Evite's 2026 Pregame Report found that nearly 70% of hosts are embracing DIY touches this year, framing the trend as thoughtful rather than budget-driven — a shift that's changing how people approach everything from menus to party invitations.
What's trending
Evite's 2026 Pregame Report, surveying 5,000 hosts and guests and covered by Martha Stewart Living, found that nearly 70 percent of hosts are embracing DIY touches for their gatherings this year. Crucially, the report frames this shift as "thoughtful," not cheap — handwritten menus, personalized playlists, DIY drink stations, and thrifted décor are named as the specific touches driving the trend, alongside a return to potluck-style dining and craft-based activities.
Why it's resonating
The shift tracks with a broader move toward home-based, lower-pressure entertaining rather than outsourced, venue-driven events. When you're hosting in your own space rather than paying for a coordinator or venue package, doing more yourself isn't a downgrade — it's the whole point. A handwritten menu or a personally chosen cocktail feels more considered than a generic catering order, precisely because a guest can tell a person made it, not a vendor.
That same logic extends naturally to the invitation. A generic, mass-market e-invite reads as low-effort in a way a personalized, designed invitation doesn't — even when both took the host roughly the same five minutes to send.
Where editable templates fit the "elevated DIY" bar
This is where an editable Canva template sits in an interesting middle ground: it's DIY in the sense that the host is genuinely making the final product themselves, but it doesn't require design skills to look considered. The Christmas Open House Invitation, Watercolor Editable Canva Template is built for exactly that — the layout and artwork are done, and the host customizes the wording, colors, and details to make it their own, which fits the "thoughtful, not cheap" framing the 2026 data describes better than either a fully outsourced design or a bare-bones text invite.
The bottom line
If nearly seven in ten hosts are leaning into DIY this year, the bar isn't "impressive" — it's "considered." An editable template lets you hit that bar on the invitation without needing to be a designer, which is arguably the whole appeal of the trend in the first place.