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What to post for Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday isn't about you, it's about the person trying not to let their mum down. Make them the one who got it right.

Sun 7 Mar 2027the date 161 days to gofrom today 18 daysthe run-up
Pick your days and we write your own guide. Your first plan is free.
The run-up

Every day between now and then that is worth a post

Not one a day. These are the ones that do a job. What each is for is underneath it.

Wed 17 Feb 18 days before Open bookings early This is the UK's big one for flowers and tables and it does sell out, so post that you're taking orders now, before the good slots have gone. Write this one →
Mon 22 Feb 13 days before Show the gift, not the shop Photograph the actual bouquet, the laid table, the treatment, the thing being handed over. Let a buyer picture the moment it lands. Write this one →
Fri 26 Feb 9 days before Make them the hero Write every post as 'you, remembering; your mum, delighted'. The buyer is a son or daughter who wants to get it right, not you. Write this one →
Tue 2 Mar 5 days before Offer the rescue A 'forgot? we deliver Sunday morning' line, or a gift card, catches the ones who left it late and are quietly starting to panic. Write this one →
Fri 5 Mar 2 days before Name the cut-off Post the real last order or last booking time. A clear deadline moves people that no polite reminder ever will. Write this one →
Sun 7 Mar The day On the morning Post early with what's ready to collect, and a warm word for the ones who did remember. Quiet thanks reads better than one more sell. Write this one →
The idea most businesses miss

Sell the feeling, not the flowers

Kevin Roberts argues that the brands people genuinely love are built on emotion, not features, a bond of feeling and respect that reason alone can't account for. Mothering Sunday is pure emotion: nobody is comparing stem counts, they're trying to say thank you. So sell the feeling, the face when the flowers arrive, the relief of having got it right, and let the product carry it.

Kevin Roberts, former chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi and author of Lovemarks · Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, powerHouse Books, 2004

Questions

The questions people ask

It's a florist's day. What if I'm a café or a salon?
It's a treat-your-mum day right across the board. A Sunday lunch, a held table, a pamper voucher, all sit in the same gift-giving mood.
American calendars say Mother's Day is in May.
In the UK it's the fourth Sunday of Lent, often two months earlier. Post the UK date plainly, plenty of people don't realise until they've already missed it.
How early is too early to start?
For flowers and tables, three weeks isn't too early. The best slots and the biggest orders go to whoever thinks to ask first.
Some of my customers find this day painful.
Many do, a mum they've lost, or none to celebrate. Don't aim every post at everyone. A quiet line such as 'thinking of you, however this day feels' tells people you understand, and it lands far better than one more sell.

The other dates worth the effort

Sun 14 Feb 2027 Valentine's Day 140 days to go A Sunday this year, so couples mostly celebrate on the weekend just before; keep the day for the low-key ones. 5 posts to make → Sun 28 Mar 2027 Easter 182 days to go Easter is a four-day weekend, not a Sunday. It's easy to post just once, on the day, but the trade is spread across all four. 6 posts to make → Everything else The whole calendar The rest of this year and all of next, with the British ones in the right place. Open the calendar →