Congratulations! Exciting (and messy) times ahead

At 6 months we sat DD with us at meal times, usually breakfast and dinner, and gave her something on a plate or in a bowl. Some of it would go in her mouth, bits would be thrown over the edge of the table, & the rest would be played with. If she was grumpy, which usually happened at dinner time, we stopped eating, gave her a bottle, then bath & bed. As frustrating as this was, I kept reminding my self that 'food is fun until they are 1!' The reason for sitting her with us at the table was so she would watch us eat, have a conversation, and be part of the family. The best time of day is when she is happiest, and also when you are eating yourself.

The only way to avoid mess over the clothes is to feed her in her nappy only! Otherwise the long sleeve bibs are great.

As for highchair, we now use the Ikea one which is easy to clean, and also seems to have a lower tray than other highchairs. This way they are sitting over their food, not reaching up to it. It is also a good table height if the tray is removed. In the early days, DD was too small for this highchair(she was still in some 0000's and some 000 clothes at 6 months) so we used either a bumbo, or a portable high chair that temporarily screws onto the table (similar to the Phil and Teds Metoo)

Personally, I found the first couple of months hard in knowing what to feed her. However at 8 months it all seemed to just come together and get easy. Now she eats everything we eat...we just modified our cooking by reducing salt and the amount of pre-prepared food. To be honest, I'm now eating healthier, and have lost weight due to the healthier eating

I'd recommend joining the BLS general chat forum. I found everyone there very helpful in those early days. Also, the Gil Rapley book was a good first point of reference.

Good luck!