Not compulsory but its a great help in case some documents are missing.
All imm. offices have their own rules so as its your first time its better with the wife. (English is not their language, they are supposed to know it but... little, very few know perfectly.)
be carefull, this period between 25 and 2-3 january it can happen there is no more room on the plane. so beeter to book 2-3 weeks before the date you choose.