A gay couple in Maryland who invited hundreds of strangers on the internet to their wedding are planning their ceremony after a same-sex marriage bill came into effect in the US state on New Year’s Day.

Chris and Shawn Riley originally tied the knot in the state of Washington where gay marriage was already legal.

The couple then posted a message on social network Reddit ahead of a vote on a gay marriage bill in their home state of Maryland, inviting anyone who votes in favor of the law change to be guests at their wedding if the legislation is passed.

However, the post quickly went viral and hundreds of strangers have now accepted the invitation.

Speaking to the BBC, Chris said: ‘We’ve reached out to a whole larger, more broad audience that we wouldn’t have had necessarily. They can see that we are very real and that we live very normal lives.’

Shawn added that they are planning to hold the wedding on 13 April.

He added: ‘We still are expected Reddit users to come to our wedding and anybody else who has looked it up online.

‘We still want to show that our wedding will be just like anyone else’s.’

The couple added that they are excited to meet everyone who said they will be attending.