Actor Mark Wahlberg and longtime girlfriend Rhea Durham intend to make their union traditionally legal with a marriage set for next summer that their children are sure to enjoy.

Mark Wahlberg and Rhea Durham, a fashion model, have been in a relationship since 2001 and are parents to three young children: Ella Rae, born 2003, Michael, born 2006, and baby Brendan Joseph, born less than a month ago.

The couple has made no formal announcement yet but during a press conference for Wahlberg’s upcoming film Max Payne on Sunday, he revealed that August 2009 seemed like a good time to tie the knot, reports E! Online.

Wahlberg, 37, first garnered public attention in the late 1980s as the younger brother of boy band member Donnie Wahlberg. The two Wahlbergs were initially both part of New Kids on the Block but the younger sibling eventually dropped out.

Wahlberg turned to a music career of his own and gained fame as bad boy rapper Marky Mark. In the early 1990s, Wahlberg became every teenage girl’s fantasy by posing for Calvin Klein in a sexy pair of boxers.

In the mid 1990s Wahlberg turned his attention to acting and soon found success here as well, earning positive reviews from critics for his roles in movies such as The Basketball Diaries, Boogie Nights and Three Kings, and later in The Perfect Storm, The Italian Job, and Four Brothers.

He next appears in Max Payne, based on the hit videogame of the same name. Wahlberg portrays the title character, a New York City DEA agent who seeks revenge on the murderers of his wife and partner. The cast also includes Mila Kunis and Beau Bridges. The John Moore-directed action film opens Oct. 17.