Practical UK wedding planning tools & templates
Free editable UK wedding order of service templates for 2026. Choose from church, civil or humanist ceremony formats, customise in Canva and print at home or locally.
A wedding order of service is a printed booklet or card given to guests as they arrive at the ceremony. It sets out the structure of the service, including the music, readings, hymns and order of events, so guests can follow along and participate throughout.
For church ceremonies with hymns and responsive readings, an order of service is essential. For shorter civil ceremonies, a single-sheet card listing the key moments is usually sufficient. Humanist ceremonies often benefit from a more detailed booklet given their personalised, narrative structure.
All templates on this page are free to customise in Canva and can be downloaded as a print-ready PDF.
Select the format that suits your ceremony — church, civil or humanist.
Click the template to open it in Canva. A free account is all you need.
Replace the placeholder text with your names, date, venue and ceremony content.
Download as PDF and print at home or at a local print shop.
Choose the format that best suits your ceremony type and guest numbers.
A5 folded booklet for Church of England and Roman Catholic ceremonies. Includes sections for processional, welcome, hymns with lyrics, readings, vows, signing of the register and recessional. Suitable for full choral services.
Open in Canva →A5 single or double-sided card for register office and licensed venue civil ceremonies. Concise format covering welcome, music, readings, civil vows and declarations, signing of the register and recessional. No religious content.
Open in Canva →A5 booklet for humanist and non-religious ceremonies. Flexible format with sections for welcome, personal readings, celebrant narrative, vows, ring exchange, music and recessional. Fully customisable to any ceremony structure.
Open in Canva →Clean single-sided A5 card listing the ceremony structure in a minimal format. Suitable for short civil or humanist ceremonies where a full booklet is not required. Coordinates with the minimal wedding stationery suite.
Open in Canva →Canva has hundreds of free editable wedding templates including invitations, menus, seating plans and signs.
The content of your order of service depends on your ceremony type. Here is a guide to what to include for each format.
Note: all music and readings in a civil ceremony must be non-religious.
Once you have finalised your order of service in Canva and downloaded it as a PDF, you have several printing options.
Suitable for simple single or double-sided A5 designs. Print on 120gsm paper for a more premium feel. Set your printer to A5 or print two per A4 sheet and cut. Most home printers handle this well for quantities up to around 60 sheets.
High street print shops such as Ryman, Staples and independent printers offer same-day or next-day printing on quality card stock. Ideal for larger quantities or folded booklet formats that require scoring. Typically costs £0.30 to £0.80 per copy.
Services like Printed.com and Instantprint offer professional quality printing on premium stocks with a range of finishes. Order at least 2 to 3 weeks before the wedding to allow for production and delivery. Cost typically £0.20 to £0.60 per copy in quantity.
Print one per guest plus 10 to 15 percent extra for late additions, keepsakes and any copies that get damaged. For 80 guests, order 90 to 95 copies. Re-ordering small quantities is significantly more expensive per copy than ordering slightly more upfront.
A wedding order of service typically includes the couple names and wedding date, the venue and ceremony time, welcome and processional music, readings with reader names, hymns or songs with lyrics if applicable, the marriage ceremony and vows, signing of the register and music during signing, and recessional music. Civil ceremonies must omit all religious content. The exact structure should be confirmed with your officiant.
The most common size for a UK wedding order of service is A5 (148mm x 210mm). A single sheet printed double-sided is the most economical option for short civil ceremonies. A folded A4 sheet creates a four-page A5 booklet format, which works well for church ceremonies with multiple hymns and readings. Longer services may need an eight-page booklet.
Print one order of service per guest attending the ceremony, plus 10 to 15 percent extra for late additions, keepsakes and damaged copies. For 80 ceremony guests, order 90 to 95 copies. Note that evening-only guests do not need an order of service unless you choose to provide one.
Yes. Printing your own order of service at home is straightforward for simple single or double-sided A5 designs. Use 120gsm paper for a more premium result than standard 80gsm printer paper. For larger quantities, folded booklet formats or higher quality finishes, a local print shop or online service will produce better results at a cost of around £0.30 to £0.80 per copy.
An order of service is not legally required at any UK ceremony. For short civil ceremonies of 20 to 30 minutes, many couples choose not to have one or opt for a simple single-sided card rather than a full booklet. For church ceremonies with multiple hymns and readings, an order of service is strongly recommended as guests need the content to participate.
Finalise the content of your order of service at least four weeks before the wedding, after confirming all details with your officiant. Allow one to two weeks for design and proofing, then order printed copies at least two to three weeks before the wedding to allow for production and delivery time.
Browse all free editable wedding stationery templates including seating plans, menus and invitations.
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