Jazmin Sagastiverza and Jean Franco Vergaray have an untraditional love story. That continued when the two got engaged and Sagastiverza began to go wedding dress shopping. The couple originally met in 2015 when Sagastivera went to a dance class with a different date and Vergaray was the one teaching it. She said they hit it off quickly and have been together ever since. They got engaged in September 2021 and were married on 1 April 2023. "We had a lot of little jokes on the invite [about the date]," Sagastiverza told Insider. "We were like, ‘And this is not an April fools’ joke, so if you’re coming, please RSVP. The wedding had around 50 guests in attendance as the pair wanted something “really intimate.” It was a destination wedding in Baja California, Mexico, at the Villa Santa Cruz. "We keep describing it as a beachy fever dream," Sagastiverza said. "It was just very, very chill." One aspect that wasn’t very chill was wedding dress shopping. Originally, Sagastiverza didn’t have an idea regarding what type of dress she wanted and remained open-minded by trying on everything. "I had so many different options," she said. “The only thing she was convinced couldn’t work was a slip dress because she didn’t think she was tall enough. “You have to be, like, 5’9,” she said. The situation improved after she had an appointment at Les Aimants, a New York-based bridal brand. This “bridal lab” allows brides to pick and choose specific pieces from various wedding dresses to be combined into one custom wedding dress in eight to 12 weeks. To ensure the dress fits the bride perfectly, its founder, Manon Martin uses 3-D rendering software in addition to 3-D body measuring to create renderings that allow brides to customise their dresses as they are made. Sagastiverza showed up at the Greenpoint, Brooklyn, studio after failed attempts looking in Manhattan. She sat down with Martin over a glass of champagne to figure out what type of dress she wanted. Martin suggested she partially customise her dress by taking the top and bottom from two different gowns. As skeptical as Sagastiverza was about trying on a slip dress, she trusted Martin’s opinion and it was almost perfect. The gown had spaghetti straps and a V-neckline with triangular detailing on the bodice with a simple skirt. But she still felt something was missing until Martin brought out a detachable train that had flowers embroidered on it which sealed the deal for her. The entire back of the dress was customized to become backless so the train sat at her waist. "I just felt like it was really tailored to me, which was the thing that set her apart from every other place that I went to," Sagastiverza said. Throughout the process, she was able to see what the dress looked like on a 3-D rendering of her body measurements to make sure she loved it. "I put it on, and I was like, ‘I feel so expensive,’" she said. "It’s crazy because you compare it to other places, and it was actually really affordable.” In total the dress cost approximately $2,700. Read More Rita Ora shares why she chose a see-through wedding dress: ‘It was meant to be’ Bride cuts and dyes her wedding dress purple for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Leigh-Anne Pinnock unveils the three wedding dresses she wore to marry Andre Gray in Jamaica

Wheat dropped for a third day to the lowest level since early June as grain exports continued from

Max Verstappen completed the most dominant season in Formula One history with victory in Abu Dhabi. After a 19th win in 22 races, the PA news agency looks at how the triple world champion compares to the sport’s all-time stars. Among the greats Verstappen’s third world championship win put him in elite company as only the 11th driver with a hat-trick of titles to his name. Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton share the record of seven crowns apiece, with Juan Manuel Fangio their nearest challenger on five. Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel won four apiece, with Verstappen alongside Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet Sr and Ayrton Senna on three. Only five drivers – Schumacher, Hamilton, Fangio, Vettel and now Verstappen – have won three in consecutive years. He has the chance next season to match all but Schumacher with a fourth straight title, the German having won five in succession from 2000 to 2004. Verstappen has also moved third all-time in terms of race wins. His 53rd, at the season’s penultimate race in Las Vegas, drew him alongside Vettel for that position and in only 184 races compared to the German’s 299. Abu Dhabi made it 54 out of 185 and means only Hamilton and Schumacher have won more races – Hamilton has 103 from 331 starts, despite now having gone two seasons without a win, while Schumacher finished with 91 in 306. Record breaker Verstappen set a notable record during the season with 10 consecutive race wins up to and including September’s Italian Grand Prix. That beat Vettel’s run of nine in a row in 2013, also with Red Bull, while Verstappen’s Abu Dhabi win in 2022’s final race and Sergio Perez’s early-season contributions ensured the team won a record 15 in succession. The Dutchman’s 19 wins broke his own single-season record of 15, set last year. Only 14 F1 seasons have even had 19 or more races in total. While the length of the season and the modern scoring system are both significant factors, his points tally of 575 is a huge record – again, his own 454 last season was the previous best. Unsurprisingly that brought with it a record winning margin, both outright (290 points) and by percentage with more than double the points of second-placed team-mate Perez (285). Verstappen also clinched the title with six grands prix remaining, equalling Schumacher’s record from 2002. His 86.4 per cent win rate was another record, shattering the 75 per cent mark set back in 1952 – F1’s third ever season – when Alberto Ascari won six of the eight races contested. He is the first driver to lead 1,000 or more laps in a season – smashing Vettel’s record of 739 in 2011 and equalling the combined total of McLaren’s dominant 1988 pairing of Senna and Prost. Verstappen was the only driver to complete every lap of this season, adding two second places and fifth in Singapore to his 19 wins.

