Mother's Day on Sunday 7 March 2027: set menus, sittings and deposits for family tables

Mother's Day lunch is the Sunday when the book fills with tables of seven, a pram, two high chairs, a grandmother who needs a chair with arms, and one guest who is coeliac. Every one of them wants 1pm.

Mother's Day (Mothering Sunday) 2027 is Sunday 7 March. Run lunch as two fixed sittings with tables released in 15-minute waves, a set lunch menu with a children's menu beside it, a cap on party size online, and a per-adult deposit for larger tables with a final-numbers date. Open bookings by Monday 8 February: most families search in the final three weeks. Price the set lunch from what the same courses cost on your normal menu; ONS price data put the median UK restaurant main at £16.50 in March 2026.

This guide gives you the 2027 dates, a lunch sittings plan, a children and access checklist, set menu pricing against official price data, and booking terms to copy.

Last checked: 5 November 2026.

When is Mother's Day 2027 in the UK?

Sunday 7 March 2027. In the UK, Mother's Day is Mothering Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, which is always three weeks before Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday 2027 is 28 March, so Mothering Sunday is 7 March. It is not a bank holiday.

That is earlier than recent years: 15 March in 2026 and 30 March in 2025. Worked back from the Easter dates, it is the earliest Mothering Sunday since 6 March 2016. Two consequences for 2027:

• It is still winter. Early March rules out the garden for most venues, so count only your indoor covers. If you want pavement tables for spring, our pavement licence guide has the application timeline.
• It comes three weeks after Valentine's Day (Sunday 14 February 2027). The booking window for Mother's Day opens the week after Valentine's, so plan both at once; our Valentine's Day guide covers the dinner side.

Mother's Day in the United States is a different date: the second Sunday in May, which is 9 May 2027. Ireland follows the UK date.

When do families book Mother's Day lunch?

In the last three weeks, and half of it in the final week. Google Ads keyword data (November 2026) shows UK searches for "mothers day restaurant" reaching 9,900 in March 2026. Our analysis of Google Trends daily search interest for the same phrase (downloaded 5 November 2026), over the eight weeks up to and including each Mother's Day, shows the timing:

Method: we summed the daily index over the 56 days and took the share in each period. It is a lower-volume search: Trends reported zero on 37 of the 56 days in 2026, so read the table as a shape, not a precise split. A second phrase, "mothers day lunch", gave the same shape in 2026 (73% in the final 14 days).

For 2027, that gives a calendar:

Your regulars book before strangers search, so the first email often fills the best tables. Do it before the general rush.

How do I plan lunch sittings for family tables?

Run two lunch sittings and release tables in waves of about 20 covers, 15 minutes apart, so the kitchen never takes 60 starter orders at once. Family tables sit longer than couples, so give each first-sitting table 2 hours 15 minutes and a 15-minute reset.

A sittings plan for a 60-seat dining room:

Rules that make the plan hold on the day:

• Tables of 8 or more get 2 hours 30 minutes. Seat them in wave A of the first sitting and resell their table only to wave C of the second, or put them in wave C of the second sitting, where nobody is waiting.
• Plan every table join before you take a booking. A table of eleven is three tables pushed together. Mark the joins on the floor plan so online bookings cannot sell the parts separately.
• Cap party size online. Let guests book up to 8 online and send anything larger to a request, so you can place it before you accept it.
• Keep an early supper if you have the demand. A 17:00 sitting catches families who could not get lunch, but only if the kitchen can last that long.

How should I handle children and older guests?

Count every person at the table, including babies, because a high chair takes a place. Then plan the things that slow a family table down.

• High chairs set a hard limit. If you own six, you can seat six under-threes per sitting. Ask for high chairs at booking and stop when you run out.
• Children's menu. Two courses at a fixed price, served with the adults' starters, keeps young children settled. Decide in advance whether under-threes eating from their parents' plates pay, and put it in the terms.
• Buggies and prams. Keep the floor around family tables clear, and seat them where a buggy can park without blocking a fire route.
• Older guests. Step-free access, a chair with arms, a table near the toilets and away from the door all matter more than usual. Ask at booking.
• Allergies per person. Ask for each guest's allergies by name, not per table. Your allergen matrix tells the team which dishes are safe.
• Birthday cakes. If you charge for bringing a cake, say so in the booking terms, not on the day.

