Looking for some wedding reading inspiration from your favorite musicals? I have compiled a list of wedding readings that you’ll love!
You could either have your friends and family read them during your wedding ceremony, or maybe you know a talented musician who could actually sing something or play something from your favorite musical during the ceremony!
Don’t limit yourselves or feel that you have to follow a particular wedding script. Do what feels right for you and your partner. If you love musicals, find a way to incorporate them into your wedding readings or vows.
Below you’ll find romantic wedding reading excerpts from musicals — both movies and plays. I hope that this list can inspire you 🙂
You may also enjoy: 30 Wedding Readings from Song Lyrics
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
“All I do is dream of you the whole night through; with the dawn I still go on, dreaming of you. You’re every thought, you’re everything, you’re every song I ever sing; summer, winter, autumn and spring. And were there more than twenty four hours a day; they’d be spent in sweet content dreaming away; when skies are grey, when skies are blue; morning, noon and night time too; all I do the whole day through is dream of you.”
— The Coconut Grove Girls
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
“Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. And then, one not-so-very special day, I went to my typewriter, I sat down, and I wrote our story. A story about a time, a story about a place, a story about the people. But above all things, a story about love. A love that will live forever. The End.
The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”
— Christian
Dear Evan Hansen (2015)
From Only Us
I don’t need you to sell me on reasons to want you
I don’t need you to search for the proof that I should
You don’t have to convince me
You don’t have to be scared you’re not enough
‘Cause what we’ve got going is good
I don’t need more reminders of all that’s been broken
I don’t need you to fix what I’d rather forget
Clear the slate and start over
Try to quiet the noises in your head
We can’t compete with all that
So what if it’s us?
What if it’s us
And only us
And what came before won’t count anymore or matter?
Can we try that?
What if it’s you
And what if it’s me
And what if that’s all that we need it to be
And the rest of the world falls away?
What do you say?
An American In Paris (1951)
“Paris? No, not this city. It’s too real and too beautiful. It never lets you forget anything. It reaches in and opens you wide, and you stay that way. I know. I came to Paris to study and to paint because Utrillo did, and Lautrec did, and Roualt did. I loved what they created, and I thought something would happen to me, too. Well, it happened all right. Now what have I got left? Paris. Maybe that’s enough for some but it isn’t for me anymore because the more beautiful everything is, the more it will hurt without you.”
— Jerry
Hadestown (2016)
From All I’ve Ever Known
I was alone so long
I didn’t even know that I was lonely
Out in the cold so long
I didn’t even know that I was cold
Turned my collar to the wind
This is how it’s always been
All I’ve ever known is how to hold my own
All I’ve ever known is how to hold my own
But now I wanna hold you, too
You take me in your arms
And suddenly there’s sunlight all around me
Everything bright and warm
And shining like it never did before
And for a moment I forget
Just how dark and cold it gets
All I’ve ever known is how to hold my own
All I’ve ever known is how to hold my own
But now I wanna hold you
Now I wanna hold you
Hold you close
I don’t ever wanna have to let you go
Now I wanna hold you, hold you tight
I don’t wanna go back to the lonely life
I don’t know how or why
Or who am I that I should get to hold you?
But when I saw you all alone against
The skies like I’d known you all along
I knew you before we met
And I don’t even know you yet
All I know is you’re someone I have always known
Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
(Perchik and Hodel have announced their engagement) “He loves her. Love, it’s a new style… On the other hand, our old ways were once new, weren’t they?… On the other hand, they decided without parents, without a matchmaker!… On the other hand, did Adam and Eve have a matchmaker?… Well, yes, they did. And it seems these two have the same Matchmaker!”
