For The Love Of Mike: Dancing Ditkas Crash Wedding Reception

CHICAGO — Like any groom who knows what’s best for him, Jake Mazanke realized a long time ago that his wedding day wasn’t about him. But that didn’t stop his bride from allowing her new husband’s lifelong love affair with the Chicago Bears — and Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Ditka — from playing a part in celebrating their marital bliss.

Catie Coghlan and Mazanke tied the knot Saturday at Madonna della Strada Chapel on Loyola University-Chicago's lakefront campus before the party moved to the University Club of Chicago for the reception. But part of the couple's wedding planning included a unique reunion of sorts as a group of Mazanke’s friends, who went viral last year when they all donned Bears sweater vests and aviator sunglasses paying homage to Ditka, the coach who led the Bears to the 1985 Super Bowl title, gathered again.

The collection of 18 friends who gained notoriety from their Ditka tribute ahead of last season's Bears-Falcons game was already planning on celebrating their buddy’s nuptials Saturday in Chicago. But months before Coghlan and Mazanke were united as husband and wife, Mazanke and best man Peter Archibald vowed to recreate the viral photo that brought the St. Charles native and his pals their 15 minutes of football fame.

But in the middle of Saturday’s wedding reception, the group not only broke out the Ditka-famous sweater vest and aviators but also introduced the gathered guests to the Dancing Ditkas, the brainchild of Chicago choreographer Josh Anderson.

Anderson, who worked with Coghlan and Mazanke on their first dance as newlyweds, had seen the group photo from Atlanta. Anderson, who also has a background in comedy dance choreography, pitched the idea of working up a group routine for The Dancing Ditkas, who had Coghlan's blessing to perform.

But the 45-second dance —performed to a soundtrack of the Bears fight song, "Bear Down" — required a bit of salesmanship on the groom's part.

“That was not originally part of the plan,” Mazanke told Patch.

“We said, 'We’ll just break out the sweaters, we’ll bring back the glasses. We’ll take a picture in the middle of the dance floor and get everyone excited.'"

That’s when Anderson entered the picture and upped the ante. Anderson, who runs Ballroom Dance Chicago in the city's Ravenswood neighborhood, contacted the couple and asked permission to work up a dance routine for the Ditka lookalikes. Anderson created a dance routine that Mazanke calls a mix of “The Super Bowl Shuffle” and the dance from the film, “Remember the Titans.”

Due to the brevity of the performance, Anderson created the routine in 15 minutes after being inspired by the idea behind it.

"A good deal of what I pursue is levity and fun inside of dance and if you offer me a platter of Mike Ditkas that could dance, I'm going to say, 'Yes, please'," Anderson told Patch.

Mazanke and friends who live in the Chicago area met with Anderson to learn the basics of the routine. The session was filmed and then sent out to other members of the group who live out of state to allow them time to learn the routine. On Friday, an in-person rehearsal was held before the group again huddled on Saturday morning before the wedding ceremony to finalize their steps.

The beauty of working with inexperienced dancers, Anderson said, was without knowing what is right or wrong, dancing newbies would "just go for it with a lot of energy." He said in the case of the Dancing Ditkas, each member bought into the joke and even added to his original ideas by adding their twist to the routine. The secret, Anderson said, was to provide a moment of lightheartedness without stealing from a day that celebrates two people who love each other a great deal.

The performance went off without a hitch, although the concept of allowing it to happen when and where it required a bit of a sales job on the groom’s part. He agreed that the traditional first dance would take place, the couple would cut the cake and the dance floor would be opened up to guests. Once there was a lull, Mazanke told his soon-to-be wife that the Dancing Ditkas would make their appearance.

“(Coghlan) was in for the photo, but she didn’t want to stop the dance floor,” Mazanke said. “She wanted it to be about the two of us throughout the day and not make it about one moment — which was fair.”

But like with any good marriage, compromise entered the equation. As part of the original agreement with Anderson, Mazanke conceded that if the group dance was going to take place, it had to be good. Mazanke originally feared that the dance would come off as being tacky and that he might have difficulty convincing his friends to participate.

Mazanke’s excitement over the notion of the Dancing Ditkas was mixed with doubts that the routine would fit with the overall theme of the day. But seeing how the couple’s wedding day coincidentally fell on the opening weekend of the new NFL season and a day before the Bears hosted the rival Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field, Mazanke wondered if it could work.

The self-described “awful dancer” with “less than zero” previous dance experience characterizes the group dance as "simple and silly," which he knew wouldn’t exactly fit in with a traditional-themed wedding ceremony and reception at which he and Coghlan used Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” for their first dance.

He called Archibald and began to explain his conundrum. Before he could get deep into an explanation, his best man stopped him in mid-sentence.

“Jake — stop right there,” Archibald told Mazanke. “We’re doing it. This is incredible. It’s so funny. We’ve got to do it. You’re never going to have this opportunity again. You have to do it.”

Anderson took the ball and ran with it. Based on the humorous Dancing Ditkas, the ballroom dance instructor knew he wanted to incorporate two polar opposite feelings into the routine that would last less than a minute.

Anderson wondered this: How could he get the group to do "rough, masculine stuff" combined with the "All My Single Ladies Beyonce Punchdown Dance."

"How do you take all of this hyper-masculine stuff that is embedded in Mike Ditka and then, fun it up?" Anderson said. "What have you always wanted to make Mike Ditka do that you didn't think he could — that was kind of the driving force."

After months of in-person and virtual dance lessons, the routine made its debut on Saturday. The dance not only allowed for a light-hearted moment in the middle of the reception but also allowed Mazanke and his friends to celebrate a photo that Mazanke says he has been routinely asked about since it made its way around social media platforms – including the NFL’s.

One of the more random interactions the photo brought about came from a complete stranger who reached out to Mazanke on “X” (formerly Twitter) and said he had done a hand-drawn sketch of the group photo. The sketch is now framed and part of Mazanke’s personal collection as a reminder of the unique nature of a memorable moment between friends.

Nearly a year later, Mazanke also hoped to include Ditka in the weekend’s festivities and said he and Coghlan used work channels to find a mailing address for Ditka, who was mailed a wedding invitation. Mazanke said that the Hall of Fame coach never responded but said he has heard through various channels that Ditka is aware of the photo that has brought Mazanke and his friends so much joy leading up to Saturday’s reunion in Chicago.

Ditka did not respond to a message from Patch seeking comment.

Coghlan and Mazanke will leave for their honeymoon in Egypt on Monday, but not before gathering with family and friends on Sunday afternoon for the Bears-Packers game. The couple originally discussed taking the game in first-hand, but later decided against it, figuring they would be too tired from Saturday’s festivities to add a Bears game to the weekend’s schedule.

A Bears fan to the end, Mazanke of course, was hoping for a Bears victory — especially considering the opponent. Yet, even with a forgettable 38-20 loss to the Packers on Sunday, Mazanke looks forward to a lifetime of happiness with his new bride, content with the fact that even if Ditka couldn’t make it in person, the coach had a part in the couple’s big day in a way that honored a viral moment and the beginning of a new chapter for the happy couple.

"Knowing the whole arc of the thing from their wedding dance to other chapters of (the reception), I think they have such a fun night on their hands," Anderson told Patch. "Hopefully, this is something that people remember and giggle about on their ride home."

And for years to come.