03 Apr 2022
On This Day
3 April 2022 Cheryl

3 April 1920: F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre marry

F Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald

Alcohol was a staple part of the Fitzgeralds’ social life but their gin-and-fruit-fueled nights led to a lot of fights as Zelda accused Scott of following the path of his alcoholic father. As their fights increased, their intensity escalated quickly and the couple started accusing each other of infidelities. Both of them believed their marriage wouldn’t last long. [1]

On 3 April 1920, exactly one week after F. Scott Fitzgerald’s debut novel, This Side of Paradise, was published, he and Zelda Sayre exchanged wedding vows in an intimate ceremony at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

None of their parents were present, and there were just eight guests. The couple exchanged traditional vows and rings, and then were pronounced husband and wife. The bride wore a midnight blue suit trimmed with leather ribbons and buckles and a matching hat. She carried a bouquet of orchids and dainty white flowers. As a wedding present, F. Scott used the money from his book publication to present his bride with a gem-set Cartier watch. The wedding was widely covered by the media.

It was a brilliantly sunny day when the couple stepped outside the cathedral, and Zelda looked for all the world like a young goddess of spring, with Scott at her side as consort. The newlyweds honeymooned at the Biltmore Hotel in New York, racking up noise complaints and wreaking havoc wherever they went.

Fitzgerald later claimed that when they married, neither he nor Zelda still loved each other, and the early years of their marriage proved to be a disappointment. But despite the cooling of their affections the couple’s glamorous and extravagant lifestyle soon became the talk of the town.

Fitzgerald’s relationship with Zelda served as a major inspiration for much of his writing, including his most famous work, The Great Gatsby. Their turbulent love story has captured the imagination of readers and scholars for generations, cementing their place as one of the most iconic literary couples of the 20th century.