Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday in Lent, three weeks before Easter Sunday, so the date changes every year. In 2027 it is Sunday 7 March. For comparison:

• 2025 Sunday 30 March

• 2026 Sunday 15 March

• 2027 Sunday 7 March

• 2028 Sunday 26 March

The day began in the Middle Ages, when people went back to their local "mother church". The link with mothers came later, and the modern observance was revived from 1913. It is not the same day as Mother's Day in the US, which falls on 9 May in 2027, so a brand running campaigns in both markets needs two plans, not one.

The early date matters. 7 March is only three weeks after Valentine's Day on 14 February, so the two campaigns will overlap in planning, shooting and posting.

GlobalData surveyed UK shoppers before Mother's Day 2026 and found a careful mood:

• More people buying 57% of consumers intended to buy, or had already bought, at least one item, up slightly on the year before

• Flat budgets Most planned to spend about the same as in 2025, around £50

• Early gifts shifted Early buying grew for homewares, sports-related items and drink gifts, and fell for clothing, health and beauty, and vouchers

Eleanor Simpson-Gould, Senior Retail Analyst at GlobalData, said that "clear signals of longevity, premium quality, and trusted brands will be essential to unlock spending."

A separate forecast from Savvy, reported by Grocery Gazette, put total UK retail spend around the day at about £18bn, with seven in ten shoppers expecting to eat a meal at home. That is one agency's survey, so treat it as a guide rather than a firm figure.

For creator content, the GlobalData findings point one way. A creator people trust, explaining why a gift lasts or why it is worth the money, suits a careful shopper better than a hard discount push.

Mothering Sunday content often features a creator's own family: a mother, a child, a grandparent. That is what makes it feel real, and it is also where a brief needs the most care.

• Ask who will appear Agree in the brief whether family members will be on camera, and make sure each of them is happy to be

• Take care with children If a child appears, the parent decides, and the brief should never ask for more than the family is comfortable sharing

• Let the creator lead the story Their audience knows their family. A scripted moment usually reads as an ad before the label does

• Consider models for your own channels If you want family imagery for your website or paid ads rather than a creator's feed, a shoot with models gives you clearer control over usage

Our model campaigns page explains how a model shoot works, and our guide to UGC for brands covers a lighter option for your own channels.

Mothering Sunday is a hard day for some people. In 2019 the florist Bloom & Wild emailed customers a link to opt out of its Mother's Day messages, after noticing that people were unsubscribing for the period and signing up again once it had passed. Close to 18,000 customers opted out, according to Braze, the platform it used.

In 2020 Bloom & Wild started the Thoughtful Marketing Movement, in which brands commit to offering similar opt-outs and alternative messaging to customers who want them. Braze puts membership at over 100 brands.

The same thinking applies to creators. Some will have lost a mother, or find the day difficult for other reasons. Ask before you assume a creator wants a Mothering Sunday brief, and give them room to tell the story their own way, or to say no.

Yes. In the UK a free product counts as an incentive, whether the creator asked for it or not. The ASA says that when a brand gives an influencer "a payment or any other incentive (requested or unsolicited)", content about the brand must be "obviously identifiable as advertising", and that this is a requirement under consumer protection law.

• Use a clear label The ASA and CMA prefer labels that call the content advertising, such as "Ad". A "Gifted" label is unlikely to be clear enough

• Put it up front A label buried in a list of hashtags at the end will not do

• Both sides are responsible Brands and influencers are both responsible for making ads obvious, and both are named if the ASA rules against a post

When you send a gift, put the rules in the note that goes with it and say plainly whether you expect a post. If a creator does post, the label is part of the post from the start, not something fixed afterwards.

Later, a creator marketing platform, asked creators about holiday campaigns. 41% said they prefer one to two months' lead time, and 30% named late outreach as their biggest challenge. Those figures come from the Christmas and Black Friday season, but they are a fair guide for any date in the calendar.

Count back from 7 March 2027:

• By early January Two months before is 7 January. Brief creators then, or before Christmas if you can

• By early February One month before is 7 February. Booking is still possible, but you are giving less notice than many creators want, and Valentine's Day work will be competing for the same diaries

• Late February Plan for gift posts to go live before your last delivery date, not on the Sunday itself, and leave time for an approval round and for any gifted product to arrive before filming

Our Black Friday booking guide sets out the booking steps in more detail, and our creator and talent campaigns page explains how we run them.