The 31-year-old Oscar-winning actress and her rocker boyfriend Chris Martin may soon be taking a trip down the aisle after the two showed up yesterday at a Santa Barbara courthouse and applied for a marriage license, said Pam Smith, a supervisor at the Santa Barbara county clerk/recorder's office.

The license allows the couple to be married by a judge in Santa Barbara County within the next 90 days. It doesn't require them to disclose the marriage date.

Paltrow has worn an engagement ring and a wedding band over the last few weeks, fueling speculation the couple had already wed.

But Paltrow has called the bands "friendship rings" she bought recently on vacation in Hawaii.

In an interview with the BBC last month, Paltrow refused to spill the beans about any future wedding plans with Martin.

"I don't know. I hope so," she said. "I'm the wrong person to ask. Ask him."

Paltrow's publicist Stephen Huvane did not return a call seeking comment.

The pending nuptials come two days after Paltrow and Martin, 26, said they are expecting their first child next summer.

Paltrow, who has been seeing Martin for nearly two years, has toured with the Coldplay frontman over the past year.