Founded in 2003, Soirée at the Lake—formerly Paper Soirée—was established by mother-daughter team Bonnie Neuleib and Gina Neuleib O’Shea with a simple but meaningful mission: to bring beautiful paper goods and specialty gifts to their small-lake town community. At the time, locals had to drive more than 90 miles to Atlanta to find unique greeting cards, invitations, wrapping paper, and thoughtfully curated gifts.

Bonnie and Gina saw an opportunity to fill that gap and create a welcoming place where customers could shop locally for life’s special moments. As the store has continued to grow a third member of the family has joined the team as an assistant buyer, Bonnie’s granddaughter and Gina’s daughter Celia who offers another fresh perspective to this women owned family business.

With a shared passion for entertaining and what they lovingly call a “shop ‘til you drop” mentality, opening a boutique felt like a natural fit. As Gina often jokes, if shopping were an Olympic sport, they would be gold medalists. Their eye for quality, style, and meaningful details quickly set the tone for what the store would become.