An Insightful Interview with Tommaso Corsini on Weddings and Events in Tuscany
Since he was a child, Tommaso Corsini, an Italian Entrepreneur, Event Manager and Producer, always possessed a natural predisposition to the hospitality and events industry. Having covered almost every role in the field of event planning and management, his experience and capabilities span a wide range of activities including managing the stunning Florentine Villa Corsini a Mezzomonte.
Along with his brother Lorenzo, Tommaso created a holding company that manages a few different businesses in the event industry in Italy. He also sits on the Board of few organizations that promote economic and tourism development in Tuscany. Tommaso is also a gourmet and an amateur photographer, lover of opera and an avid wine collector!
Arabia Weddings sat down with Tommaso in Florence to shed light on his fascinating wedding venue and wedding planning services, and the international role that Tuscany is playing to attract more destination weddings.
How and when did you start in wedding planning through Corsini Events Group?
I started to organize events when I was really young. When I was 7 years old, one of my favorite games was to help the waiters set tables at the weddings we used to host in our family estate, Villa Corsini a Mezzomonte.
Then during my teenage years I started with any kind of role on the operational side of the events industry in order to earn my pocket money. When I turned 21, I started to manage our family estate and in 2014, when I was 24, I decided to create our own events production firm, Corsini Events Group.
On 1 April 2015, the company was officially introduced into the market, and we haven't stopped growing since!
Why have you chosen the career of event producer?
I think that when you have a real passion you do not have only one specific reason to do it. Thinking about it carefully, I feel that one of my greatest satisfactions is to realize unusual situations, to turn the impossible into reality. To analyze the wishes of a client and design exactly what they envisioned is something that makes me able to work forever…. Seriously!
One of my biggest dreams would be to be able to work without thinking about the financial side, though unfortunately this is not possible! In any case, I can certainly say that every time I hear that sincere "Thank you" from our clients, my heart feels very full. That, I think, is the main reason that pushes me to do what we do!
Why do you think Florence should be a destination of choice for weddings in Italy?
Florence and Tuscany are some of the most popular destinations in the world for the wedding industry. The region started to develop this industry already in the 90s, because of the many foreigners that wanted to celebrate their private events in their country estates in the region. It was a new market at that time and began to be very popular especially for people from England, Germany and the US.
Read: Why Tuscany is The Best Wedding Destination in Italy
Then the trend expanded all over the world, and in 2018 Tuscany was the most researched destination in the world after Hawaii. The diversity in the different landscapes you can find around the region is unique in the world; from the most beautiful cultural cities like Florence, Siena or Lucca, to the amazing countryside of the Chianti Region, the Val D’Orcia, Montalcino, or also all the seaside areas and the islands.
Tuscany also offers a high number of very professional local agencies and vendors, catering companies, as well as, entertainment, flower designers, transport and, in general, the supply chain is so well developed in the region that any couple can find exactly the kind of service they are looking for. Still, Tuscany's most important quality is that we are historically used to hosting and dreaming! The beauty and the cultural heritage is so strong that more than anything we want our clients to enjoy their special events here in our region.
You own and manage one of the most popular wedding venues in Florence, what has made Villa Corsini a sought after wedding venue by clients from around the world?
Villa Corsini a Mezzomonte is the last Medici villa still owned by the family that bought it directly from the Medici family (the famous rulers of the region during the Renaissance).
The Villa was created to host receptions, and my ancestors bought it in 1644. This house has the most frescoes out of all the Florentine renaissance buildings, and logistically, due to its location, architecture and facilities, hosting events with very large numbers and big installations and decorations is quite easy.
Villa Corsini has hosted many private events since 1966, and the family has developed a know-how in the job that provides each client with a professional team of Event Managers by Corsini Events Group. It must be clear as well, that Corsini Events do not only work at the Villa, but execute events all over Italy.
The fact that we have done so many events for couples from all over the world made us very responsive to all sorts of needs for clientele coming from completely different cultures. Our goal is to realize the dream wedding of our clients and their guests. Even our motto is "Dream Seriously, Think Carefully, Act Bravely!".
You have recently organised the 4th edition of Tuscany's Wedding Industry Meeting in Siena, how do you evaluate this edition?
Since 2016, we have supported the development and the study of the wedding and destination wedding market in Tuscany. Not everybody knows that this market actually moves over 1.5 billion Euros only in Tuscany, all distributed between small and medium sized companies.
The Wedding Industry Meeting is an occasion for the most important companies in the wedding industry to get together to exchange information, foster new collaborations and define the strategy of the destination for the upcoming seasons. In the last edition of WIM, we hosted over 120 companies who had the occasion to meet face-to-face to define their strategy, particularly after 2 years of the pandemic.
I really believe that a market that communicates and collaborates from the inside can be more efficient for its clientele. Therefore, Corsini Events invests time and resources in order to make this event happen. We really hope to make the market more professional and, therefore, more capable in answering the needs of clients coming from all over the world.
What plans do you have to further develop your business and Tuscany's wedding industry?
This is a very good question. I think that maintaining the already productive capacity of the market after 2 years of Covid was a good challenge. Now, because of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the challenge is even more difficult because the Russian clientele will have issues when visiting Europe. Still, the wedding season for both 2022 and 2023 looks incredible, and the response of the clientele after 2 years of pandemic, seems to be really wanting to celebrate and have good times. I personally will do the same!
I’m very confident in the future and I believe that Tuscany still has a lot to give in terms of experience and beauty to all kinds of events. The goal of Corsini Events for the next 3 years will be to maintain its leadership position in the market by serving private and corporate clients all over Italy with the same passion that has always distinguished us.
This season we are going to have 14 people in our company, becoming the biggest agency for private events in Tuscany. Our average age is 31 because I always want to invest in young people like myself. We all believe very much in what we do and we are all very convinced that only by working with passion and precision will we be able to achieve results that we only used to dream of!
Last year the Florentine Chamber of Commerce awarded us with the prize "Labor of Florence" as one of the best young companies in the region. Our goal now is to be able to answer all the expectations that the market and our clients have starting with doing our job seriously, carefully and bravely. And I think we already have very good results!
