in person vs. by mail applications

Hello again- After a many-months long haitus due to some complicated personal circumstances, I have returned to UK-Yankee! And now more than ever I need advice from those who have taken the leap across the pond. J and I are getting married 3 weeks from today here in Pittsburgh, and so I figured I better make my appointment at the New York consolate for my spousal visa application.  I have been pondering this trip for a while knowing that a trip to New York including transportation, lodging, etc plus the cost of the visa itself was going to equal quite the pricey trip. So heres my dilemma. Quoted from the britainusa.com website: "Once you have applied you must deliver either in person or by mail your printed application and supporting documents to the applicable consulate."
It says specifically on the page regarding in-person applications that you do not need to apply in person.
So to those who have been there/done that, are there specific advantages about going in person to the consulate? If not, I cant imagine why i wouldnt save the money to stay home and simply send my application and documents by mail. The site doesn't really give any direction regarding which is better, so I don't know what to do!
Any advice/opinion would be greatly appreciated!

Going in person is just a quicker process. If you're in a hurry to get the visa then it's a good option. Or, if you happen to live near the consulate and just don't want to wait those 2 weeks for your visa to come through the post worrying about it...everyone worries!

If you're not in a huge rush I'd suggest doing it by post. Especially if it's going to save you a lot of money. I don't think going in person gives you any sort of advantage with your application if that's what you're wondering. If the consulate has any questions about your application or documents they will call you.

Anyway, the only advantage I can think of for going in person is that you usually get your visa the same day. If I were you I'd apply by post and save your money!

I agree --only advantage to in person is time. I did mine by post --I was in PA at the time and decided it wasn't worth the money--with the move and all money wasn't flowing freely .

Helena

I did mine threw the mail and I got it back in approximatley 2 weeks....I reckon I would have gotten it back quiker if I included all the required papers, out of my application I forgot to add my bank statement and mortgage statement..this set me back 1 day but they did allow me to fax this info directley to them.  if you aint trying to stay in NY I highly recommend doing it threw the mail.

Getting your spousal visa in NYC is not a complicated process.  I suggest filing out the paper work on line and printing it out and using that instead of filing out the forms from scratch at the Embassy. If you have all the correct papers, and there are no problems it should take about three hours start to finish. Most of the time is spent sitting and waiting. On completion they'll have a nice new spousal visa in your US passport. It's worth the trip to have it done on the same day as apposed to waiting for it in the mail.

Thanks for the input, I had a feeling that time was really the only factor. The thought of saving the money is really appealing, but at the same time it would be nice to go to ny and spend a bit of time there sort of as a mini "honeymoon" or something and get the visa quickly. So we will have to think about it and see how much money we have to make the trip. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts!