Oracle Pl/Sql - Ora-01403 "No Data Found" When Using "Select Into"

I faced this problem while developing a Trigger in Oracle: ORA-01403: no data found. I did some research and understood the root of the problem. Nevertheless handling the error exception prevents the above error, but does not solve my problem.

What I am currently looking for is an optimal workaround to perform the lesser query amount/achieve the best performance as possible. I'll try to describe the scenario creating simple examples to the real structure.

Scenario

I have a "date reference" table to establish periods of time, say:

CREATE TABLE DATE_REFERENCE (
    DATE_START                  DATE NOT NULL,
    DATE_END                    DATE NOT NULL,
    -- Several other columns here, this is just a silly example
    CONSTRAINT PK_DATE_REFERENCE PRIMARY KEY(DATE_START, DATE_END)
);

When the trigger is triggered, I'll have one DATE field - say DATE_GIVEN (for example sake). What I need is:

1. To find the DATE_REFERENCE row in which DATE_GIVEN BETWEEN DATE_START AND DATE_END (easy); OR
2. If the previous option returns no data, I need to find the next closest DATE_START to DATE_GIVEN.

In both cases, I need to retrieve the row with all columns from table DATE_REFERENCE, no matter if it matches Opt 1 or 2. That's exactly where I faced the problem described.

I wrote this test block to test and try to find a solution. The example below is not working, I know; but it is exactly what I want to accomplish (in concept). I have added comments like -- Lots of code to make clear that will be part of a more elaborate trigger:

DECLARE
    DATE_GIVEN       DATE; 
    RESULTROW        DATE_REFERENCE%ROWTYPE;
BEGIN

    -- Lots of code
    -- Lots of code
    -- Lots of code

    DATE_GIVEN := TO_DATE('2014-02-26 12:30:00', 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS');

    -- This one throws the ORA-01403 exception if no data was found
    SELECT 
       * INTO RESULTROW
    FROM
       DATE_REFERENCE
    WHERE
       DATE_GIVEN BETWEEN DATE_START AND DATE_END;

    -- If the above didn't throw exceptions, I would continue like so:
    IF RESULTROW IS NULL THEN

        SELECT 
           * INTO RESULTROW
        FROM
           DATE_REFERENCE
        WHERE
           DATE_START > DATE_GIVEN
           AND ROWNUM = 1
        ORDER BY DATE_START ASC;

    END IF;

    -- Now RESULTROW is populated, and the rest of the trigger code gets executed ~beautifully~

    -- Lots of code
    -- Lots of code
    -- Lots of code

END;

Question

Knowing that the above PL/SQL block is more of a concept than working code, what is the best way to get RESULTROW populated, minding performance and the lesser queries as possible?

Sorry for the long question, but I figured scenario explanation was necessary. Thanks in advance for any help/thoughts!