards: count from your list of flowers, donations and practical help, plus a few spare.

Ask the funeral director for an estimate of attendance; they usually have a good sense of it.

Budget and timing priorities

If time or budget is limited, prioritize in this order:

1. Funeral program – needed on the day
2. Announcement – needed as soon as the date is set
3. Prayer or memorial cards – lovely, but optional
4. Thank-you cards – can be sent weeks later
5. Everything else – optional

Questions to ask the funeral home about stationery

Funeral homes often include some printed items in their packages, and it is worth knowing exactly what is covered before you make anything yourself:

• Which printed items are included in our package, and in what quantities?
• Can we see the designs and a proof before printing?
• If we make our own program, will you print it, or should we arrange printing ourselves?
• Do you supply the guest book, and can it match our design?
• What is your deadline for final details?
• Will you hand out programs and prayer cards at the visitation and the service?

Clear answers prevent two common problems: paying for items the family then makes again, and arriving at the service to find two different programs. If the funeral home is producing some items and you are producing others, agree which photo and wording you are both using so the set still matches.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a memorial card and a prayer card?

A prayer card carries a prayer and is a religious tradition; a memorial card can carry a poem, quote or message. In practice, the terms overlap.

Do we need both a program and prayer cards?

No. Many families have only a program. Prayer cards are a keepsake tradition, especially in Catholic families.

Is a funeral program the same as an order of service?

Yes – "order of service" is the UK and Irish term.

Do prayer cards need the service date on them?

No. Because prayer cards are kept for years, most families leave the service details off and include only the name, the dates of birth and death, and the prayer.

Can one card replace the program?

For a short or informal service, yes. A two-sided 5×7 card can hold the essentials.

Start with the program

The program is the one item that has to be ready on the day, and every other piece can be built from it. Make it first in our funeral program maker, preview it free, and add the matching cards with the memorial bundle when you are ready.