You should do what I set up for my group.Great intro bro and welcome to the gang. I'm from Northern VA and have been building a HERF group as well for the area here west of Wash DC. Lots of knowledgeable folks on here who will gladly provide good opinions and information.
We currently have a rotation going on to where each herf is done at one members houes and then the next time it switches. The other part of that is whoever is hosting cooks something and whoever is having the next one brings the beer. Since we have 6 people you get to go to 4 herfs without buying anything and you never have to worry about who is going to bring food or beer.