Eid Flowers for Family in Turkey: Sending a Bayram Gift From Abroad

Bayram is when you go home. If that is not possible this year, you call, and many people also send something that rings the doorbell. This page covers when to order so the greeting arrives in time, what suits a Bayram visit and what to write on the card. One honest limitation first: we deliver within Istanbul only. If the family lives in another Turkish city, we are sorry, but we cannot help.

If you have not ordered from abroad before, our page on sending flowers to Turkey from abroad explains the process step by step.

The 2027 dates

• Ramazan Bayramı (Eid al-Fitr): 9 to 11 March 2027. The eve, arife, is Monday 8 March.
• Kurban Bayramı (Eid al-Adha): 16 to 19 May 2027. Arife is Saturday 15 May.

These dates follow the calendar of Diyanet, Turkey's directorate of religious affairs. Communities abroad that follow their own moon sighting can differ by a day, but for a delivery in Istanbul the Turkish calendar is what counts.

Deliver on the holiday or just before?

We deliver on the Bayram days too, on the same windows as any other day. What matters more is whether anyone is home. Many Istanbul families travel to relatives over the holiday, and those who stay are out from the first morning visiting their elders. Two approaches work well: deliver on arife, so the flowers are already there when the first visitors arrive on the morning of Bayram, or deliver on the first day in the earliest window. It is worth checking quietly beforehand whether the recipient is staying in Istanbul for the holiday, and giving us their phone number.

Bayramlaşma: why flowers fit

On the first morning of Bayram, families visit their elders. Younger relatives kiss the older person's hand and touch it to their forehead, and children receive sweets or a little pocket money, bayram harçlığı. The traditional thing to bring is something sweet: baklava, lokum, chocolate. Flowers are not the classic Bayram gift, but in a city like Istanbul they have become a common greeting for a mother, grandmother or mother-in-law. And from far away they are what can reliably be brought to the door: fresh, on the right day, with a card in your own words.

Which flowers suit Bayram

For a mother or grandmother, choose light, warm colours: white, soft pink, lilac. A potted orchid lasts well beyond the holiday and is still there long after the visitors have left, more in our orchid guide. Otherwise the general rules of the Turkish flower-giving guide apply.

What to write on the card

• Bayramınız mübarek olsun: may your Bayram be blessed. Suits both holidays and any recipient.
• Ramazan Bayramınız kutlu olsun or Kurban Bayramınız kutlu olsun: happy Eid al-Fitr, happy Eid al-Adha.
• Nice bayramlara: to many more holidays, a common closing line.
• Ellerinizden öperim: I kiss your hands. The respectful phrase for parents and grandparents, in effect the hand kiss you cannot give in person.

We print the card exactly as you type it, with every Turkish letter intact.

Mother's Day falls close by

In 2027 two occasions sit a week apart: Mother's Day on 9 May, which Turkey marks on the same Sunday as the US and Germany, and Kurban Bayramı from 16 May. If you want to remember both, order both ahead. More in the Valentine's and Mother's Day guide.

How ordering, paying in your own currency and the Istanbul address work, step by step, is in sending flowers from Europe to Turkey. The districts we deliver to are listed under delivery areas.