Provincetown, Mass. ? At the Nut House confectioner’s shop, owner Kim Leonard is working on a new line of his-and-his and hers-and-hers figurines to go on top of wedding cakes.

At the nearby Post Office Cafe, manager David “Dixie” Federico has applied to become a minister — of the online variety — so he can officiate at gay weddings.

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

This seaside gay mecca, usually deserted this time of year, is bustling with activity, getting ready for a spring and summer full of same-sex weddings.

“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.”

Gay men and lesbians have flocked to this haven on Cape Cod’s tip for decades. So when Massachusetts’ highest court ruled that same-sex 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.

While caterers, florists and party planners can expect short-term gains, the change will probably not have much effect on the overall state economy — unless Massachusetts is hit by a boycott by religious groups, said David Tuerck, economist and executive director of the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University.

In the five months since the Massachusetts ruling, scores of cities across the nation have conducted gay marriages in defiance of local and state laws.

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

Ptown Parties owner Dave Schermacher shows two bridal wedding cake dolls he will use at some of the gay weddings he is catering this summer in Provincetown, Mass. Schermacher reports a huge jump in inquiries this month for catering services for gay weddings, booking twice as many events for this year as last year.

At a constitutional convention last month, state lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage and authorize civil unions instead. The constitutional convention is to resume Thursday, but the earliest an amendment could end up on the ballot is 2006 — two years after weddings are to take place.

In Provincetown, business owners and hoteliers predict gay marriages will expand their busy season from July and August to include May, June, September and October.

Town officials issued marriage licenses to only 30 heterosexual couples last year. They are expecting to see at least twice that many brides and grooms on the first day same-sex couples are allowed to marry.

“I think a lot of people are going to get married so they can say they got married. Even if it turns into a civil union, you can still say you got married, and that’s kind of fun,” Schermacher said.