22/09/2026
🌸 The History of Lily’s Florist & Gifting
Where it began
Lily’s Florist & Gifting grew from a passion for flowers, creativity and the desire to provide people with beautiful, meaningful products for life's important occasions.
What developed into much more than a traditional florist became a business built around one simple idea:
Make beautiful celebrations affordable, convenient and memorable.
Over time, Lily’s expanded beyond flowers into wedding items, gifting, traditional ceremony products, event décor, catering and complete event coordination.
Today, the business is associated with Kevin & Melissa Pather, with Melissa being a key contact for customers and the business's promotions.
💐 From flowers to celebrations
Flowers remain at the heart of Lily’s.
The business has developed a wide range of floral services, including:
Fresh flower bouquets
Bridal bouquets
Bridesmaid bouquets
Boutonnières/lapels
Wedding garlands
Funeral flowers
Upright floral arrangements
Table centrepieces
Rose petals
Marigold garlands
Door garlands/Torans
Ceremony flowers
Traditional lamp flowers
Custom floral arrangements
Lily’s has also catered to customers looking for specific colours, themes and cultural requirements, rather than simply selling standard bouquets.
That personalised approach became an important part of the business.
🌺 Entering the wedding market
One of the major areas of growth was wedding products and wedding packages.
Lily’s began offering affordable wedding essentials such as:
Wedding garlands
Bridal bouquets
Bridesmaid bouquets
Groomsmen lapels
Wedding beetlenut
Table favours
Bridal trays
Decorated coconuts
Sweet trays
Fruit trays
Chocolate trays
Traditional gifting items
Rose petals
This developed into the concept of Lily’s being a "one-stop shop" for affordable wedding items.
The idea was particularly aimed at couples who wanted a beautiful wedding while keeping an eye on their budget.
🪷 Supporting traditional ceremonies
Another important part of Lily’s identity has been its involvement in traditional and cultural ceremonies.
The business has offered products and décor for occasions including:
Hindu weddings
Tamil ceremonies
16-day ceremonies
Purtassi
Prayer functions
Hurdee
Nelengu
Coming-of-age ceremonies
Kavady/Chitraiparavum
Religious functions
Products such as marigold garlands, traditional coconuts, wedding beetlenut cones, lamp flowers and ceremony décor allowed Lily’s to become more than a florist—it became a supplier of elements that form part of important family traditions.
🎁 The gifting side
Lily’s also developed its gifting range.
This included handmade and customised products such as:
Wedding trays
Laser-cut trays
Organza-wrapped trays
Sweet cones
Beetlenut cones
Chevda cones
Cashous sweet cones
Egg sweets
Bottles filled with sweets
Hurdee/Nelangu gifting sets
Paan cones
Special occasion gifts
The focus has consistently been on presentation, affordability and customisation.
🎀 Growing into event décor
The next major step was moving from supplying individual items to helping customers create an entire event.
Lily’s began offering:
Décor + setup + venue + catering + flowers + equipment
for occasions such as:
Birthdays
Weddings
Engagements
Anniversaries
Baby showers
Gender reveals
Thanksgiving functions
Bangle ceremonies
Mendhi
Hurdee/Nelangu
Prayer functions
Graduations
Funeral décor
16-day ceremonies
Coming-of-age celebrations
This effectively transformed Lily’s from a florist and gifting business into an event solutions business.
🍽️ Adding catering
Food became another important part of the Lily’s offering.
The business developed complete function packages incorporating dishes such as:
Vegetarian breyani
Mutton breyani
Dhall
Salad
Soji
Sweets
Buffet service
Packages could also include:
Venue
Cutlery
Crockery
Buffet setup
Table setup
Red carpet
Centrepieces
Chair décor
Bottled water
Speakers and microphone
The philosophy behind the catering offering has been summed up in Lily’s promotional wording:
"Food cooked to perfection with an abundance in excess."
🌸 Becoming a complete event partner
The evolution of Lily’s can therefore be seen in several stages:
Florist → Wedding supplier → Gifting business → Décor provider → Caterer → Event coordinator → Complete event solutions
Rather than customers having to source flowers, décor, catering and function equipment from several different suppliers, Lily’s increasingly positioned itself as a place where many of those requirements could be handled together.
🌷 Lily's Today
Today, Lily’s Florist & Gifting represents a combination of:
🌸 Floristry
🎁 Gifting
💍 Weddings
🪷 Traditional ceremonies
🎀 Décor
🍽️ Catering
🏛️ Venues
🎉 Event coordination
The business has also promoted nationwide courier availability for selected floral products, extending its reach beyond the Durban area.
Its public positioning describes it as a Durban-based florist offering designer flowers, gifting, wedding favours, décor and catering.
The Lily’s philosophy
At the centre of the business is a commitment to:
Reliable Service
Affordable Pricing
Freshest Flowers
Tastiest Meals
Excellent Event Coordination
And perhaps the biggest part of the Lily’s story is that it has evolved from selling individual flowers and gifts into helping families create entire memories.
From a single bouquet to a wedding, from a small table favour to a complete function, Lily’s Florist & Gifting has grown around the idea of making celebrations beautiful, personal and affordable.
