Mother's Day in Istanbul: Anneler Günü, the Dates, and Sending From Abroad

Turkey celebrates Mother's Day, Anneler Günü, on the second Sunday of May. In 2027 that is 9 May, the same Sunday as Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the United States. If you live in one of those countries, your date and hers are the same and there is nothing to work out.

Two places are out of step. In the United Kingdom, Mothering Sunday is tied to the church calendar and falls in March, on 7 March in 2027. In France it is the last Sunday of May, 30 May in 2027. So a sender in London who goes by their own calendar is about nine weeks early, and a sender in Paris three weeks late.

The dates, year by year

• 2027: Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the US on 9 May. UK 7 March, France 30 May.
• 2028: Turkey and the same group on 14 May. UK 26 March, France 28 May.
• 2029: Turkey and the same group on 13 May. UK 11 March, France 27 May.
• 2030: Turkey and the same group on 12 May. UK 31 March, France 26 May.

What Anneler Günü actually looks like

It is a domestic day rather than a public one. Nothing closes and there is no ceremony: people call, they visit, they eat together, and flowers are the default gift. Carnations are the traditional choice, but roses, lilies and mixed seasonal arrangements are all ordinary now. A grandmother counts on the same day, and in Turkish families that is often the visit that carries the most weight.

On the card, Anneler Gününüz kutlu olsun is the standard greeting. Warmer, for your own mother, is İyi ki varsın anneciğim, roughly "I am so glad you are here, dear mum". The handwritten card is included at no extra cost and we write exactly what you give us, in Turkish or in your own language. If you want the wider cultural background, our guide to flower-giving etiquette in Turkey covers what reads well and what does not.

Order ahead, not on the day

Mother's Day is one of our two busiest delivery days of the year, along with Valentine's Day. The windows on the Sunday itself fill days in advance, so choose your delivery date at checkout rather than waiting for the morning. Our same-day cut-off is 18:00 Istanbul time and the nine windows run to 22:00. Turkey does not change its clocks, so in May 18:00 in Istanbul is 17:00 in Berlin and Paris, 16:00 in London and 11:00 in New York.

In 2027 Kurban Bayramı begins a week later, on 16 May, with the eve on the 15th. Both are heavy delivery days. If you are sending for both, order both ahead: see our guide to sending Bayram flowers to Turkey.

What it costs, and what you see

Most arrangements are between 40 and 90 euros, more than forty of them are under 50 euros, and the largest pieces run to about 540 euros. Delivery is free everywhere in Istanbul, so the figure on the product page is the full price, and you are charged in the currency shown to you at the rate fixed when you order. Before the flowers leave the workshop we photograph the actual arrangement made for your order and send it to you on WhatsApp, with a second photo after the handover.

Istanbul only, and why

We deliver within Istanbul, all 39 districts on both the European and the Asian side, and nowhere else in Turkey. That is a choice rather than a gap. We arrange every order in our own workshops and deliver it with our own team, which is what makes the cut-off, the free delivery and the photograph possible at all. If your mother is in another Turkish city, a relay network is the right tool for that, and we would rather say so now than after you have paid.

Read next: Valentine's Day flowers in Istanbul, the other date that books out early.