Pam Black began her career as an author with the publication in 1985 of the best-selling book The A-Z of Factory Shops in the Western Cape (13th edition available now). She has also written – and published – several other successful books, among them The Really Useful WEDDING BOOK for South Africa, Senior Citizens’ Money Saver, Everybody’s Money-Saver, Let’s Celebrate, a guide to weddings and other special occasions, and How to Survive the School Holidays.
In 1996, Pam launched the innovative Celebration House, a unique resource centre which offered free information and advice to anyone planning functions of every kind, from weddings to conferences. This led to the establishment of the highly regarded website, www.celebrationhouse.co.za which provided a wealth of advice and information to anyone planning a special celebration and which was runner-up in the on-line category of SA Tourism’s 2009 Welcome Awards.
In 1997 Pam was one of the organizers of Cape Town’s first Wedding Fair, held in the gardens of Little Stream in Constantia. Since then Pam has been actively involved in organizing wedding shows in Cape Town and is the organiser of the annual Cape Town Wedding Festival, which has become the Cape’s most prestigious showcase for the functions industry – www.capetownweddingfestival.co.za
Since 2002 Pam has been actively involved in promoting South Africa as a wedding destination at The National Wedding Show in London where the informative booklet Under African Skies – a guide to weddings and honeymoons in South Africa (published by Pam Black Publications) is distributed. www.underasfricanskiesmagazine.co.za
In addition, she has written articles on various topics for newspapers such as The Sunday Times and for iafrica.com, and has been a guest on Cape Talk 567. Since 2004, Pam has become well known for the column on wedding planning tips that she writes each month in the Die Burger Leefstyl supplement.
Concerned by the number of fly-by-nights entering the wedding industry, in 2008 Pam formed The Wedding and Honeymoon Association of South Africa (WAHASA) whose aim is to encourages the highest standards in the industry – www.wahasa.co.za
Below is a list of Pam’s publications and associated activities:
- The Really Useful WEDDING BOOK for South Africa (1st edition, 2007) (used as a set-work book by Damelin and many other colleges)
- Under African Skies – a guide to weddings and honeymoons in South Africa (2002 – 2008)
- The A-Z of Factory Shops in the Western Cape – 13 editions
- Senior Citizens’ Money-Saver – 3 editions (Old Mutual bought 50 000 copies). Best-selling non-fiction book in South Africa in 1988
- Everybody’s Money Saver – 2 editions (in association with Pick ‘n Pay)
- How to Survive the School Holidays
- Let’s Celebrate – a Guide to Weddings & Other Special Occasions
- Pam Black’s Gift Book
- Where is that Recipe?
- The Factory Shopper Newsletter
- Factory shop tours – introducing visitors and others to the delights of factory shopping in Cape Town
- Factory shop talks – numerous talks given to ladies’ groups over the years
- Guest on Cape Talk 567 for 2 years on Saturday mornings
- Published The A-Z of Factory Shops in Natal
- The Savvy Shopper column in SA CityLife Magazine
- Monthly column on wedding planning tips for Die Burger newspaper
- Monthly column on wedding planning tips for iafrica.com
- Articles for Fairlady Bride and Sarie Bruid
- Couple of the Year Competition – in association with Fairlady Bride and Sarie Bruid (2005).
- The UK Wedding Show – Wembley, London (2002)
- The National Wedding Show – Earls Court, London (2004-2009) and Olympia, London (2003)
- 0861 PAM BLACK – first wedding call centre
- The Cape Town Wedding Festival held at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town (2004-2011)
- Foschini Group Club Magazine Win-a-Wedding Competition (Cape Town 2003-2005, Johannesburg 2005)
- The Cape Town Wedding Show held at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town (2003)
- The Wedding Fair and Wedding, Conference & Events Expo (1997-2002) Constantia
- Annual Bridal Expo and other promotions at Cavendish Square Shopping Centre (1999-2002)
- The first Internet-based Win-a-Wedding Competition, with M-Web in 2000/2001 – 3 x R100 000 weddings (1 in Johannesburg, 1 in Durban and 1 in Cape Town) as prizes.
- Win-a-5-Star-Wedding Competition with iafrica.com in 2001/2002 – 3 x R100 000 weddings as prizes.
- Regular ‘Planning Your Wedding’ talks at Celebration House
- The Celebration House website (www.celebrationhouse.co.za)
- Under African Skies – complimentary magazine / CD – handed out in the UK
- Couple of the Year Competition – in association with Fairlady Bride and Sarie Bruid (2005).
