( CNN ) Fast-food outlet Burger King will sponsor the wedding of an Illinois couple . Not just any couple -- these are the nuptials of Joel Burger and Ashley King . They accepted the restaurant chain 's offer to pay for their July affair on Monday . `` We are very appreciative of Burger King and ca n't thank them enough for their generosity ! '' said King . It all started after their engagement in October . The couple had a little fun with the name coincidence and posed by a Burger King restaurant sign for a photo . They were interviewed by reporter Dave Bakke of the State Journal-Register in Springfield , the state capital . Burger King got wind of the article and was immediately interested in the happy couple , tweeting for help to locate them . They were invited on Skype on Monday to learn of a surprise : Burger King will pay for their whole wedding . `` We were shocked ( and still are ) , '' said King . The fast food romance was many years in the making . Burger , now 24 , and King , 23 , met in kindergarten and grew up together in New Berlin . In fifth grade , classmates Joel Burger and Ashley King were asked to stand as student council representatives during an assembly with a motivational speaker . `` He said our names to the school , '' King told CNN , `` and then laughed and pronounced that together we were Burger King . '' The motivational speaker was n't too far off -- a merger was in the works . The two became friends by high school , then dated in college . When the time came to propose , `` Joel took me out on his boat to go fishing , and he popped the question while we were on the water . '' Burger King 's message for the happy couple : `` Congratulations , Joel and Ashley on falling in love your way . ''
Joel Burger and Ashley King have been engaged since October . The couple are expecting their first child in the spring of 2014.