A Different Kind of Head Table

Our reception space is your typical banquet hall.  Nothing fancy, just a large room with hardwood floors and chandeliers.  And lot's of wooden panels.  Typically, weddings that take place here follow the same set up pattern:  round tables for guests, and a long rectangular head table for the wedding party.  Here's a visual:

(photo credit goes to Uncle Pudding)

There are several reasons why I am feeling a bit "meh" about this arrangement.  First of all, I find the idea of a large head table a little bit....overdone.  I feel that this blueprint for a reception hall, although beautiful and I am sure very functional, is just a little bit out dated.  I would like our room to have a little more originality.  My second problem with this arrangement is the fact that we have a very small wedding party of 6 (and that includes the bride and groom).  That will make for a very small head table, and I feel that with this arrangement, it's go big or go home.  Lastly, I don't like how this set up makes the wedding party a major focal point of the event.  I would rather not be stared at while eating the delicious food that I hand selected :P

Sister Pudding and I were thinking about this conundrum the other day, and we came up with (what we think is) a perfect solution!  Why not make the head table vertical instead of horizontal?  Don't know what I mean?  Here is a wedding the pulled it off to perfection!

(source)

Do you see how the long head table, with the bride and groom sitting at the helm, is framed on either side by round tables? I am thinking of having our parents and grandparents sit at the table with us, making the reception family focused. I am so in love with this idea, and the photos that it will provide.  I feel like it brings the modern aesthetic of long tables to a reception that is doomed to use round ones.

I pitched this idea to Mama Pudding and Pudding Pops, and they are not quite on board.  They don't understand the concept and don't think that it will work in our more square hall (which is giant by the way - my cousin had a wedding for 450 people there).  They also worry about the fact that the bridal party will have their backs to some of the guests, but doesn't this happen with round tables as well?

All in all, this battle has not been won yet, but I am determined to hold my ground.  

Are you doing something unexpected with your table layout?  Did you face any opposition from your more traditional family?