PROVINCETOWN, Mass. (AP) – At the Nut House confectionary, owner Kim Leonard is working on a new line of his-and-his and her-and-hers figurines for wedding cake tops and chocolate table favors engraved with gay symbols.

At the nearby Post Office Cafe, manager David “Dixie” Federico has applied to become a minister – of the online variety – so he can pronounce men husband-and-husband and women bride-and-bride.

And David Schermacher’s party-planning business has already signed up to do twice as many weddings this summer as it did in all of last year.

This seaside town is usually deserted this time of year, the lull before a busy spring turns into a bustling summer. But on the cusp of same-sex marriages about to take place across the state in mid-May, this Mecca for gays and lesbians is gearing up for a boom in wedding bliss – and the year-round business that it’s sure to generate.

“I’m going to have to go out and get me a wedding suit,” said Federico, 49, who registered with World Christian Ministries. “If they want me in a tuxedo, I’ll buy a tuxedo. If they want me in drag, I’ll do it in drag. I would just love to be able to help out my friends if they want to get married.”

Provincetown – and its temperate social climate – has lured gay and lesbian couples for decades to Cape Cod’s tip.

So when the state’s highest court ruled that gay and lesbian couples had a right under the state constitution to marry, and set May 17 as the date when weddings could begin taking place, a wedding industry was born in Provincetown.

At the other end of the state, a similar boon is under way in Northampton, a community in western Massachusetts also known for its gay-friendly ways.

Pride & Joy, a gift shop that caters to the area’s gay and lesbian community, is stocking up on wedding paraphernalia such as gay and lesbian wedding cards and unisex cake toppers in anticipation of a spring rush, said owner Mark Carmien.

“There are people who are planning their weddings who didn’t think they’d ever see it in their lifetimes. It’s really incredible and very moving. It’s kind of awe inspiring,” Carmien said. “For what I do for a living, I’m exposed to the excitement all day long, every day.”

David Tuerck, economist and executive director of the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University, said any economic boost from married gay and lesbian couples likely won’t have much effect on the overall state economy, though he added wedding businesses better be ready come May.

“I’m sure there will be short term gains, the caterers, the florists, clearly there will be,” he said.

Still, he said, state businesses could be targeted by religious groups for boycotts as the issue heats up nationally.

The question is, he said, “Are they going to blame it all on Massachusetts?”