Chicago, April 8 (IANS): US company Burger King will pay the wedding expenses for a young Illinois couple named Joel Burger and Ashley King, whose children will carry forward in their last names the "lineage" of the multinational fast-food chain, media reported.

Burger, 24, and King, 23, accepted the offer of the Miami-based fast-food chain to sponsor their wedding on July 17 in Jacksonville, Illinois, according to Efe news agency.

The couple, who have lived their whole life in the village of New Berlin, which has slightly more than 1,000 inhabitants and is located near the state capital of Springfield, got a surprise Skype call on Monday from the multinational's New York office.

The company spokesman on the Skype call offered to pay their wedding expenses and buy gifts for the occasion after learning that their engagement has been announced with a photo of the couple that included the restaurant chain's logo.

The lovers were speechless and "blown away" by the offer, Joel told the daily State Journal-Register, which was the first to report this love story.

The two have known each other since high school and their betrothal went viral on social networks, with international best wishes bouncing back from as far away as England and Australia.

"When we heard about the happy, Burger-King couple, we felt an overwhelming urge to celebrate their upcoming marriage," the Burger King spokesman said. "On so many levels it felt like fate; they found each other and their story found us."