Sorry if I'm offending anyone but I really really don't get the anti-BLW thing. My nephew was weaned traditionally, eats bugger all. My DD eats everything. You give them a plate of healthy food & they choose how & what to eat. It probably does, in theory, work best with bfing because you continue to bf on demand & provide their main nutrition that way as they develop their food intake, as "food is fun until one". But DD only had 3-4 max bf a day at 9mths & 3 bottles a day at 1yr as she ate so much food.
She started taking a loaded spoon from my hand at 6.5mths & used a spoon independently from maybe a yr old. Not sure all traditionally weaned babies would be able to do this because they have only ever been fed. DD now uses a fork & spoon confidently & is starting to use a knife at 2.8yo. The anti-BLW argument re cutlery and table manners is rubbish; no baby has table manners. You teach them.
Frankly anyone that gets evangelical about anything is a twat. I don't think there are any rules or weaning police to tell you're doing it wrong. Do what's workable for you!!!
Re 6mths. It's a gluten thing. You can wean at any time you like, except there are guidelines about what foods to avoid before 6mths. The guidelines are based around food allergies/tolerances & as I understand it, weaning before 6mths is linked to an increase in these.