— Tevye
Next to Normal (2008)
From Light
We need some light
First of all, we need some light
You can’t sit here in the dark
And all alone, it’s a sorry sight
It’s just you and me
We’ll live, you’ll see
Night after night
We’d sit and wait for the morning light
But we’ve waited far too long
For all that’s wrong to be made right
Day after day
Wishing all our cares away
Trying to fight the things we feel
But some hurts never heal
Some ghosts are never gone
But we go on
We still go on
And you find some way to survive
And you find out you don’t have to be happy at all
To be happy you’re alive
Oklahoma! (1943)
From People Will Say We’re in Love
Why do they think up stories that link my name with yours?
Why do the neighbors chatter all day, behind their doors?
I know a way to prove what they say is quite untrue.
Here is the gist, a practical list of “donts” for you.Don’t throw bouquets at me
Don’t please my folks too much
Don’t laugh at my jokes too much
People will say we’re in love!Don’t sigh and gaze at me
Your sighs are so like mine
Your eyes mustn’t glow like mine
People will say we’re in love!Don’t start collecting things
Give me my rose and my glove.
Sweetheart they’re suspecting things
People will say we’re in love.Don’t praise my charm too much
Don’t look so vain with me
Don’t stand in the rain with me
People will say we’re in love!Don’t take my arm too much
Don’t keep your hand in mine
Your hand feels so grand in mine
People will say we’re in love!Don’t dance all night with me
Till the stars fade from above.
They’ll see it’s alright with me
People will say we’re in love.
Rent (1994)
From Without You
Without you, the ground thaws
The rain falls, the grass grows
Without you, the seeds root
The flowers bloom, the children play
The stars gleam, the poets dream
The eagles fly, without you
The earth turns, the sun burns
But I die, without you
Without you, the breeze warms
The girl smiles, the cloud moves
Without you, the tides change
The boys run, the oceans crash
The crowds roar, the days soar
The babies cry, without you
The moon glows, the river flows
But I die, without you
The world revives, colors renew
But I know blue, only blue
Lonely blue, within me blue
Without you
Without you, the hand gropes
The ear hears, the pulse beats
Without you, the eyes gaze
The the legs walk, the lungs breathe
The mind churns, the heart yearns
The tears dry, without you
Life goes on, but I’m gone
‘Cause I die without you
Without you, without you
Without you
My Fair Lady (1964)
“It was very difficult. I should never have known how ladies and gentlemen really behaved, if it hadn’t been for Colonel Pickering. He always showed what he thought and felt about me as if I were something better than a common flower girl. You see, Mrs. Higgins, apart from the things one can pick up, the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated. I shall always be a common flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me like a common flower girl, and always will. But I know that I shall always be a lady to Colonel Pickering, because he always treats me like a lady, and always will.”
— Eliza Doolittle
Kiss Me, Kate (1953)
From So in Love
Strange, dear
But true, dear
When I’m close to you, dear
The stars fill the sky
So in love with you am I
Even without you
My arms fold about you
You know, darling, why
So in love with you am I
In love with the night mysterious
The night when you first were there
In love with my joy, delirious
When I knew that you could care
So taunt me
And hurt me
Deceive me, desert me
I’m yours ’til I die
So in love
So in love
So in love with you my love
Am I
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
“Think of me, think of me waking, silent and resigned. Imagine me, trying too hard to put you from my mind. Recall those days, look back on all those times, think of the things we’ll never do – there will never be a day, when I won’t think of you.”
— Christine
“Say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime. Let me lead you from your solitude. Say you need me with you, here beside you. Anywhere you go, let me go too.”
— The Phantom of the Opera
The Wiz (1978)
“When I think of home, I think of a place where there’s love overflowing. I wish I was home, I wish I was back there with the things I been knowing. Wind that makes the tall trees bend into leaning. Suddenly, the snowflakes that fall have a meaning. Sprinkling the scene, makes it all clean. Maybe there’s a chance for me to go back, now that I have some direction. It would sure be nice to be back home where there’s love and affection. And just maybe I can convince time to slow up, giving me enough time in my life to grow up. Time, be my friend, let me start again. Suddenly my world’s gone and changed its face, but I still know where I’m going. I have had my mind spun around in space, and yet I’ve watched it growing. And if you’re listening, God, please don’t make it hard to know if we should believe in the things that we see. Tell us, should we run away, should we try and stay, or would it be better just to let things be? Living here, in this brand new world might be a fantasy, but it taught me to love, so it’s real, real to me. And I’ve learned that we must look inside our hearts to find a world full of love, like yours, like mine. Like home!”
— Dorothy
Camelot (1967)
“Proposition. If I could choose from every woman who breathes on this earth, the face I would most love, the smile, the touch, the heart, the voice, the laugh, the soul, itself, every detail and feature to the last strand of the hair, they would all be Ginny’s.”
— King Arthur
Peter Pan (1960)
“Some say that as we grow up, we become different people at different ages, but I don’t believe this. I think we remain the same throughout, merely passing in these years from one room, to another, but always in the same house. If we unlock the rooms of the far past, we can look in and see ourselves beginning to become you and me.”
Hairspray (2007)
“Ever since we first saw the sun, a man and woman liked to shake it when the day is done. And so we’re gonna shake and shimmy it and have some fun today. Cause you can’t stop the motion of the ocean or the rain from above. They can try to stop the paradise that we’re dreamin’ of, but you’ll never stop the rhythm of two hearts in love to stay. Cause you can’t stop the beat.”
— Ensemble
Spring Awakening (2006)
Those you’ve known and lost still walk behind you
All alone, they linger till they find you
Without them, the world grows dark around you
And nothing is the same until you know that they have found you
Those you’ve pained may carry that still with them
All the same, they whisper “all forgiven”
Still your heart says their shadows bring the starlight
And everything you’ve ever been is still there in the dark night
Though you know you’ve left them far behind/And the northern wind blows
You walk on by yourself and not with them/The sorrows, your heart goes
Still you know they fill your heart and mind/There are those who still know
When you say there’s a way through this/They’re still home, we’re still home
Those you’ve known and lost still walk behind you
All alone, their song still seems to find you
They call you, as if you knew their longing
They whistle through the lonely wind, the long blue shadows falling
All alone, but still I hear their yearning
Through the dark, the moon alone there burning
The stars, too, they tell of spring returning
And summer with another wind that no one yet has known
Though you know there’s so much more to find
Another dream, another love you’ll hold
Still you know to trust your own true mind
And on your way, I’m not alone
They call me, through all things
Night’s falling, but somehow on I go
You watch me, just watch me
I’m calling, through longing
The northern wind blows
The sorrows, your heart’s known
I believe
They’re still home, we’re still home
Vanara The Musical (2019)
From the song Whisper a Prayer to the Moon
My darling, my darling
So crazy, so charming
It’s just that it happened too soon
But I send you my wishes
My hugs and my kisses
And whisper a prayer to the moon
My sweet tempered angel
I wish I were able
To heal all the hurt with a tune
And if I had the powers
I would give you the stars
The sun and the light of the moon
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
From Johanna
I feel you Johanna
I feel you
I was half convinced I’d waken
Satisfied enough to dream you
Happily I was mistaken Johanna
I’ll steal you Johanna
I’ll steal you
Do they think that walls can hide you?
Even now I’m at your window?
I am in the dark beside you
Buried sweetly in your yellow hair
I feel you Johanna
I feel you
And one day I’ll steal you
‘Til i’m with you then, i’m with you there
Sweetly buried in your yellow hair
Waitress (2015)
From When He Sees Me
What if when he sees me
I like him and he knows it?
What if he opens up a door
And I can’t close it? (What if a door is opened?)
What happens then? (What happens then?)
If when he holds me (when)
My heart is set in motion (he)
I’m not prepared for that (holds)
I’m scared of breaking open (me)
But still I can’t help from hoping (but I can’t help)
To find someone to talk to
Who likes the way I am
Someone who when he sees me
Wants to again
That’s it! I hope you see a wedding reading from a musical that you like! If you weren’t able to find the perfect wedding reading, check out some of my other wedding reading collections (below):