Booking questions to copy into your booking form or phone script:

MOTHER'S DAY BOOKING QUESTIONS

1. How many adults, and how many children? Ages of the children?
2. Will you need high chairs? How many?
3. Is anyone coming with a wheelchair, walking frame or buggy?
4. Does anyone need a chair with arms or step-free seating?
5. Any allergies or dietary needs? Which guest, and what?
6. Is it a special occasion we should know about?
7. Who is the organiser, and the best mobile on the day?

What should a Mother's Day set menu cost?

About what the same three courses cost on your normal menu, plus whatever you add for the day. Families can work out the à la carte total themselves, so a set price well above it needs a visible reason, such as a glass of fizz or a gift for each mother.

Our analysis of the Office for National Statistics CPI price quotes (March 2026 file, downloaded 5 November 2026) shows what UK venues charged in the month of the last Mothering Sunday:

Method: the median of every valid quote for each item, unweighted. ONS does not collect a starter or a children's meal. UK restaurant and cafe prices rose 4.5% in the year to September 2026 (ONS series D7EW), so a set lunch you sold at £36 last year needs about £37.62 to stand still.

The roast is the line to re-cost. In the same CPI data for the 12 months to September 2026, shop prices of lamb rose 5.8% and fresh vegetables 3.5%, while beef fell 0.7%, potatoes 1.3% and butter 6.2%. Shop prices are not your wholesale invoices, but if lamb is your Mothering Sunday roast, get the late February price before you print the menu.

Then cost one adult's menu and one child's menu, and check what a whole family table earns. A set lunch narrows the prep for the busiest Sunday of the spring and makes the 15-minute waves possible.

Worked example, with illustrative costs, for a restaurant whose normal starter, roast and dessert come to £35. A three-course set lunch at £38 including VAT, a two-course children's menu at £14, and a small gift for each mother at the table at £2.50.

A family table of seven, with five adults (two of them mothers) and two children:

That is £17.72 of margin per seat before drinks, on a table that turns once in each sitting. The set lunch is £3 above the à la carte total, and the gift and the fixed sitting are what the guest sees for it. Set your price from your own costs with the menu price calculator.

How do I take deposits for large family tables?

Scale the rule with the size of the table, because a missing table of ten costs far more than a missing table of two and is far harder to resell at short notice. Take deposits per adult, not per child, so a family is not paying in advance for a toddler's fish fingers.

How much to take, when to refund and how VAT applies are in our restaurant deposit policy guide. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 asks for terms that are fair and shown up front. For set-menu pre-orders, the process in our Christmas bookings guide works the same way in March.

Booking terms to copy, with the square brackets replaced:

MOTHER'S DAY LUNCH, SUNDAY 7 MARCH 2027

Set lunch. Three courses for [£38] per adult. Children's menu,
two courses, [£14] for under-[12]s. Under-[3]s eat free.

Your table. Lunch is served in two sittings. First-sitting
tables are needed back [2 hours 15 minutes] after the time on
your confirmation ([2 hours 30 minutes] for 8 or more guests).

Deposit. Tables of [6] or more pay [£X] per adult when booking,
taken off the bill on the day.

Numbers. Tell us your final numbers by [Thursday 4 March]. You
can reduce numbers free of charge until then; after that we keep
the deposit for any adult who does not come, unless we fill the
seat.

Children and access. Tell us how many high chairs you need and
about any wheelchairs or buggies, so we can seat you well.

Allergies. Tell us when you book, and again when you arrive.

If we cancel. We refund everything you have paid.

Should I sell gift cards for Mother's Day?

Yes, for the people who cannot come. Some of your regulars live too far away to take their mother out on the day, and a gift card lets them pay for a meal she books another time. Promote it in the same emails as the lunch, from the week after Valentine's. Our gift vouchers guide covers VAT, expiry and voucher terms.

Can TablePort handle this for you?

TablePort Reservations and Gift Cards cover most of this plan:

1. Deposits per shift. Set a deposit and cancellation terms for the Mother's Day lunch shift, collected through Stripe. Guests read the terms before they confirm.
2. Reminders. Guests get a confirmation and a reminder before they arrive.
3. Guest notes. Allergies and preferences sit on the guest and show on the booking, and your team can add a high chair or access note in a tap.
4. Gift cards. Guests buy a gift card from your website, it is emailed to the recipient, and it works in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet.

The limit: TablePort applies the terms you set. It cannot tell you whether a deposit amount is fair under consumer law. See reservations.