Grandparents Day 2027 Is Sunday, September 12: A Photo Mug From the Grandkids, Planned Before the Week Of

Grandparents Day: Sunday, September 12, 2027

Order early: count back 7 business days from the day the gift should arrive, skipping Labor Day, Monday, September 6 (how we count).

Send this gift

We sell a $35 personalized mug gift box, printed, packed and shipped to each person's address. This guide covers the other options too.

Key facts

• The date, by law: the President is requested to proclaim "the first Sunday in September after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day" (36 U.S.C. §125). Labor Day 2027 is Monday, September 6 (OPM), so the day is Sunday, September 12.
• In federal law since 1979. §125's source is Pub. L. 96–62 of September 6, 1979 (Cornell LII's notes to §125). The first one came a year earlier: President Carter's Proclamation 4580 did "hereby designate Sunday, September 10, 1978, as 'National Grandparents Day'" (The American Presidency Project).
• The week-of search trap. In five years of US Google Trends data, searches for "grandparents day" peaked in the week of the day itself every year, and a median 29% came two or more weeks before it (our timing study).
• Distance is common. In AARP's survey of 2,654 grandparents, fielded in 2018, "Over half have at least one grandchild who lives more than 200 miles away" (AARP).
• Early September is still warm for chocolate. Ghirardelli says "only some locations are eligible for Standard Shipping during the months of Mid-April to Mid-November" (Ghirardelli).

When is Grandparents Day?

The first Sunday after Labor Day, so it moves with Labor Day:

Sources: 36 U.S.C. §125 for the rule; OPM for Labor Day 2027; 2028 is computed from the same rule.

It's a national observance, not a federal holiday. The federal holiday that matters for shipping is Labor Day, six days earlier: business days are Monday to Friday, without federal holidays, so the week before Grandparents Day 2027 has four of them.

The week-of search trap

Grandparents Day sneaks up. In our study of US Google Trends data from 2021 to 2026, a median 52% of the 8-week run-up's searches for "grandparents day" came in the final week, and the peak landed in the week that starts on the day itself in all five years (timing study).

That week is too late for anything printed and shipped. A Personalized Gifts Delivered box needs about 7 business days: up to 2 to ship and up to 5 in transit, at the slow end of the carrier's estimate. With Labor Day in the way, the order goes in during August: before the final week, when more than half of the run-up's searches happen, and before the peak week. Put it on the calendar now.

What do you send grandparents for Grandparents Day?

Something with the grandkids in it, that they'll see every day. Three ideas that travel well (our suggestions):

AARP's 2026 study, a survey of 3,283 grandparents fielded in late 2025, shows how much of the connection already runs through screens: "Three-quarters of grandparents (76%) say electronic technology like texting and video calls, social media, photo apps, email, and group chats are a primary way they stay connected" (AARP). A video call ends; a mug stays on the counter.

Which photo prints well. A photo or design on a Personalized Gifts Delivered mug prints up to about 3 in tall, on one side or both sides of an 11 oz white ceramic mug. Crop close to one to three faces, taken in daylight, from the original file; the order page warns when a photo is under about 600 pixels tall (upright) or 700 wide (wide). A drawing on white paper, scanned, prints on the mug's own white. More on photos: long-distance grandparents photo mug and the photo mug guide. For the spring dates, see Mother's Day and Father's Day photo mugs.

What the grandkids can write

Short, in the kids' voice, with something only they would say. Each line below is under 300 characters, with no sign-off (the sign-off is its own field on a Personalized Gifts Delivered order, so "Love, Maya and Theo" goes there).

Happy Grandparents Day! We put our faces on your mug so you can have breakfast with us every morning.

Happy Grandparents Day! Maya lost her first tooth and Theo can ride a bike now. Come see!

For your morning coffee and our Sunday calls. Happy Grandparents Day. We love you to the moon.

Happy Grandparents Day! The cocoa is for a cozy night, and the mug is so you never forget what we look like (we're growing fast).

Early September and chocolate

Our box holds chocolate truffles, and Grandparents Day falls inside Ghirardelli's warm-weather window ("Mid-April to Mid-November"). Lake Champlain Chocolates says "exposure to heat and humidity can cause the chocolate to bloom or melt" (Lake Champlain Chocolates). Grandparents who are home during the day, and can bring a box inside, are the easy case.

What sending it yourself takes

Yes: a parent can put a photo mug gift together at home. For one gift, the printed mug and counter postage alone cost $28.46 (the itemized DIY cost, as of Oct 29, 2026), before the cocoa, the chocolate, a gift box, tissue and a card, each bought separately, plus the packing. A mug packed without a collar can break at the handle and has to be bought, packed and shipped again.

For scale, by our estimate 25 mug gift boxes take about 9 hours of hands-on work, plus a week or more waiting for supplies to arrive. Priced from retail supply packs, they come to about $38 a box with USPS counter postage (about $34 with commercial postage), with $1,192.84 paid up front, with leftovers (DIY vs ordering). Per box, about even with our $35, before your time.

What to know before you order

• The seal. Today the gold seal sticker that closes the tissue reads "Happy Holidays", the only seal in stock; the order page names the seal in stock when you order. The kids' card, read first on the lid, says "Happy Grandparents Day".
• The treats. LINDOR truffles contain milk, soy and barley malt (gluten); read the labels.
• One design per order. Every mug in an order carries the same photo, and every card the same message and sign-off, greeting each person by first name. Both sets of grandparents can share one order.
• Where we ship. From New York to the lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas for now. P.O. boxes are fine; no Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, other US territories, APO/FPO or international addresses.
• No set delivery day. There's no way to pick a ship date or a delivery day: each box ships within 2 business days of a complete order, so the date you order is the date you choose.

Where Personalized Gifts Delivered fits: grandparents far away

For grandparents who live a drive or a flight away, Grandparents Day is a box at their door with the grandkids' faces on it and the kids' words on top, with nothing for them to set up. Personalized Gifts Delivered does the work in between:

• The grandkids on the mug: your photo or the kids' drawing, printed up to about 3 in tall on an 11 oz white ceramic mug, on one side or both. You see it in the preview before you pay.
• Something warm inside: a 1.5 oz packet of Ghirardelli premium hot cocoa and 4 Lindt LINDOR milk chocolate truffles.
• The kids' card on top: printed on a textured card in an envelope closed with a gold wax-seal sticker, lying on the lid so it's read first.
• Packed and shipped: by hand, in foam, in a matte-black gift box with a magnetic lid, inside a plain white carton whose return address shows PersonalizedGiftsDelivered.com, to each set of grandparents from one list.

Choose a personal gift, add your photo or type your words, check the preview of your mug and card, add the address (or a list of addresses), and pay $35 per box. We print, pack and ship each box to its own address.

Ships within 2 business days of a complete order (your design, your address list and payment). Ships by USPS Ground Advantage or UPS Ground, with tracking, and usually arrives 2–5 business days after it ships. Delivery dates are carrier estimates, not guarantees, and run slower in mid-December.

$35 per box, delivered: the personalized photo mug gift box, shipped to their door. Ready? Start a personal order.