SOUTH PORTLAND — South Portland City Clerk Susan Mooney lined up wedding cakes for the same-sex couples who came into her office to be married Saturday morning.

“It’s very exciting,” said Mooney.

South Portland was one of the communities that issued marriage licenses and performed marriages during special hours Saturday, the first day the same-sex marriage law went into effect.

South Portland opened at 8 a.m. and will remain open until noon. Couples were lined up at the door, including Heidi Caton and Julie Nowell. The two were tying the knot before a group of family members at Bug Light Park Saturday afternoon, followed by dinner at the Corner Room in Portland.

The two, who had a big unofficial wedding last June, said they want to make their marriage legal.

“We are dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s,” said Nowell, who intends to take Caton’s last name.

Portland started issuing licenses and performing ceremonies at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. By the time city hall closed at 3 a.m. the city had issued  15 licenses and performed six marriages.

Other communities open for marriage licenses and ceremonies Saturday include Augusta, Bangor, Brewer, Brunswick , Falmouth, Freeport, Gardiner and Hallowell.

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