F. Scott Fitzgerald married Zelda Sayre in 1920. They wed on April 3, 1920, in a small ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, shortly after the publication of Fitzgerald’s first novel, This Side of Paradise.
The couple had met in 1918 while Fitzgerald was stationed near Montgomery, Alabama, during World War I. Zelda initially hesitated to marry him because he had not yet established financial security. When Scribner’s published This Side of Paradise on March 26, 1920, its immediate success helped convince Zelda that Fitzgerald could support the life she wanted.
Their marriage quickly became one of the most publicized relationships of the Jazz Age. They were celebrated for their parties and glamorous image, but their private life was marked by financial strain, heavy drinking, marital conflict, and Zelda’s deteriorating mental health. They had one child, Frances Scott “Scottie” Fitzgerald, born in 1921. The marriage year is sometimes confused with their engagement in 1919 or the birth of their daughter in 1921.