Wedding DJ at TransformGSO in Greensboro, NC

The Space

The Gateway Building started in 1919 as the Blue Bell Factory, weaving denim and sewing the overalls that became popular work gear for railroaders passing through Greensboro. Blue Bell was acquired by Wrangler in 1949 and grew into an international brand from there, which means the walls of this event space once turned out clothing that ended up on a national scale, a piece of Greensboro’s textile history that the building still carries into its second life.

TransformGSO expanded its coworking operation into the Bain Street side of the Gateway Building in the fall of 2021, and Elm & Bain launched that same September as the dedicated wedding and event space inside it. The result is a loft-style room with natural light and more than 11,000 square feet of flexible event space, built inside a structure that is actually two buildings joined together, one from 1918 and a second added in the 1930s.

Capacity & Layout

Elm & Bain seats up to 220 for a formal dinner with a dance floor, band, or DJ, and can hold up to 400 for an open-format event or up to 475 for a standing social gathering, so the room scales from a seated wedding reception to a larger cocktail-style crowd depending on how a couple wants the evening to run. Divider curtains let that same footprint get reconfigured, so a smaller guest list does not have to feel lost inside 11,000 square feet built for a bigger one.

Chairs and tables are included in the rental, which takes one line item off a couple’s planning list before catering and decor even enter the picture. Between the seated capacity of 220 and the standing capacity of up to 475, the room is built to handle both a plated dinner and dancing in the same space, rather than requiring a separate room swap between courses and the dance floor.

Amenities

The venue is managed by Pepper Moon Catering, so food service runs through the same team that operates the space day to day rather than a rotating list of outside caterers, and a full kitchen on site supports that. A full bar is available, and the venue includes a state-of-the-art AV system, which matters for a couple who wants microphones for toasts and a screen for a slideshow without bringing in rental equipment separately.

The building is ADA accessible, and on-site parking is available, both practical details for a Greensboro venue where guests may be arriving from across the Triad. The loft-style layout with natural light gives the room a different feel earlier in the day, useful for an afternoon ceremony or cocktail hour, while the same divider curtains that reconfigure the floor plan also let a couple close off sections for setup without shutting down the whole space.

Location & Getting There

TransformGSO itself traces back to 2014, when it launched as HQ Greensboro before rebranding to its current name in 2020, and the Bain Street location where Elm & Bain sits has been part of its coworking footprint since 2021. The building’s identity, a converted textile mill turned coworking hub with dedicated event space folded in, gives it a different feel than a standalone banquet hall built only for one purpose.

We have worked a wedding in this room before, and the loft-style construction, exposed structure, natural light, and a mostly open floor plan set off by movable divider curtains gives a DJ a single large indoor space to work with rather than several small disconnected rooms, so sound carries evenly across the dance floor whether the guest count is closer to 220 seated or pushing toward the 400 to 475 range the room can hold standing.