Give your families something worth holding onto long after the service.
It happens in almost every planning meeting. You've spent an hour listening to their stories, getting to know who this person really was, shaping a service that will genuinely honour them. And then someone asks about the order of service booklet and the best you can offer is, "The funeral home will sort that out."
You already know what that means. A stretched photo, a default font, something assembled in ten minutes by someone who only understands the basics in Canva. It works. But it doesn't match the care you've just put into everything else.
What if you had someone to send them to instead?
How This Works
I'm Lauren Bird, a designer with twenty years of experience and the person behind The Farewell Studio. I design personalised order of service booklets, memorial cards, photo slideshows, and memory books for families across Australia.
When you refer a family to me, here's what happens.
I have a gentle conversation with them, usually by phone, and I listen to the same stories you heard. Who they were. What they loved. The small details that made everyone smile. Then I design something around that person, not from a template, but from scratch.
I handle everything from there. The design, a final proof for the family to review and approve so it feels right and every detail is correct, the printing on beautiful paper, and the delivery to wherever the service is being held. The family doesn't need to find a printer or chase a deadline. They just need to check it feels like their person, give me the nod, and turn up on the day.
Turnaround is typically three to five business days from our first conversation, and I understand that timelines in this work are non-negotiable.
Why It Matters for Your Service
You put real thought into every ceremony you lead. The readings, the music, the structure, the words you choose. You build a service around who that person actually was.
The order of service booklet is the only physical thing guests take home from all of that work. It's what they hold during the service. It's what they find in a drawer two years later. If that booklet looks like an afterthought, it quietly undermines every other thing you did right.
When the stationery matches the quality of the ceremony, it reflects well on everyone involved. Including you.
What Families Get
Every piece is designed personally by me. No templates, no clip art or no generic layouts. I start with the content and the photos the family shares and build something that feels like the person being they lost.
Order of service booklets from simple keepsake cards through to eight or twelve page booklets with room for stories, readings, tributes, and photographs.
Photo slideshows set to meaningful music, paced gently, designed to tell a real story rather than just cycling through images.
Memory books that gather photographs and tributes into something a family can return to for years.
Hand-illustrated details when a family wants something truly personal: a fishing boat, a favourite flower, the dog, the old ute, something drawn by hand that says everything in one small mark.
You don't need to sell this. You just need to mention it.
"I know someone who does beautiful funeral stationery. She designs everything personally and handles all the printing and delivery. Would you like me to pass on her details?"
That's it. One sentence during a planning meeting.
I'll take it from there. You don't need to coordinate, project manage, or follow up. I'll look after the family the same way you do: gently, personally, and without pressure.
What You Can Give Families
What I Can Give You
To make referring easy, I can send you a sample pack of printed booklets and cards to keep on hand and show families during your planning meetings. Something tangible they can pick up and feel, so they can see the difference between what the funeral home offers and what's possible when real design thinking goes into it.
Just let me know where to send it.
A Quiet Word About the Funeral Home Default
I understand why most celebrants point families toward the funeral home for stationery. It's simple, it's expected, and there hasn't been a better option to recommend.
But you've seen what comes back. You've handed out booklets at services you spent hours preparing and felt that quiet disconnect between the ceremony you built and the piece of paper in everyone's hands.
This is the alternative, not a competitor to the funeral home. Just a specialist who treats the stationery with the same care you bring to the ceremony.
About Lauren
I'm Lauren Bird, the designer and sole creator behind The Farewell Studio, based in Bathurst and working with families and funeral homes across Australia.
I came to this work through my own losses, designing the keepsakes for my grandparents' funerals and learning first-hand how much it matters to get them right. That's why I can't treat any of this as paperwork. With 20 years of design experience behind me, I bring real craft and a genuinely careful hand to work that most people rush.
If you'd like to chat about how this could work for your families, or if you'd like me to send you a sample pack, I'd love to hear from you.
Email: lauren@farewellstudio.com.au
Phone: 0413 072 846
No contracts, no commitments, no minimum referrals. Just a good person to have in your back pocket when a family deserves something better than the default