I second all the comments about BLW. DD is now 11m and eats anything, including strong cheeses and sushi/sashimi (proud mummy).
It's messy but fun, I never worry whether DD has eaten enough, as she can always have milk if hungry after her food - which she rarely is.
My sis explained the difference between gagging and choking. Huge lumps of food won't get stuck and make a baby choke, but may make them gag in the early days as they learn how much they can manage. It can be frightening but it's not serious. Trick is not to panic. It's tiny things like whole peas, tiny bits of raw carrot that, IMO, can get stuck at 6 months. At 11m, though, DD loves picking up individual blueberries. We do feed porridge, yogurt etc by spoon - life is too short to be dry frying off breakfast IMO!
On a practical note, we have the Ikea highchair for the garden, plus a babydan for kitchen - no tray so she joins us at the table.
Plastic takeaway boxes are great - we batch cook fresh tomato sauces, place in cheap food bags, store lots in a plastic box and put in freezer. Tonight DD's having potato wedges and our tomato sauce with grated cheese (yum!).
Full sleeved bibs good, as are crumb catcher bibs - DD now investigates any food dropped and may eat it later.
And I'm not against shop food when necessary - we had a long car journey so took some with us, just in case. However, i am v sceptical about most of the food brands and do recommend Plum brand. They never add refined sugar, even to their fromage frais (which Little Stars do - drives me mad when they advertise as perfect for weaninng!) and nearly all their food contains quinoa - a supergrain that has 3 x iron of wholewheat. They are pricey but if you're using them only occasionally, it's not too bad.