Selling Sunset star Amanza Smith has shared an update after undergoing surgery to treat an infection that spread from her bloodstream to her spine. The interior designer, who works at the real estate company The Oppenheim Group, has revealed in a new interview how osteomyelitis, a painful bone infection, had affected her lower vertebrae. Smith, 46, discovered the infection after experiencing severe backache that lasted nearly a month. After she collapsed while at her Los Angeles home back in May, her friend encouraged her to visit the hospital. “I thought I had a backache, and I almost died,” Smith told People in the magazine’s latest issue. “The doctors and my friend saved my life.” Smith told the publication that she was given antibiotics to treat the infection but faced some complications. She underwent surgery on her lower spin to “clear the infection from the bones” but later found out that the osteomyelitis had affected another area at the front of her spine. “The risk was the antibiotics wouldn’t penetrate the bone, and my entire back could collapse,” she said. Smith had two surgeries to treat the osteomyelitis, which included having part of her spine replaced after it “deteriorated” as a result of the infection. The second operation lasted six hours, in which doctors inserted a titanium mesh cage in her back. She previously said: “Part of my spine has completely deteriorated due to the infection and I’ll be getting a new vertebrae and a couple of screws and rods in my spine to replace what has been eaten away from the bacteria.” In the new interview, she told People: “I am an iron woman, with rods and screws.” Smith returned home from hospital in early July, but her recovery period involves six months of antibiotics, physical therapy and “treading lightly on her feet”. “There are so many things I can’t do, because I can’t lift more than five pounds,” she told the publication. “Sometimes my purse is too heavy. You can’t speed up time, but I’m very anxious to be able to do the things that I love to do. I like to decorate. I like to rearrange. I want to be able to hang things, but I’m very limited right now.” Reflecting on her period in hospital, Smith said that she would never take her mobility “for granted” again. “When I can walk and jog again and do Pilates or ballet, I hope I stick to them because I plan on living to be 107,” she said. According to the NHS, osteomyelitis is a painful bone infection that usually goes away if treated early with antibiotics. However, it can cause serious long-term problems if not treated. Anyone can develop the infection, but a person may be more at risk if they have diabetes, a broken bone, a weakened immune system or recently had an infection or surgery. Smith joined Netflix’s hit reality show Selling Sunset in the second series in 2019. The show follows the drama surrounding employees at The Oppenheim Group, an elite real estate brokerage selling luxury properties in Los Angeles. Read More Queen’s service to inspire young writers in Commonwealth challenge High infidelity: why do people have affairs? Bride tries on mother’s wedding dress 30 years after parents’ wedding Revlon hits back at Selling Sunset star after she found makeup in her husband’s van Strictly’s Amy Dowden finding it ‘so hard’ as she shares hair loss update amid cancer How to help your teen with comparison culture on GCSE results day

Sitting on his yacht in January 2011, Jes Staley was taking time out from running one of the

A world facing catastrophic climate change is perilously off course in meeting goals for slashing carbon pollution and boosting finance for the developing world, according to the UN's first...

A new poll finds most U.S. adults oppose the deepest bans on abortion

In a Malaysian boutique, a small group of seamstresses sit at clattering sewing machines, stitching bright flowers and leaves into kebayas, traditional blouses worn...

A Spanish troupe of dwarf bullfighters have taken their act to France after their home country banned such shows on the grounds that they...

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 13, 2023--

Microsoft is ending its upgrade offer from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 or

New week, new day, new Wordle! As always, we're serving up our daily hints and