WESTBROOK – Jason Walker said he’s never been first in anything, but that’s changing now that he and his partner are tying the knot.

Walker, 33, and Scott St. Pierre, 52, are the first same-sex couple to pick up their marriage license at Westbrook City Hall, and will be the first to get married at the American Legion Post on Conant Street.

“Being the first to get our license and having the first gay wedding, that was important to me. Scott’s said he’s always been a day late and a dollar short. I don’t even know what to say, it’s all such a good feeling,” Walker said this week.

The wedding will take place at the Legion post on Saturday, with family members included in the wedding party and many friends from the American Legion in attendance.

“All our family and friends have been so supportive. The Legion crowd has supported us, they’ve been so open to it,” Walker said. “The Legion is a straight place, so it’s all about being accepted. Scott and I both said it’s so great being accepted in our community and being treated like equals.”

In the November statewide referendum question on the ballot, Westbrook residents overwhelmingly approved same-sex marriage, voting 5,346-3,419.

“I never thought it would happen in my lifetime,” said St. Pierre. “This gives hope to having a more normal lifestyle instead of just settling for a boyfriend or girlfriend.”

It hasn’t always been easy for Walker, a certified nurses’ aide at Seaside Nursing Home, and St. Pierre, who works in the accounts payable department at Emery Waterhouse. Both men have overcome personal tragedies.

After his mother died in 2011, Walker said, he was sure he’d never find someone to share his life with.

That all changed a little more than a year ago, when the two met. Now, Walker said, he can’t imagine a life without St. Pierre.

“We have the best relationship I’ve ever been in. We just have so much love for each other. It feels special. Our families are close and get along. This is the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. I’m so happy, it’s unreal,” Walker said.

St. Pierre asked Walker to marry him in August while the two were doing yard work at their home in Westbrook, and they began to plan their wedding in November after the law passed allowing gay couples to wed.

On Jan. 4, they went to Westbrook City Hall to obtain their marriage license and were told they were the first ones to apply.

Walker wasn’t surprised when the American Legion told him they’d be happy to host their wedding.

“We know the guys, they’re good people and I am personally very happy for them,” said Beverly Preston, manager of the Legion Hall.

Preston also said the Legion is open to more gay weddings and receptions in the future.

“We spend Sunday nights at the American Legion doing karaoke with my dad and step-mom. It’s one of our passions,” Walker said.

So, not surprisingly, the couple will have karaoke at the reception and a disc jockey. A justice of the peace will preside over the service, which includes a sand ceremony. Walker and St. Pierre will alternate pouring blue and purple sand, their wedding colors, into a vase while the justice of the peace reads a passage about joining the two together.

The couple and their families have done everything else for the wedding. They found their vows online after doing some research to find something a little less traditional. Walker’s father will serve as the best man and has built the arch. On Friday, St. Pierre will begin cooking the mac and cheese, chicken cacciatore, pasta salads and other dishes to feed the 135 guests.

Walker has been busy making the decorations, dying tropical flowers to match the wedding colors, hanging lanterns from the ceiling and draping lace-like-mesh, to create a sea theme in the Legion Hall.

“I’m trying to do a fairy tale wedding,” Walker said. “Everything’s coming together but we’re both getting a little nervous.”

Scott St. Pierre, left, and Jason Walker, at their home in Westbrook, are the first gay couple to get married in the city. Their wedding is scheduled for Saturday at the American Legion Hall on Conant Street in Westbrook.