Synopsis

In Hamtramck, Michigan, Jadzia Pzoniak presides over a large Polish-American family while carrying on a long-running affair. Her daughter Hala becomes pregnant by Russell, a neighborhood police officer, prompting the family to pressure him into marriage. As preparations escalate, hidden romances, generational tensions, and conflicting ideas about family loyalty threaten to disrupt the wedding.

Factoids & Trivia

• The story is set in Hamtramck, Michigan, a Detroit enclave with deep Polish-American roots and a personal connection to the filmmaker.

• Filming took place in Hamtramck and Detroit from August 26 through October 8, 1996, well before the film's 1998 theatrical release.

• The interior of the Pzoniak family home was filmed in an actual Hamtramck house on Wyandotte Street.

• The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 16, 1998, and was also shown at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 12, 1998.

• Equipment used by Russell, including a police car, motorcycle, and badge number 32, came from the real Hamtramck Police Department.

• Polish Wedding marked Kristen Bell's first screen appearance. She was an uncredited teenage neighbor.

• The film's music was composed by Luis Bacalov, the Oscar-winning composer of The Postman.

• Released by Fox Searchlight Pictures on July 17, 1998, the film opened in 11 theaters and eventually expanded to 59. Its reported domestic gross was approximately $692,588.