Joel Burger and Ashley King’s July nuptials will be one Whopper of a celebration now that Burger King has offered to pick up the tab.
The Illinois couple attracted international attention last weekend after their engagement announcement ran in local newspapers. For it, they bucked tradition by using his name first to say there will be a “Burger-King” wedding. The good-natured couple took the joke even farther by posing with a Burger King sign for their photo.
“We have yet to escape the teasing, but we have fully embraced our nickname,” Ashley told The State Journal-Record, explaining she and Joel were classmates since Kindergarten.
On Monday, a representative from Burger King surprised the Burger-Kings by telling the pair the company would like to pay for the wedding and even provide gifts.
“When we heard about the happy Burger-King couple, we felt an overwhelming urge to celebrate their upcoming marriage,” Burger King brand spokesman Eric Hirschhorn told The State Journal-Record. “On so many levels it felt like fate; they found each other and their story found us.”
The couple said they were initially blown away, but were more than happy to accept the offer. Burger King’s Eric said all they want in return “is that they live happily ever after.”
